Grr. Flapdisks and other angle-grinder wheels.

OnlyOneDR

OnlyOneDR

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Feb 10, 2006
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So I went to Home Despot today when I was driving around doing work errands and decided to pick up some cut off wheels, grinding wheels, and a new flap disk.

When did Home Despot start selling complete GARBAGE for this stuff? They had some Chinese junk and then some "Diablo" brand from Spain that was priced higher but just as cheaply made.

I left and went to Lowes and found DeWalt brand cutoff wheels and discs.

Now I am looking for better flap disks though, the ones for 5/8" screw arbors. I had a Norton that served me pretty well but it is getting worn now. I surely bought it in one of those big-box stores a long time ago. Now neither of them sell that sort of thing, they are all these junky discs that look like they just glued some sandpaper to a normal offset cutoff blade.

I went out of my way to stop at a Fastenal, they don't sell the good ones either. I hate ordering things like that online because of shipping and I never buy more than one or two and am never in desperate need. Next time I stop at a Northern I will check them but does anyone know where I can get good flap disks in a retail store?
 
I buy mine from roarksupply on pirate or at airgas. If you're buying a more than a couple, it's much cheaper to buy online...and they have the nicer flap discs that aren't done in five minutes.
 
Now when it comes to sawzall blades and skillsaw blades the diablos are freakin amazing!......for cutoff wheels and whatnot for grindera i use dewalt, they last longer and are stronger. Tried using some of those cheap ones and they literally blew apart, those pieces hurt when they hit you
 
Find a klinspor truck. They have a setup that uses a metal backer you mount on your grinder then sell just the flapper in a ring and last 2x as long as a dewalt, they are ALOT cheaper like $3 ea. The backing pad is like $22 iirc so it cost a little now but saves a lot in the long run. Great stuff

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Mercer. You'll probably have to order online, but Mercer abrasives make all others look like junk in my opinion. We went through MULTIPLE brands years ago at work, then a vendor brought in some 36 grit Mercer High Density flap disks. Oh holy shit. They last forever, and move metal better than a hard disk. Seriously, you'll buy much fewer thick grinding disks once you discover these guys. Shaping metal, polishing, smoothing welds, all of it happens faster and with better finished results with the Mercer disks. Their ultra-thin cutoff disks rock the house, too. Fastest, strongest disk we've used. In emergencies, we have to run to Tractor Supply to grab a disk or two, and I've wound up with Dewalt cutoffs and sawzall blades a couple of times. I now completely despise Dewalt abrasives and blades. They just don't last. The cutoffs chipped and flew apart in no time, and I'm pretty easy on a disk.
 
http://www.amazon.com/Mercer-Abrasi...ref=sr_1_4?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1327106086&sr=1-4

Yeah, they ain't cheap, but they're worth it. And we've gotten away from the bonded nut due to cost, but I've quit using the spanner wrench to tighten it down. Keep the threads of your nut clean and just tighten it by hand by keeping the lock down and twisting the wheel until it's tight. I have yet to have one slip on me using this method.

I'm trying to find a link to the Black Lightning .040 thick cutoff disks, but they're the beez kneez, too.
 
I'd like to see the Mercer stuff first-hand. The issue I have with using the standard arbor stuff is that I don't like the thin nut that came with my DeWalt so I use what I think was an old Harbor-Freight nut on the arbor and it is larger and I worry about dragging it on the work surfaces if I get aggressive with the smoothing jobs. I like those bonded-nut types simply because there is nothing in the middle of the disc to make contact with the work surface.

I searched the Northern site later and found that they sell the Norton ones I have used before. Maybe I got them there. Been so long ago I cannot remember anymore.
 
snappy said:
Find a klinspor truck. They have a setup that uses a metal backer you mount on your grinder then sell just the flapper in a ring and last 2x as long as a dewalt, they are ALOT cheaper like $3 ea. The backing pad is like $22 iirc so it cost a little now but saves a lot in the long run. Great stuff

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Click to expand...
^^^^What he said!
 
snappy said:
Find a klinspor truck. They have a setup that uses a metal backer you mount on your grinder then sell just the flapper in a ring and last 2x as long as a dewalt, they are ALOT cheaper like $3 ea. The backing pad is like $22 iirc so it cost a little now but saves a lot in the long run. Great stuff

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Click to expand...


I used to work at Klingspor back in the day and helped design the offset flap disk w/ Alumna Zircona abrasive. I spent MONTHS breaking them, 3M, norton,ect in testing and AZ is the ticket vs regular Alum Oxide abrasives. Havent worked there in 10 years and still use those disks after being in the barn/garge with no problem. Disk color is usually green/blue rather than red brown of the usual AO disk.
 
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