4 1/2" grinding wheels

[brianstucker]

What's the best for the money?  I got a couple of the Dewalt brand. But there got to be a more abrasive wheel out there. Anybody got a favorite? Thanks in advance.

[TwistedCustoms]

As much as I hate to admit it Harbor Freight has everyone beat on abrasives. I've paid five bucks each for cut off wheels and five bucks for five-packs at HF and the cheap ones cut just as good. Also get all my flap wheels, grinding wheels, wire wheels etc there. They are consumable so why pay more for the same thing.

[51 Papy]

Crappiew

I like the Forney brand better than anything else I've tried.  Dewalt is better than HF but not much IMHO.  I buy them at a farm & ranch store Harrisonville MO but you can pick them up anywhere Forney products are sold.  The pro's will chime in with the top shelf brands shortly.  It looks like your grinder and you are becoming "good" friends.  Stay the course! 

[7A749]

I prefer Sait abrasives myself. The local weld supply sells them so it's easy and convienent, but I've been very happy with their Pipline 1/8' wheel and their Z-Tech .045 cutoff wheels. Both in 6" diameter. I've found them to be affordable and offer long life.

Im not a big fan of the cheap stuff, but I'm not one of those guys who has to have the best of everything either. I definitely stay away from cheap sanding discs tho. Zirconia or ceramic. They outperform aluminum oxide two to one easy.

Been my experience anyways.

[VaughnT]

I definitely recommend Zirconia or ceramics over AO.  While the AO works, it also dulls and wears fast -- doesn't matter if it's on a belt grinder or sanding disk.

Finding them, though, can be a bit problematic.  For high wear items like cut-off disks, I will generally go with whatever's available at the store I'm at.  If I'm running down to Tractor Supply for something, I'll pick up some cutting disks simply because they're there and I'll need them sooner or later.  

Also, for sandpaper disks, the angle the paper is applied to the disk makes a difference.  The steeper the angle, the more surface you can use before you hit the arbor or guard, which means longer life.

[ironwolfforgeca]

I was born with a 9" grinder in my hand !! Ok started welding with one LOL

for the price & long lasting G wheels I use flex-o-vit sp-? stainless fast cut they Chew stainless up !! steel done gone now !

I have done a lot of grinding in 35 years Ouch still doing it Ouch

Steve's Welding & Fab

[arftist]

Norton is among the top brands

Sait is good 

Metabo makes good wheels.

 

15 hours ago, 51 Papy said:

Crappiew

I like the Forney brand better than anything else I've tried.  Dewalt is better than HF but not much IMHO.  I buy them at a farm & ranch store Harrisonville MO but you can pick them up anywhere Forney products are sold.  The pro's will chime in with the top shelf brands shortly.  It looks like your grinder and you are becoming "good" friends.  Stay the course! 

I paid $2 retail for high end cut off wheels.

Not only are you getting severely ripped off but you are risking life and limb using cheap chinese crap.

Google up some photo's of cut off wheel accidents for a chilling reality check.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

I have run a ton of the Harbor Freight grinding and cutoff wheels over the years and never had a problem with them. As to accidents, that is why you keep the guards on the grinders and do not take them off like 99% of the people do. 

[LawnJockey]

I use a lot of HF grinding disks, etc.  I have never had one fly apart but I have had the center strip out several times.  If I am in HF I just walk down the wall with the grinding stuff and load up my basket.  The last time I was there purchasing 4.5" cut off discs I noticed there were two model numbers.  I asked about it and I was told by the McDonalds reject that they were the same.  I am not sure about that as this last batch wears out super quick.  HF sandpaper is next to worthless.  Their dremel bits don't last either.

[Daswulf]

I've used good ones and cheap ones. They all do the job. Seems to me the good ones last a little longer but when it comes to getting the job done they all do it for me. Now as far as them flying apart, Big Gun is right. The guard is there for a reason. And, who's to say they didn't drop the grinder on the wheel and not check it, or weren't using it inappropriately. Not saying there couldn't be a flawed disc out there. Never had a stone fly apart. I've blown up a couple cutoff wheels from misuse, luckily no injuries since the guard was on. 

[JHCC]

A lot of failures come from running discs at higher speeds than they're rated. So don't do it! Keep the guards on! Wear a face mask, goggles, a dust mask! If you have a leather apron, wear that too!

[Mark Ling]

I also use harber freight and have found that they pretty much do just as good as the dealt ones from lowes. And their a lot cheaper!

                                                                                  Littleblacksmith 

[John McPherson]

To a hobby worker, price is the top consideration. Tools, bits, wheels, etc. are only used for a few minutes per week.

If you turn pro, where time is money, then the tool and consumables that last longer means fewer stops and change-overs. Try running a cheap grinder for more than a few minutes in an industrial environment and you will have a fire on a wire.

[arftist]

On 5/23/2016 at 6:52 AM, John McPherson said:

To a hobby worker, price is the top consideration. Tools, bits, wheels, etc. are only used for a few minutes per week.

If you turn pro, where time is money, then the tool and consumables that last longer means fewer stops and change-overs. Try running a cheap grinder for more than a few minutes in an industrial environment and you will have a fire on a wire.

Yup and anyone who thinks cheap crap lasts as long as high end simply hasn't used high end discs.

Cheap crap is a false economy.