Die-grinders

[TarAlderion]

When I used to weld hand rail and other decorative iron work I worked at a couple different shops, one had compressed air piped throughout the shop, the other didnt. The shop that had the compressed air had the pneumatic die grinder and the other had the beefy electric (I think one dewalt and one milwakee), and I have to say that I infanitly prefered the pneumatic (just a plain straight, not 90 deg). Overall it was alot easier to use, the electric die grinders were bulky and had some weight to them and really required two hand operation, whereas the pneumatic you could use with one hand, no problem, it was light weight, ran smoother, and could fit into a lot tighter spaces.

Another tool that I found to be super valuable in the fab shop was a band file/belt linisher/"belt file" or whatever you want to call it,
This - Small Belt Linisher

Those little things are great for cleaning up welds and rounding corners and getting into hard to reach spots. I have also seen them in pneumatic if that is the way you want to go. You can buy the 1/2" wide belts and split them in half and run 1/4" belts for cleaning up welds in corners, and dealing with tight radii areas. A 60 grit belt on one of those will knock down a weld pretty fast. You do end up going through a lot of belts, unless you buy good quality belts (which the shop never did so we burned through a ton of those things). Just thought I would throw that out there too.

[Daryl]

Ingersoll-Rand.
The best at any price low or high. Low air consumption per revolution, long lasting (always keep all air tools oiled), and simply can not be beat (no apologies to any other maker). I also work at a heavy truck dealership where the I-R tools easily beat out all competitors in performance. Best of all, they also are not the most expensive. Win-win.

[j@j metal works]

I use a air die grinder, its a little cheaper than a elcectric and a lot smaller. I use electric die grinder at work and they seem to be a little too big to handle sometime. The RPM's are higher on an electric than air. Another tool you may look at is a naumatic file. I have one that I use a lot. It takes a 3/8 x 13 in belt and works good for corners and such. You find them at Nothern Tool or Harbor Freight.

[ironrosefarms]

I too buy my pneumatic die grinders at Harbor Freight and if you watch for them to go on sale I have got them cheap as $10. Plenty of power and for a cheap tool I am well pleased, I have used expensive ones from Snap On and the Matco dealer and was no more satisfied with performance of them. I have both the right angle and straight versions and both are very useful.

James

[JAllcorn]

I've got several air die grinders, H/F, Enco, IR, Snap-on, etc. Also a Milwaukee electric one. You get what you pay for. The cheap ones from H/F, etc. don't have the torque and under hard use will bog down. Air consumption is stated on the box when you buy it so don't buy one your compressor can't support. My Snap-on and IR use lots of air but rarely slow down under the heaviest use. The IR was about $100 and I will NEVER buy one of the cheap ones again!

The Milwaukee electric is used for remote work where no air is available. It is a real workhorse with lots of torque and you will wear out before it does! I think it cost over $300.

I use them mostly with carbide cutters of various shapes and sometimes with small mounted rocks, grinding welds on things like staircases and other expensive commission work. My IR is a FRONT EXHAUST model and helps blow the cut metal shards away from me. Be sure to wear appropriate safety equipment, face shield, safety glasses, leather jacket, hearing protection, etc.

Be sure to keep them oiled.

[jake27081991]

what ever you do..dont buy an Ozito one

it is the worst tool you could possibly buy....when youve got something spinning that fast the last thing you want is a wonky chuck (what ever they're called on a die grinder)

mine was about $40 AUS....i would definalty go for the air one instead....

[mcraigl]

I've got a straight electric one and a couple of right angle pneumatic ones. Mostly used with rolloc surface prep pads and carbide burs. The little egg shaped carbide burrs kick but for blending welds in tight spots. I think the difference in where you can reach with the two styles is minimal, but the controlability of the right angle is an order of magnitude higher than the straight one. Also I agree with everyone else about air vs. elec. The air is a one handed tool and the elec pretty much requires two hands due to it's weight and it being a straight shaft.