Hand held metal polishing tool...?

[The Z'eer]

https://www.aldi.co.uk/1200w-angle-grinder/p/093549044695700

An amazing price, mind bogglingly cheap! Considering its a 1200 watt motor with variable speed that's very tempting tool to buy.

Will it accept universal angle grinder attachments? Also, is the guard removable?

 

[hotrodder]

Get the feeling i'm wasting my time but an angle grinder isn't even close to being able to 'do it all', look at any polished/detailed car wheel, rocker cover, inlet manifold or pretty much anything and think about access for the tool...

Stolen pic of a wheel for example

zero chance of getting at anything other than the face of the spokes and lip of the rim with an angle grinder without catching other bits of the wheel

I'd love to see someone manage to polish something like this crankcase breather i made with an angle grinder...

for starters unlike the lump of rectangular tube or something else large/flatish used in the angle grinder polishing demo vids how are you gonna hold it securely without marking it? Hold it in one hand and a grinder in the other and things won't end well so need to make a fixture to get round that and there's still zero chance of getting at some areas without narrow spindle mounted mops. If they're on a stationary buffer then can safely hold the part and manipulate it for access etc. The only thing an angle grinder was of any use for on that part was to knock back one weld on the top cap. Everything else was done with a bench grinder... pre polishing with convolute wheels to get rid of the extrusion marks on the tube used to make it and then various mops and compounds

This fuel tank is another example http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/media/albums/another-beetle-tank.583/ several areas where the conformability of traditional mops are needed and a couple where small mops down to tiny mounted felts on a die grinder are about the only way

There is no perfect tool for everything but when it comes to polishing stuff that's not too heavy to pick up/hold the closest thing to one is a pedestal buffer/converted bench grinder

That Aldi angle grinder has the usual (for 115, 125 & 230mm machine size) M14 spindle so will take regular backing pads etc. Smaller 100mm angle grinders have a smaller arbor and usually an M10 spindle. The guard will be removable, the question i'd be asking is how hot does it get and how much torque does it have at lower rpm... no idea as i've never used one, that sort of stuff is never mentioned in marketing stuff or small print and is virtually always what ruins variable speed leccy tools i.e. the speed control is electric and slowing the motor kills torque and cooling. Given it's price it's not exactly a big deal though

 

[The Z'eer]

Get the feeling i'm wasting my time but an angle grinder isn't even close to being able to 'do it all', look at any polished/detailed car wheel, rocker cover, inlet manifold or pretty much anything and think about access for the tool...

Stolen pic of a wheel for example

zero chance of getting at anything other than the face of the spokes and lip of the rim with an angle grinder without catching other bits of the wheel

I'd love to see someone manage to polish something like this crankcase breather i made with an angle grinder...
View attachment 92920
for starters unlike the lump of rectangular tube or something else large/flatish used in the angle grinder polishing demo vids how are you gonna hold it securely without marking it? Hold it in one hand and a grinder in the other and things won't end well so need to make a fixture to get round that and there's still zero chance of getting at some areas without narrow spindle mounted mops. If they're on a stationary buffer then can safely hold the part and manipulate it for access etc. The only thing an angle grinder was of any use for on that part was to knock back one weld on the top cap. Everything else was done with a bench grinder... pre polishing with convolute wheels to get rid of the extrusion marks on the tube used to make it and then various mops and compounds

This fuel tank is another example http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/media/albums/another-beetle-tank.583/ several areas where the conformability of traditional mops are needed and a couple where small mops down to tiny mounted felts on a die grinder are about the only way

There is no perfect tool for everything but when it comes to polishing stuff that's not too heavy to pick up/hold the closest thing to one is a pedestal buffer/converted bench grinder

That Aldi angle grinder has the usual (for 115, 125 & 230mm machine size) M14 spindle so will take regular backing pads etc. Smaller 100mm angle grinders have a smaller arbor and usually an M10 spindle. The guard will be removable, the question i'd be asking is how hot does it get and how much torque does it have at lower rpm... no idea as i've never used one, that sort of stuff is never mentioned in marketing stuff or small print and is virtually always what ruins variable speed leccy tools i.e. the speed control is electric and slowing the motor kills torque and cooling. Given it's price it's not exactly a big deal though

Not at all, the information is certainly appreciated. The part I'm working on does require a hand held tool due it's size and the practicality of the job. It's an exhaust pipe which is several foot long, and not the lightest of pieces either. I certainly wouldn't rule out a converted bench grinder by any means, and in the future if working on smaller parts I'm sure such a tool will be beneficial. I'll be able to secure the piece via a vice (soft clamping it)

I'm thankful you mentioned about the potential low torque of the Aldi grinder. It does seem that quite a few manufacturers fail to list all of the specs/tolerances etc. So, with this in mind if I was to use an angle grinder to a greater level of RPM to avoid damage to the motor or stalling it, would this cause an issue within the polishing process?

 

[ukracer]

Don't bother with the Aldi Grinder. I travelled miles to an Aldi this afternoon on the advice from customer service that there was 8 grinders left at the store.

Sadly I ended up with nappies. malted brown bread a swede and a bar of Cadbury chocolate. But not one damn grinder.

Gutted.

 

[The Z'eer]

Don't bother with the Aldi Grinder. I travelled miles to an Aldi this afternoon on the advice from customer service that there was 8 grinders left at the store.

Sadly I ended up with nappies. malted brown bread a swede and a bar of Cadbury chocolate. But not one damn grinder.

Gutted.

The nappies, chocolate and malted bread fair enough...but the swede?!? I think I'd opt for a nice squash instead when it comes to veg

Yeah, I think the grinders are gone now, hence the reason they're not available on line. Maybe they'll return in the coming months.

 

[ukracer]

The nappies, chocolate and malted bread fair enough...but the swede?!? I think I'd opt for a nice squash instead when it comes to veg

Yeah, I think the grinders are gone now, hence the reason they're not available on line. Maybe they'll return in the coming months.

They do come up. probably about twice a year. what's annoying is I was there last week and I saw about 25 of them but the price was still 20.

 

[hotrodder]

Not at all, the information is certainly appreciated. The part I'm working on does require a hand held tool due it's size and the practicality of the job. It's an exhaust pipe which is several foot long, and not the lightest of pieces either. I certainly wouldn't rule out a converted bench grinder by any means, and in the future if working on smaller parts I'm sure such a tool will be beneficial. I'll be able to secure the piece via a vice (soft clamping it)

I'm thankful you mentioned about the potential low torque of the Aldi grinder. It does seem that quite a few manufacturers fail to list all of the specs/tolerances etc. So, with this in mind if I was to use an angle grinder to a greater level of RPM to avoid damage to the motor or stalling it, would this cause an issue within the polishing process?

Cheers. I'd still rather hold the exhaust and use a pedestal buffer wherever possible personally. http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/welding-304.34462/#post-379248 That's how the exhaust in that thread got polished, the owner (one of my best mates) broke the back of the polishing before i finished welding it together, basically after a bit of fitting and welding 11 or so parts (2 boxes, various bends etc) became 5. They were then polished because once welded together access to some areas sucked so it made sense to get the bulk out of the way first. Final polishing was still done mostly with a pedestal buffer but thankfully not by me. Then the car went for a rolling road session, the exhaust changed colour and everyone took the mickey out his chavvy pale gold exhaust

If you run the different finishing/graining (non woven SCM abrasives) or polishing wheels too fast they just wear out more quickly and can also smear bits of themselves over the workpiece. It's not gonna ruin the part as any residue they transfer will come off but chomping through these types of abrasives quickly gets expensive and the finish usually won't be as good.

 

[The Z'eer]

Cheers. I'd still rather hold the exhaust and use a pedestal buffer wherever possible personally. http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/welding-304.34462/#post-379248 That's how the exhaust in that thread got polished, the owner (one of my best mates) broke the back of the polishing before i finished welding it together, basically after a bit of fitting and welding 11 or so parts (2 boxes, various bends etc) became 5. They were then polished because once welded together access to some areas sucked so it made sense to get the bulk out of the way first. Final polishing was still done mostly with a pedestal buffer but thankfully not by me. Then the car went for a rolling road session, the exhaust changed colour and everyone took the mickey out his chavvy pale gold exhaust

If you run the different finishing/graining (non woven SCM abrasives) or polishing wheels too fast they just wear out more quickly and can also smear bits of themselves over the workpiece. It's not gonna ruin the part as any residue they transfer will come off but chomping through these types of abrasives quickly gets expensive and the finish usually won't be as good.

That's a very nice result you achieved on the exhaust there Unfortunately what's also against me is the space and accessibility of use if I was to a fix in a bench grinder. For now I think a die grinder would work best. I was looking at this one http://www.makitauk.com/products/me...all-die-grinders/gd0811c-die-grinder-8mm.html I like the idea it's a variable speed item with a mx of 7000 RPM unlike most other grinders. I suspect the torque at lower speeds may be satisfactory for polishing without the risk of burning out the motor or it stalling?

 

[hotrodder]

That's gonna have plenty of grunt but bear in mind die grinders are designed more for use with smallish dia abrasives hence the small dia collet and max wheel dia of 50mm. Their 'straight grinder' bigger brothers are for larger dia consumables/abrasives, http://www.makitauk.com/pam/custom/media/literature/specbook_jan2016/large/SpecBookHi_82.pdf but are relatively big heavy beasts like the cheaper 2nd hand Wolf straight grinders i mentioned

Have a look at what Metabo offer, dunno if they do much in the way of variable low speed die or straight grinders but they'd be my choice for a low rpm angle grinder, for example a WEV 15-125 is more powerful and half the price of that Makita die grinder. Still wouldn't be my choice for polishing stuff but if you really don't want to or can't find/make the room and there's none of those cheap Aldi things about to try it'll be more versatile than a die grinder most of the time. I wouldn't have thought it'd be a great idea as i reckon it'd ruin the 'balance' and make it harder to control* but if you look through http://thepolishingshop.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_Spindles___Adaptors-p1.html you'll find pigtail adaptors for fitting conventional mops to angle grinders. More spendy but https://www.abrasivesformetal.co.uk/FiniPower-Metaworking-Machines.aspx have a longer body and rear handle/switch for more control/stability. Price the different polishing kits and you'll see why most of us prefer conventional gear for polishing and use variable speed angle grinders for graining larger areas with non woven abrasives

* spin a bicycle wheel when holding it by the spindle at arms length, then wave it about from side to side...

 

[The Z'eer]

That's gonna have plenty of grunt but bear in mind die grinders are designed more for use with smallish dia abrasives hence the small dia collet and max wheel dia of 50mm. Their 'straight grinder' bigger brothers are for larger dia consumables/abrasives, http://www.makitauk.com/pam/custom/media/literature/specbook_jan2016/large/SpecBookHi_82.pdf but are relatively big heavy beasts like the cheaper 2nd hand Wolf straight grinders i mentioned

Have a look at what Metabo offer, dunno if they do much in the way of variable low speed die or straight grinders but they'd be my choice for a low rpm angle grinder, for example a WEV 15-125 is more powerful and half the price of that Makita die grinder. Still wouldn't be my choice for polishing stuff but if you really don't want to or can't find/make the room and there's none of those cheap Aldi things about to try it'll be more versatile than a die grinder most of the time. I wouldn't have thought it'd be a great idea as i reckon it'd ruin the 'balance' and make it harder to control* but if you look through http://thepolishingshop.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_Spindles___Adaptors-p1.html you'll find pigtail adaptors for fitting conventional mops to angle grinders. More spendy but https://www.abrasivesformetal.co.uk/FiniPower-Metaworking-Machines.aspx have a longer body and rear handle/switch for more control/stability. Price the different polishing kits and you'll see why most of us prefer conventional gear for polishing and use variable speed angle grinders for graining larger areas with non woven abrasives

* spin a bicycle wheel when holding it by the spindle at arms length, then wave it about from side to side...

Sadly variable speed straight grinders from my knowledge aren't available. I do see the difference between the die and straight grinders and I'm glad you illustrated this since many manufacturers are advertising straight grinders to be die as well.

Any ideas why die some die grinders specify a max of 50 mm for their attachments? Would it really matter if the attachment was to a greater size?

 

[hotrodder]

I doubt the bearings or motor were designed for coping with larger & heavier consumables, at least in the long term. They were designed for getting into tight spaces...

There is nothing that'll do everything or even most stuff without sucking at some jobs. Sooner or later you end up with a pile of similar but different versions even if you avoid purposely doubling stuff up so you don't need to keep swapping consumables

 

[langy]

You won't see a pro polisher using hand held polisher very often, it's a last resort tool, they will always use a pedestal machine.

 

[The Z'eer]

I doubt the bearings or motor were designed for coping with larger & heavier consumables, at least in the long term. They were designed for getting into tight spaces...

There is nothing that'll do everything or even most stuff without sucking at some jobs. Sooner or later you end up with a pile of similar but different versions even if you avoid purposely doubling stuff up so you don't need to keep swapping consumables

Thanks for the advice there, I think I'll buy the dies grinder anyway as I'm sure it'll be used for for it's intended purpose anyway. As for a low speed variable speed angle grinder, I'll get one of those too for metal polishing.

 

[The Z'eer]

You won't see a pro polisher using hand held polisher very often, it's a last resort tool, they will always use a pedestal machine.

One of those may come in time, but at present it's not possible. I'm sure a satisfactory result can materialise from hand held tools, even if the job does take a greater length of time.

 

[The Z'eer]

Finally a decision was made https://www.howetools.co.uk/dewalt-d28117-110v-angle-grinder-115mm?gclid=CLGy45XX-s8CFUccGwodfQ0H-g this should suffice for some metal polishing jobs and a few tasks