The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Grinding/Cleaning Methods

I see that they are selling segmented, blue aluminum oxide discs for angle grinders. Someone was telling me that they are great for smoothing up welds. Has anyone used these discs for that ?

You must be talking about those disks that look like they have little pieces of sandpaper glued around it. I get them from Harbor Freight, and think they are the greatest thing since sliced bread, so to speak.

Brian,
the one that I am talking about is a flat or almost flat version. The litle pieces are mountet around the outer portion of the circle instead of projecting in a radial fashion. It is made to go on an angle grinder, ie. very high speed!

What do you like about them ? I hear that you can sand or with a little pressure they can get very aggressive with the surface, is that right ?

I think we are talking about the same thing. Here is an example of what I use from Harbor Freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=44973
A friend introduced them to me after he did some welding for me. They take down the excess weld, and do not damage the metal around the weld like a regular grinding wheel would (especially if I was operating it). So I would not say they are overly agressive, it does take a while for the disk to take down the weld. But they are easy to use.

Brian,
those are exactly the ones and that is what I wanted to find out. Sometime in the New Year I am going to fire up my new MIG outfit and anything that makes up for my lack of skill is very welcome. Thanks again.

Trukernix
I agree with Brian, those grinding discs are the best thinkg after sliced chees. I have used them for 2 years and with my welding skills I need them. The change of angle of attack will change the relult and how much you take off. A older worn off disc will actually start polishing the metal with out scratches. "Walters" makes a good product and I find there discs last longer than some of those from Princess Auto or Ukrainian Tire.

I think those are the ones I just got for grinding some old welds. I am glad I bought the right thing. I also got a 4 1/2 inch grinder for like $15 to run it. I love Harbor Freight.

I also got a few of their face shields, only like $2 on sale right now. I hope you guys all use them...

Fritz,
were the good ones a blue color ?

Tony M,
those angle grinders are great, aren't they? I got a 4 1/2" too because I wanted a small light weight one to use with a cutting wheel. I want to have as precise control as possible.

Thanks for the hint! BTW, I would get a sellstrom face shield instead of the HF one. Its $30, and worth it. You can use a WangFu grinder, but I wouldn't scrimp on the safety gear.

I'm pretty new to angle grinders but finally bought one (Milwaukee) using 4.5" 50 grit paper discs with rubber platter as backing to smooth out the leaf springs (where the bottom spring would wear a groove into the one above) of my front end project. Then changed the disc to wire wheel and removed the rust off the rest of each leaf. So fast, so clean. Wish I had bought one years ago.

Yes, Harbor is pretty neat. Picked up a neat 11pc adjustable reaming set for $60+freight.