Shown above is a typical angle grinder. Well, it’s not really typical, as it’s a Milwaukee’s M18 Fuel cordless brushless grinder with fast braking action, but it has all the semblances of most angle grinders and cut-off tools.
Angle grinders usually have similar basic handle, gearbox, and spindle geometries, a repositionable auxiliary handle, and an adjustable wheel guard.
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The wheel guard, which is going to be different depending on whether you’re using a cut-off wheel or grinding wheel, is an essential safety attachment. On a commercial jobsite, a safety compliance officer is going to do their best to make sure you keep the wheel guard on your grinder.
Wheel guards serve to deflect sparks and debris away from users, and to shield and protect them from abrasive cutting and grinding wheels, which can cause serious damage if (when) they fail and fly off. Personal protective gear, such as safety glasses and a face shield, and other PPE are often required as well.
OSHA regulations require the use of guarding on angle grinders.
Angle grinder wheel guards are often adjustable, with newer styles, such as the new Dewalt wheel guard shown here (at that bottom of that 2015 power tool preview), aiming to be more featured and user-friendly. Most simply provide 180° of coverage, but that new Dewalt guard offers even more.
A lot of users remove the wheel guards off their angle grinders, with the most frequent reason I’ve heard being that the guards get in the way of the work. Wheel guards are adjustable, so that you can angle them differently as needed, but I’ve been told that constant adjustment really slows things down. And when you’re on the clock and expected to finish a project in certain time, slowdowns are to avoided at all costs.
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I don’t use my angle grinder as often as a professional user might. In fact, a welder, commercial contractor, or other daily user might use their angle grinder more in a day than I might use mine in a month or longer. So although I have never felt the need to remove the guard of my angle grinder to make a cutting or grinding task go faster, I’m not in the position to argue with those that do.
Do you remove the wheel guard of your angle grinder? Why? What do you do to protect yourself from sparks, debris, or exploding abrasive wheels?
In my opinion, using such a tool without the safety guards in place, and willfully, is too big of a risk. Nothing might happen the first time you do so. Or the second. Or the 50th. But that doesn’t diminish the risk. It just takes one bad wheel or bad luck for there to be a mishap.
I’m of the belief that the first time I use my angle grinder without its guard, that’s when the wheel will decide to explode catastrophically, and I just won’t risk that. Cut-off wheels and grinding wheels do break, and they do so spectacularly, sending shrapnel flying off in all directions. Even with safety glasses or goggles, and a face shield, and body protection when appropriate, I won’t use an angle grinder without its wheel guard properly attached.
John L.
I used to always remove the guard, whether it was a grinding wheel, cutting wheel, flap disc, etc. After seeing pictures of what happens when a cutoff wheel explodes, I use it 95% of the time now. There’s occasionally a time when it won’t fit into a tight spot so I remove it.
mikeh
My brother is a landscaper who does 90% of the work on his equipment, including completely rebuilding/repainting his large equipment. He uses grinders/cut-offs alot. He has always taken the guards off and that has served him well for 40 years. Two years ago he was working under a truck with a dewalt grinder and he inadvertently didn’t have the correct wheel for the grinder. The wheel flew off and hit him immediately above his eye, ripped his head open (he had goggles on). He has healed very well, as well as an ugly guy can, but he will never remove another safety guard off any piece of equipment and is fanatical now with his guys when they are doing something even slightly unsafe…it only takes a second. These guards are there for a reason
Brian Peters
Had the safety guard off cutting blade caught my jumper blade ran up my arm before cutting down to my bone trip to a,&e never going gaurdless again lessons learnt
tim
Never, I hate it when people do.
I’ve borrowed then from people where they were missing the guard and have caught my knuckles on the backside of the wheel too many times.
Dan
I’m sorry to tell you but you’re definitely using it wrong. At no point, guard or not should your knuckles be anywhere where they can catch the backside of the wheel.
MT_Noob
+1 for guard on. Anything spinning that fast gets my full attention and all recommended PPE. Although I am also just a rare user of cutoff wheels and grinding wheels.
On a tangent, what is you take on expire dates for grinding wheels? I saw somewhere once that they actually expire. I always do the “ring” test before mounting a wheel into the grinder, but I don’t check for a manufacture or expiry date. So maybe I am not being as safe as I should be.
Toolfreak
They don’t really “expire”, but the chemicals that keep the abrasives together don’t last forever and they can become more fragile and more prone to coming apart over time.
What really makes a difference is how they are stored. Stored in a dry, cool, dark place, they can last a long time. Sitting in the sun for days/weeks/years and being subject to hot-cold-hot-cold temps during each day and night, or being exposed to chemicals and fumes can make them into something you wouldn’t want to use.
It’s not a bad idea to only use newer grinding wheels, and only keeping one or two extras on hand if you have a grinder that uses the most common sizes. I can see where you’d want to stock up if you find a hard-to-get size or get a sale or clearance price, in which case you just need to pay attention to how they are stored.
I use older 4″ wheels for my old Craftsman grinder and never had an issue yet. I stocked up when they discontinued the 4″ wheels and will be using them for years to come unless they start having problems, then will either use other 4″ wheels or just keep it to use with the knotted wire brush.
BikerDad
Nope. I have way too little experience with grinders to even begin to delude myself that I’m “good enough” to get away with it. Nor do I spike up the guard on a circular saw.
Mike
Never take the guard off it for your protection,you like your eyes you can’t grow another set
mikeB
On some jobs you can’t do the job with a guard on.
If you are using the angle grinder to surface prepare previously painted exterior walls, then you have to use it without a guard or it can’t do the job
Dave L.
The last time I used my grinder was after someone else had taken off the guard. I was trying to slot concrete when the wheel caught in it. It immediately whipped around and cut a neat 1/8″ slot in one of my calves. Bled like mad, I wrapped in several layers of paper towel and drove to the ER. Doctor there washed it out with most of a bottle of Betadine and put two layers of stitches in it. It healed up nicely.
Eric
It depends on the situation for me.
Cut off wheel = never remove the guard
grinding wheel = It’s on 75% of the time, sometimes it really does just get in the way
wire wheel = again it’s on about 75% of the time
flap wheel = I almost never use the guard
For safety gear I always wear safety glasses, and usually will put on a face shield too. If I’m using a cut off wheel then the leather welding jacket and chaps get put on. I’ve had a 14″ and a 4.5″ cut off wheel blow up on me. Luckily for me I wasn’t injured either time. An internet friend of mine had a 4.5″ disc blow up and cut a nasty gash in his thigh. Had it hit just an inch higher he could have lost a pretty important body part. I was always safety conscious when using a grinder, but after seeing what that did to his leg I’m even more careful.
tim
Agree with the face shield and glasses. About a year ago I had a fragment bounce off a machine and come up under my mask and hit me in the eye.
Its never fun having anything drilled our of your eye.
patrick spencer
the first thing i did was take mine off….12 years ago…..use it weekly…sometimes daily….never had a problem…..it helps if you pay attention……90 percent of what i use are diamond blades…for cutting tile…..scoring stucco…..etc…….. i can understand leaving it on if i were cutting rebar all day…….the metal cutting blades come apart fairly easily and often….guard or not…..the best safety device…is a sharp mind!!!
Nick
This was one of my coworker’s mantras for years, until he lost an eye last summer, nearly losing his life in the process…
Sean
I see tile guys using continuous rim diamond blades (for wet grinding) grinding tile dry without a guard on the grinder. I guess the blade cuts alright, but I always wonder they they don’t use the guard. I’m sure there have been accidents with diamond blades as well.
I always use the guard unless it is *really* getting in my way, which is not that often, and I always use glasses. I should probably step up to a face shield.
katie
Or you can, you know, *only* lose your eyes, finger, life, who cares… whatever. It’s not like statistically most accidents happen with the SEASONED VETERANS or the idiot newbies /s.
Christmas-flagged
Famous last words
Ry
As a professional user in a high-risk trade, I am extremely safety conscious.
When I use an angle grinder, I’m wearing gloves/glasses/face shield, with the guard and handle in place.
That being said, there are some infrequent situations when one or both of those safety items make it impossible to complete the task, and after adjusting them to every possible position you make a conscious decision to remove them.
Before I remove a safety item, I re-evaluate the approach I’m taking to the task…
“Is there a better suited tool for this, can I reposition the work, is this approach angle going to compromise the integrity of the disk, is this work critical to the operation of the finished product, ect…”
If those filters still leave the ungaurded grinder as the only option… Re-check all my PPE, (probably throw on welding gloves), remove guard, get it done, put the guard back on.
Jay k.
I have the 36 volt dewalt grinder, and the only way it fits into the small toughsystem case is by taking off the guard. Other than that, too many ‘almosts’ to not use one anymore, and now i work in a hospital operating room – fingers, eyes, etc… not pretty!!!
Sean
Another brilliant hard-case design by one of the better manufacturers… (unless you are using a size smaller than you could have purchased.) I’m actually not very familiar with the Toughsystem, but I am familiar with hard-cases that comes with power tools, and many of them are designed piss poorly. Not ragging on Dewalt more than anyone else, but the first one that popped in my mind is the Dewalt jigsaw case: there is a spot that LOOKS like it should be for blades, but the outer edge of the “pocket” does not touch wall to wall and instead has massive gaps for the blades to fall through. Essentially the blades are free to bounce around the entire case knocking into the jigsaw unless, of course, you keep the case stationary at all times.
Yadda
Always on.
Chad
I only remove the guard when I can’t do the job with it in the way. With my newer Dewalt cordless the guard is bulky. Its much thicker than previous guards and it is also harder to remove. But, some grinds require it. This thread has me thinking there must be a way to modify the attachment so it comes off easier.
Andy
According to standard insurance payouts, loss vision in one eye is about $150,000, which about half goes to medical bills to keep one from dying after the initial trauma (if you are lucky enough to only lose one eye). The other 75, 000 disability that need to last the rest of your life. Boils down to about, 13¢ an hour for life. (Oddly enough about half the hourly rate of a hard time prisoner). I keep the $10 guard on, and keep a stack of new wheels close because a large soda from the food truck cost about the same as a grinding wheel. And for me I would rather see beautiful woman in full depth perception for life, than sit at home watching day time t.v. out of one eye making 13¢ an hour.
Jason
Not a bad idea 🙂
Royesses
I never remove the guard. I never let my loved ones remove the guards.
Curtis
Never. Never never never never. I wear safety glasses and a face shield – had one too many sparks fly around the glasses and singe eyebrows. Granted, I found the reeeeally cool faceshields…http://www.amazon.com/Sperian-Protection-S8500-Bionic-Shield/dp/B001VXXUWK
Also, raises the question of how many of us use dust collection on angle grinders? I work in engineering consulting, and every time I see a building with brick facades being repointed…well, I can’t see the building for the cloud of mortar dust from the masons grinding out grout lines.
Silicosis is a bad way to go.
Jason
Yea if osha walked up to that job site that contractor would be having a bad day. The standard now is you should be using some short of dust collection system, and be wearing a full face mask.
Anthony
I’ve never taken them off, but can you make a topic about cutting blades harbor freight had some pretty good blades that weren’t made in china I forgot from where though I’ve only used one for the past four years to cut vinyl blinds and aluminum screen rods
glenn
Never, its just not safe.
Chris Fyfe
Only once , never again .
Chris
Jerry
Absolutely not. If I cannot reach where I want with the guard in place, I use a different grinder. I have a 7 inch, 4 1/2 inch, a 3 inch wheel on an air angle die grinder, as well as carbides for the die grinder.
I know a guy with one eye, another with one hand, one with one leg, and just this year, one missing a finger. What do they ALL have in common? They took a safety shortcut to ‘hurry things up’. At most, any one of them would have saved 10 minutes doing the job the safe way. Yes, each of them could be called freak accidents, but those seem to happen a lot more to those who take safety shortcuts.
That said, my old angle grinder died this week, and I replaced it with one with a shield that not only is tool free, but ‘ratchets’ in one direction. It can be rotated in less than a second, by rotating it (one way only) to various ‘clicks’. Spend a few bucks to get one that adjusts quickly and without tools, and save yourself a potential injury.
steve
Only if i’m trying to mount a blade that wont fit on it.
Yeah I know, dangerous as hell to mount a circular saw blade on an angle grinder, but I have done it (once) and I still have all my appendages
Sean
What were you trying to accomplish? Seems like a reciprocating saw or circular saw probably could done the job, whatever it was.
This post kind of reminds me of the “chain saw” angle grinder disc. Anyone use one of those? King Arthur tools makes them, I believe. You can buy them at Harbor Freight. Although I think the King Arthur brand has been replaced (at least at my store) with a copy. I bought one that says “Warrior” on it. The arbor size was NOT the same as my 4.5″ angle grinder, if I remember correctly, which made me put it back in the box. It might be that it is meant for a 4″ angle grinder and maybe those have a different arbor size. I’m not sure. Ignoring the arbor size, it’s probably a fairly safe tool for an angle grinder, especially compared to a 7.25″ circular saw blade!
Doresoom
I know this is an old discussion, but just wanted to include a response for safety’s sake.
Mounting a 7-1/4″ circular saw blade on an angle grinder is asking for injury. Most circular saw blades are only rated for 8,000 RPM, which is around the operating speed for many 7″ angle grinders. If you’re using a 4-1/2″ grinder, those often go up to 11,000+ RPM, which could likely result in a blade failure due to rotational forces.
RC WARD
I have a great respect for all manner of power tools. A little fear too. I would never take off a guard .
Toolfreak
I don’t remove the guard, but now that I have one of the Skil grinders with the quick-release adjustable guards, I will use that one if I need to use the grinder at an angle where a fixed guard in the usual position would be in the way.
I keep the guard on even when using a cutting wheel or wire wheel, just to shield my hand and fingers and in case it needs to be between me and the tool if it snags and spins around on me.
I don’t have one of the special thin guards for cutting wheels, since the grinding wheel guard seems to work fine, I just make sure I don’t have anything on the surface or hanging down that could make it into the larger gap between the cutting wheel and the guard.
Jacob
Depends on what I am doing using a flap disk I typically take the guard off, cutting I usually leave it on, and grinding depends on the position I am grinding in.
Bill K
I’ve NEVER even considered removing the guard! But I have (often) used my angle grinders with the guard in the wrong place. This discussion is a good stimulus for me to pursue learning how to optimally position a guard. Anybody have any tips or favorite learning resources?
(Thanks Stuart for promoting this dialog!)
Carmelo
I’ve never ran a job where the guards stayed on the grinder for regular cutting/ grinding task’s. The guard is either in the way of the cut or you can’t clearly see where you’re cutting. I’d always tell the guys to leave a grinder with a guard on it, in case the safety inspector came around.
When I was stuck supervising school rehab (100% raking and pointing, new parapets/roofs/windows) for the sca, only the tuck point grinders had the guards on them. But the guards still had to be removed when the inside corners, window returns, and verticals had to be cut.
Nathan York
Guy in Cherry Point, NC has been renamed Uno because of a lost finger and a testicle by an exploding 7″ abrasive wheel on a 4 1/2″ grinder.
Yes he removed the guard and installed a larger wheel not rated for higher rotational speeds.
I would bet he”ll never do that again.
Very rarely i have to remove the guard but am extra careful when it’s off and don’t let anyone be around me when i do.
Coach James
I do not remove them, but I do move them to a different position if I need to. I have a couple friends that remove/bypass almost all the built in safety devices on their power tools and equipment as soon as they get it. I do my best to not work anywhere near either of them.
Drew M
I generally like the guard on my Metabo but recently work got a new Bosch grinder and while it is similar to my Metabo, the guard is rubbish. Sparks and dust were spraying out the side when I was cutting some steel the other day. It didn’t seem to matter what I did. My Metabo’s guard does a MUCH better job.
I’m actually finding myself surprised that it is even possible to design a lousy guard.
Btady
I about blew my thumb and finger clean off what a cutoff wheel exploded. Out of work 6 months and still numb finger. Use your guards. 40 years of welding, no accidents. It only takes once to end a career. Guards always got in the way, pain in the neck. Doesn’t matter better than the alternative!
Keith Whitmore
Nope! Guards on my angle grinders stay on. But, sometimes I move them around a bit instead of the way they are factory set at. It all depends how I plan to use it and, which hand I decide to use it in? As I am ambidextrous.
Mark s
Only remove the guard to change a disk, put it back when in use. Type 1 and 27.
Michael
I do sometimes. What I need to do is design a better guard. Perhaps a two peace that you can adjust the opening.
Jeremy
I uses to never use a guard but now I use it always except when I’m using a grinder with a sanding pad for coping trim. I had a wheel break a couple weeks ago using someone else’s grinder that didn’t have a guard and one half hit me in the thigh and the other half landed about 50 ft away from me.
gregpost
I have a healthy respect for almost all power tools, so yes.
Neil
Lots of smart people in this thread. When I first clicked the link, I expected to find at least a third of the responses saying “no guard!”
When I first started out, I never used the guards – they were just in the way too often. After about a dozen accidental contacts between fingers and knuckles with various discs, I began to rethink that strategy.
In the end, I decided on a compromise. I now modify the guards of each new angle grinder I get by removing about a third of the 180* guards from each side. This leaves me with about 60* of guard in the center (aligned with the body/handle) that protects my hands from all accidental contacts, but leaves more than enough clearance around the disc to not get in the way of whatever piece I’m working on.
Of course, this does open up a wider path for disc debris to get thrown than with the full guard if a disc decides to let go, but for me it’s a calculated risk that’s worth it to me personally. It protects me from 98% of the injuries I was experiencing, while allowing me to work better and quicker than I can with a full guard.
NitroSpaceLobster
I read this article on Friday, and gave a little thought to it. My personal grinders have the gaurd on them. There is a 15 amp Makita at work that doesn’t. I just took half a Zip disk to the chest while making a “quick cut”. This certainly cements the idea that the guards should be used whenever possible.
magic
Always use a guard. And glasses and a face shield. Still have had slivers of steel land in my eye, had to run to work to use a 600# magnet to get it out.
I did take it off once to use a 6″ wheel, but after it massacred my glove, it went in the trash after a few cuts.
In my dumpy rental house, I end up putting an FR jacket on and aiming the sparks at my gut when grinding. Might need to invest in leather after that method burned a hole in my jacket and undershirt.
Have a cutting wheel guard, but I never use it. I know that a slight angle can cause one of my wheels to explode, but with one grinder, I’m not about to spent 5 minutes per wheel change. Don’t adjust where the guard is on the grinder, either.
magic
Have seen too many pictures of guys with half of a suicide wheel stuffed into a cheek to rub without. Suicide wheel being 6×035 arrow abrasive. Cuts fast tho!
Bruce
Always leave it on, if the angle grinder won’t fit in there, then use a die grinder.
Bill K
@Bruce: Use of Die Grinder on to small jobs is a great suggestion. Thanks!
Cole
I’m really suprised the opinion is so one sided. Last winter I used a grinder nearly every day and not a single one (of 5) has a guard or ever did for that matter. In the shop we remove them immediately. They get in the way and seriously hinder your ability to see your work. I always wear safety glasses and 95% of the time wear ear muffs but as far as sparks go you just have to pay attention how you handle the tool. I have stuffed my hands and my leg one time but that is due to my lack of attention not the missing guard. If you want or need one that’s okay with me but I feel they are more hassle than anything.
Klaus
In my early years in the workshop i used thicker cutting and grinding discs on my AG and a few times removed the guard, against feeleing uncomfortable with it. But since they were available first i use the very thin 3/64″ cutting discs, and since then NEVER removed the guard again.
My B &D AG has a one-hand adjustable guard, which can be adjusted in seconds. Also i use if possible a face shield – either a modified welders shield with headband and a 3/16″ (~5mm) strong acrylic glass window, or a full-face-shield made of 1/8″ (~ 3mm) strong macrolon. I never sustained any head or facial injuries.
Why doesn’t anyone mention working gloves as a must?
@ Cole
Sparing time and money by constantly being under severe threat of heavy injuries??? Let me tell you this: if in anyone in our workshop would dare to do so, he would instantly declared suicidal. And for the hazard he thereby poses to himself and others, he has to go front and center to our boss for severely ignoring security regulations. Having even caused an accident to others by doing so, he ultimately would be fired.
Our accident insurance always requests a detailed accident report and sometimes even investigates by their own personell – which in this case would mean: No money at all – for no-one.
For all of us craftsmen, one thing should be common:
We are doing hard and sometimes dangerous work to make money – not to become crippled, least of all by foolishness.
Any objections?
Cole
My boss is the one that requires the guards removed. I didn’t say it saves time or money it instead causes unnecessary hassel. They spin at high speeds and can potentially hurt you but angle grinders are not the most dangerous tool in a shop, or at least our shop. With care and some attention to your work the hazard that may be caused by a missing guard can easily be avoided.
Eric
Sounds like from these comments that a lot of folks leave the guards on. I’d like to expand the question and see who actually uses the correct guard….especially when using cutting discs which require type 1 guards. Usually you have to buy the type 1 guard separately and don’t usually seem them stocked at box stores.
I have read posts like this and seen the token pictures with a half a disc wedged in someone’s cheek which has lead me to always use a guard in my DIY efforts. I even purchased one type 1 guard for a dewalt grinder for cutting. However recently tried to buy a type 1 guard (I like to have accessories I guess) for a bosch slim grinder and annoyed they don’t even make one. Strange that a major company wouldn’t offer a major safety item for each of their grinders.
Jerry
Just the other day I had a kind of scary experience. I was using my angle grinder, when I heard it make a funny noise. I immediately stopped it, and I thought the disk may have caught something in an odd way, so I pulled it away from the work, and hit the switch for a fraction of a second to see if the disk spun smoothly. All seemed well, so I lowered it towards the work, clicked it on, and about a half second after reaching full speed, the gearbox seized instantly. The disk unscrewed itself from the arbor, rattled around inside the guard a bit, and went flying across the room, winding up about 15-20 feet away. Had I not had the guard on, I would have had a 4 1/2 inch stone spinning at 10,000 RPM flying around randomly. With the guard in place, it prevented the disk from coming my way, and spit it out the opening, away from me. Luckily, no one else was nearby at the time.
Stan
Once I removed the guard to a angle grinder and never again. Nearly lost a finger because of this and this is just not worth the risk.
I know some will say we have become WAY too safety obsessed, but trust me, no job is worth losing a ligament. I know these guards get in the way and might be inconvenient, but better to live another day then to potentially die that day. Think about your family and friends. Strongly doubt they want you to die.
Don’t listen to the keyboard warriors that insist that safety is for wimps or a waste of time. Chances are either they don’t know what they are talking about.
bikram
The Safty guards are like condom.If. we use they don’t give us work freely & easily.
Dave
And if an “accident” happens, we pay for it for the rest of our lives.
SnakZ
At my job you cant find a grinder with a guard still on it (but we do have them all in a box) they get in the way of the single hand release of the blade and are always a pain to move them around. On a job site you can have all types of things getting on the grinder from mud to pipe dope to many other things that make them hard to work with even when clean and new they are a pain. Plus the size make it hard to do a lot of cuts.
How we do it without getting hurt is that we dont put our face in line with the grinder meaning our face is on the side of it. The only thing the grinder can hit is our arms/hands if it does break. And we make sure to get rid of any bad disc and only use the ones that fit our grinders. We make sure the speaks always go away from us. Where the speaks go is the same place any broken blade parts are going to be flying.
What you should be afraid of is the grinders that dont have the dead man switch.
We have people who had grinders cutting into there legs. I had one fly back and get my arm only to fall on the ground and it was still on grinding away at the floor
Goodnight johnboy
The guards are a real p.i.t.a when trying to cut off or grind metal. The problem is that its hard enough trying to see what your doing with goggles/faceshield on & sparks going all over the damn place. The guard don’t help your line of sight at all. And that’s how some idiot gets sparks in the eyes or an exploding disc or shrapnel to the face because they try to get close to the workpiece. Using an angle grinder 101-always know which way the disc rotates that way you know where to lead in with your cut & your out of the way the sparks/shrapnel are going. Most importantly when overhead/upside down. I’m sorry, but if your stupid enough to put your face parallel to a disc going 10,000 + rpms with shit flying everywhere, you asked for what’s coming to you. And I’ve never seen or had a disc explode on me in my 15+ years of construction/metal fab so I can’t speak on that. BTW, Lenox has a solid steel cutoff disc for $15,20. They’re awesome. And when changing discs, I use my hands to tighten it. Push the lock & tighten the jar is what an old dude told me a long time ago & always remove what’s going to be in the line of sight. And under no circumstances to ever put anything from chest up close to your work. As far as safety is concerned: mandatory anti kickback switch required by every manufacturer on every model & type of angle grinder.
Jon
I mainly run no guards because of the artwork that I can pull off of the grinder it’s extremely dangerous but I can use almost every spinning surface of any type of wheel but keep in mind that I always try to use variable speed grinder if I don’t have one I put a variable speed box in between even if I’m not running super high RPMs it still helps second I modify my guards so that I can lay my wheels flat you’re not supposed to run a type 27 wheel flat but you can if you modify arbors yeah bad idea welding for 25 years but after reading this and the newer Grinders these days have very simple justable guard so I might as well just started cutting them down like a similar post earlier for a guy said he cuts them down to about 60% left except the differences I do that and I also cut the bottom off so they lay flat
Tom
I have a 9″ angle grinder that came with a grinding guard. Now I want to use it with a cutoff wheel, but I can’t find 9″ cutting guards. Does anybody make them?? So far I’ve only found one, made by Makita, and I have no idea if it will even fit my grinder, since nobody ever gives dimensions. My angle grinder is a “Promaker” from Amazon. It’s a nice tool that I don’t often use, but I want a guard for cutting in case that day comes.
Stuart
I don’t know of any off-hand, and couldn’t easily find one, but if there are 9″ cut-off wheels there should be 9″ tools with Type 1 guards.