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I’ve had to learn more about angle grinders than I’d ever wanted to know!
I have to run various tests of the system, using an angle grinder. (Saws, bolt cutters etc will also be in the attacks/threats tested.) For now, a basic, brief test is to be carried out, showing a snippet of the system’s response.
The problem is that, though I’ve worked with power tools before (including table saws and circular saws), this one involves a thin disc that can shatter, shooting shrapnel into your body! I advise you not to carry out an image-search for angle grinder accidents!
Yes, the odds are low, but this is not something which I have to do; given the option, I’d rather not deal with it!
It is one thing watching lots of videos of thieves using them to cut D-locks/U-locks, with no protective equipment; it is another to not be high or ill-informed, and your life being centred on mountain sports!
A complication is that, having purchased the tool, its manual explicitly forbids using it with Type 1 discs–the very disc which I seem to have seen used in videos. And it recommends against using cut-off wheels, which are the discs used to cut metal with! This is despite the manual itself then mentioning their use–though never sanctioning it. Discs are sold for cutting metal, for angle grinders, yet the angle grinder manual says not?
A Type 1 uses a different flange. So, I looked into a replacement flange. But, it’s by a different manufacturer; will it fit mine?
And then there was the guard–the covering shield which is supposed to protect you from shooting sparks and, hopefully, shrapnel! A Type 1 guard provides extra protection for cut-off discs. But it’s available only on-line, not in shops. And it’s $140! Will it fit my model?
This is one on-line post about angle grinders and Type 27 versus Type 1. This is another post which runs into the same problem as me: the angle grinder manual says never to use a Type 1 disc/wheel on a Type 27 grinder.
It seems that the Type 27 disc which comes with the tool is not only for grinding; there are Type 27 discs you can get for cutting. This is what I now intend to purchase.
N.B. Type 1 discs are flat; Type 27 have depressed centres i.e. non-flat. This can make the Type 1 disc sit too closely to one side of a Type 27 grinder.
N.B. RPM rating is another vital consideration in assessing a disc, as is its expiration date. Yes, they expire (due to the life-span of the adhesive used to construct them with), which I’m told is a major cause of their shattering.
N.B. eye protection is supposed to comply with ANSI Z87.1. But, such products explicitly state that they do not protect against an angle grinder’s shattering disc!
N.B. As much as 90% of the tool’s manual is warnings!
N.B. Welding face-shields and other protective equipment for using an angle grinder are not available in my local shops, other than welding gloves! I hope to use sheet metal, somehow standing in front of me! Yes, some people who routinely use angle grinders will laugh at this, but I live for the ski/snowboard season, and the DH MTB season! Whistler‘s winter is just three months away!
Even the Type 27 cut-off wheel does not quite fit. It’s too loose; and, of course, the Ryobi manual avoids saying anything about it. Meanwhile, the entire planet seems to be using such discs on angle grinders!
The work-around used by many is to flip the outer flange around. Some even add a washer, modified or otherwise.
As cutting is a more violent action than grinding, the latter would be less easy for the system to detect. Thus, using the grinding disc that came with the tool constitutes an even tougher test of the system.