Thread: Grinder advice

That looks to be fine for what you want it for, and is only 3.6kg. My Hitachi grinder and a few others weigh a lot more than that and can get tiring using it for extended periods.
The RPM is up to any other grinder so it will cut just as quick but you have the ability to slow it down for polishing.

I have a couple of these grinder/ sander/ polishers and just checked and one is a Ryobi CG 180 SPK and has worked fine for years. I only bought it for polishing and thats all it's been used for, I think I paid somewhere around $70 for it, though it may have been a run out model.

Dave

Hi

Do you think its going to cut slower because of the lower rpm?
Its the speed on the outside of the wheel you are worried about. Which is 72m/s for the 125mm wheel and 62m/s for the 180mm wheel with twice the power.
Can you get thin cutting discs in 180mm? They make a huge differance in cutting speed.

One thing you might like to check first is the price of discs etc you may find the 180mm are much more expensive, although they will last a lot longer.

Also 2hp can take some holding onto. But as you have a 100mm already you wont lose much by skipping the 125.

Stuart

Cheers Dave and Stuart

Another benefit of the 180mm grinder over the 125mm is that it can take the same discs as the 125mm, as it has the same spindle size. This will give me a lot more options with what I can use, provided there aren't any associated problems with this line of thought.

Thanks again!

Hi LordBug

Good luck with the grinder purchase - a good 180mm is a great tool for a wide range of jobs.

My company manufactures and sells abrasives around the world and I would be happy to spot you a pack of 25 of our 180mm x 1.6mm INOX grade Cutting wheels for free on the one condition that report back to this thread on how you found them.

We sell them for about $2 / wheel in packs of 25 and I would be happy to set up a 20% off discount code on our web site for forum memers if the interest is there.

Let me know your delivery details by PM if you are keen to give them a try!

Cheers.

Ben Ferguson
Managing Director
Smith & ARROW (Australia) Pty Ltd

Hi Ben,

First of, wow! Thank you very much for your offer, I'm more than grateful to take you up on that
The timing is perfect, as I have a large quantity of pallet and flow racking that I acquired from work which I need to cut up for better storage, and the 100mm wasn't reaching the awkward spots that well, not to mention how often I had to change the wheels.

I would also be very surprised if there wasn't a great deal of interest in a discount code

Cheers

Bertil

Originally Posted by LordBug

Hi all,

I'm looking to get a grinder to complement my 100mm Bosch, and have it fairly well narrowed down, and would like some advice/experience on the choice.

My goals are mostly set on the Ryobi EAG1518GSP, a 1500W 180mm multi speed unit: Ryobi - 1500W Angle Grinder/Sander/Polisher Kit (180mm)
The reason this one has caught my interest is thatI intend to try my hand at making some concrete countertops in the near future, and this grinder would be useful for the process of polishing them up.

I wont comment on teh grinder Lordbug but for the counter tops, I understand that the "best" method is to cast them upside down on a sheet of glass and to use a really good concrete mix that is well compacted. Surface polishing is then minimal.

That's a really good idea Ian, I'll try to remember when a do a smaller cast
The video from Fu-Tung Cheng that I've got makes use of melamine, which should provide a close to smooth surface.


Well, I picked up the grinder an hour ago, and have managed to get in a brief amount of use with an 180x2mm Rocket brand cutting disc.

There's a bit of kick when starting it up at full speed, and even though it's only a 6,500rpm machine it still feels and sounds plenty powerful.

I'm only used to using the 1mm thick cutting discs on the small grinder, so I'm not used to the cutting characteristics of a wider disc. It felt like it was taking a bit longer, but forcing it in didn't see the machine slowing down a great deal - the power of it is definitely a plus.

The weight is pleasant, I can see myself being able to use it for extended durations without too much tiring. The grip around the trigger is really nice, and the ability to rotate the handle is a massive plus. The added touch of the spanner living in the side handle is very handy, as I'm usually terrible with the placement of tools like that

I also picked up a 125x1mm Rocket brand cutting disc, so I will have to try that out on the weekend to see how it performs.

I can definitely see myself getting a lot of use out of this grinder

Good to hear your happy with it.
My son uses mine all the time (more than me) for buffing cars and it handles it no problems.
From memory mine has soft start which I find a pain in the back side because you have to wait until it builds up speed.

Dave

Have fun with your new toy
just take care, 20 years ago one of my employees almost cut their hand off using a 180mm angle grinder and cutting disc

remember it's the speed at the very edge of the disc that does the work, so you may not be able to spin a 125mm disc fast enough

a quick speed chart
at 1500 rpm, the edge of a 125mm disc is doing about 9.8m/s, while a 180mm disc is going at 14.1m/s
at 3000 rpm, the edge of a 125mm disc is doing about 19.6m/s, while a 180mm disc is going at 28.3m/s
at 6500 rpm, the edge of a 125mm disc is doing about 42.5m/s, while a 180mm disc is going at 61.3m/s