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Ron Rogers

This is a fine tool to have onboard. You can get them at Home Debit in the
Ryobi brand for about $40, and they seem to be as well built as you could
ever hope for for the money. I've had one that I use quite a bit (at least
once a week) and it's still in perfect shape after about 4 years. Get one of
them, and spend another $40 or so on attachments, (cutting wheels, wire
brushes, sanding attachment, paper, etc) and you'll never regret it. I used
it to clean my running gear last time I hauled out as I remember. I get the
most use cutting ss bolts, brackets, and whatever with the little cutting
wheels. I cut an 1 1/4" prop shaft (frozen coupler) in about 5 minutes on a
customers boat (and one $2 cutting wheel) where the yard said it usually
took them almost an hour with a sawzall and several expensive blades.

Every time I use it, I wonder why I didn't have one years ago.

Brent Hodges
Friendship
43 Albin
Seabrook, Tx.

There at first I thought Brent was talking about the Fein tool- cutting a shaft in a few minutes? I was thinking that I got a bad unit, but then I realized he was talking about the angle grinder.

If you need another reason to buy one, for those who haven't thought about it, an angle grinder (circular saw, too) with a composite wheel cuts fiberglass and does it easily, if you hold it on edge. Curves, straight lines, it'll do it all and without breaking a sweat. As the wheel wears down, you just put another one in. These composite wheels, either for masonry or steel, lasts considerably longer than any toothed blade.

When the opportunity presents itself, I'll use the 7 inch blades, either in my circular saw or table saw, and when the blade gets too small for that use, I then save them for use in the angle grinder (they all use 5/8 arbor). Can anybody bet that for cheap?

Rudy
Briney Bug, Panama City, Fl

I am not looking forward to cutting off another four inches from my
dingy davit (3.5" aluminum tube).  When I did that the first time
with a Sawzall, it took me about half an hour.  Is the angle grinder
the tool of choice?  Does anyone have any recommendations for an
appropriate cutting wheel?  Do I need a diamond one?

Thanks,

Steve

Steve, for cutting aluminum, think about using a high-count, carbide tooth blade in your circular saw, a similar blade that you'd use to make smooth cuts in plywood with. This setup will cut easily, especially with a lubricant, either a commercial lub, or even just WD40. Cut through in one direction, then rotate and finish the cut. At a minimum, eye protection is needed, but a face shield makes it much more pleasant on the face.

My experience is that an angle grinder doesn't work so well for a cutoff tool, for aluminum, as the composite wheels clog up too easy. There are some thin cutoff blades that can work better, but I find the circular saw faster and less dangerous than these thin cutoff wheels. (I have a nice scar to remind me of this.) But with coarse sanding discs, an angle grinder is great for cleaning up the cut, as is a belt sander. Graduating to finer grit will allow you to polish the cut.

High-cost blades are not important although carbide tip blades are more helpful than blades with just hardened steel tips. Aluminum can generally be worked with typical wood working saws, grinders and sanders. Metal files also work on aluminum starting with coarse for fast work and graduating to fine tooth files to smooth everything out and finer and finer sand paper until as smooth as you desire.

Rudy
Briney Bug, Panama City, Fl