Thread: Some help needed

Dear Harrison, You can do alright and at a cheap price wit Ozito brand tools at Bunnings. A 7 inch Disc Grinder is light and has grunt I use it for grinding Locomotive Frames the corded drill shouls suffice. Yours 4-6-4

Mate, I got a 5 " bosch blue angle grinder for $99 recently with 5 cutting discs, 5 grinding discs, safety glasses and all was in a handy case. I have found that the 4" can be just a bit small for some jobs. I have seen it on special at trade tools and bunnings at the moment. It may be a bit more than what you want to spend, but at 16, you have a lot of years ahead of you and you will be glad you bought a decent one at the start. I didn't think about renovating houses or the likes at 16 too. I just wish someone had of pointed me in the right direction when I was your age and not wasted my time with some of the cheaper tools.
Also to note, a lot of the cheaper electric drills only have a 10mm chuck. Can be very annoying at times.

I assume you don't have a great budget. I would spend the money on a drill, and a cheap grinder. You will use the drill a hell of a lot more.

You don't mention what you want the grinder for, but a cheap 100mm would probably suffice, although there are limitations.

You say you want more "grunt" than your 18v Ryobi cordless. What is it that you find the Ryobi won't do? I have one and find it works for most of what I need, except drilling thick steel or large holes in steel.

If you find it won't drive screws in wood, that is a limitation of the gearing, and not the drill. If thsi is what you are after get a multi geared drill. Variable speed drills work by slowing the motor down and at low revs just don;t have enough torque.

I have never tried it but if you look in the reviews HERE for XU1 they are pretty happy.

My advice is simple, The more you will use a tool the more $ you consider spending. No point buying a Rolls Royce if you aren't going to drive it often.

I have a stack of tools, cheap and expensive and I use them all the time. I have a Ozito grinder which was cheap when i bought it years ago about $40. (Since then tool prices have dropped considerably.) I only use it every 6 -12 months, and would not be able to justify spending $100 for one.

Depends
I bought a 100mm ryobi grinder in like 1998 and its still going strong. Have cut 2 cars into two halves to get a good front and a good back used over 40 disks on that job. Restored a trailer and recently ( finished them on monday night) build out of 40 by 40 box section a stand for my 14 in thicknesser. and mobile bases for my table saw and jointer.

Sometimes I have wished for bigger but the 100 as done me well thus far.

The Drill you should buy quality. I would not even consider XU1 they are CRAP IMHO.
Black and Decker would be good with at least a 13mm chuck. I have seen good prices on Dewalt at Mitre 10 mega. (Not sure if they are in oz)



Andrew

I forgot to mention you can now get ultra thin cutting discs, about as this as a cd. They last longer as they are only grinding away a mm of steeel as apposed to chewing up 3-4mm. A friend who works with steel showed them to me and I was amazed at how easy it was to cut 6mm thick steel

Originally Posted by bpj1968

I forgot to mention you can now get ultra thin cutting discs, about as this as a cd. They last longer as they are only grinding away a mm of steeel as apposed to chewing up 3-4mm. A friend who works with steel showed them to me and I was amazed at how easy it was to cut 6mm thick steel

I thought they where for stainless steel only?

I thought they where for stainless steel only?

I use em on mild steel and some thin ally. Even sliced thru a piece of decking pine (although not recommended of course) the other day.

Cleaner cut and I find it easier to do more precise cuts.

Good cause they dont load up the motor as much as the thicker ones.

Use em on my 4 & 5 inch as well as the cordless grinder.

Have sliced 8 mm plate on occasion.

Just have to be a bit careful as they do shatter easier.

Originally Posted by kiwioutdoors

I thought they where for stainless steel only?

Labeled for steel and inox steel (stainless)

Originally Posted by jatt

I use em on mild steel and some thin ally. Even sliced thru a piece of decking pine (although not recommended of course) the other day.
Cleaner cut and I find it easier to do more precise cuts.
Good cause they dont load up the motor as much as the thicker ones.
Use em on my 4 & 5 inch as well as the cordless grinder.
Have sliced 8 mm plate on occasion.
Just have to be a bit careful as they do shatter easier.

I use maybe 50-60 of these discs a year mainly in my old 8" table saw and use them to cut up
- all sorts of steel including high speed tool steel, with and without water cooling. They are perfect for cutting up hard stuff like chain saw bars.
- ally up to 12 mm thick but now recommend a negative raked blade composite blade for ally
- Brass up to 1" thick
- 10's of metres of galvanized steel plate.
- Lots of small stuff like splitting nuts in half, and cutting slots and indentations, shaping small shoulder plane blades etc

I have not had one shatter, what can happen is they break off at the flange if too much side pressure is applied or they become twisted. This event is generally unspectacular and not that dangerous but I always wear a full face shield when using theses discs in the TS or AG.

Eye and face injuries using grinders (mainly angle grinders) are the highest reported DIY injuries for a individual tool. Nearly twice as many as the next DIY devices (lawnmowers and ladders).

Only 14% of people injured while grinding are wearing ANY PPE (including PPE not directly related to the injury eg eye injury but were wearing boots).

The lesson here is whatever the cost of the tools purchased, factor in, purchase and use appropriate PPE.

Agree with BobL re the face shield as well as earmuffs.

With regards your question - I would get the best drill I could afford as it is sure [in most cases] to get used far more than your angle grinder. Years ago I bought a cheap angle grinder from Supa-Cheap to cut pavers as I didn't want to use my good Makita and get it full of paver dust. I still have it, lost count as to the number of disks it has used both for pavers and grinding bits and pieces but I can't kill it with a stick - the Makita would probably have survived but I chose to buy a throw-a-way rather than risk it - so, I now have a goodie and a cheapie - it's handy having both.

Regards,
Bob