21 replies to this topic

[miniweights]

I bought the Draper angle grinder from Wilkinson's about 3 years ago to restore my Mini. It's seen a lot of action and it's still working perfectly

[M J W J]

I have the grinder from Wilko's (I work from them so it was the obvious choice due to staff discount). I have never had any problems with the switch. It has lasted better than my dad's Black and Decker one. The switch has broken on that. The only thing to watch out is that the screws that hold the bearing in can come loose. If the blade starts to wobble stop the grinder, take it apart and there are three screws inside that will need tightening that hold the bearing in place.

I hope no one high up in Wilkos see this but I would not bother with Wilko's grinding discs. The metal bit in the middle seems to break up so the disc becomes unbalanced causing the discs to wear out a lot quicker and the grinder to vibrate.

Look out for DIY offers at LIDL and Aldi. They often sell packs of 10 discs for about £4

[sonikk4]

I have had 3 from B&Q one knackered but good for spares and the other two are still going strong and for their price ideal. Nice to use and cheap. (Iam very hard on them)

I have killed Bosch very quickly but rate Black and Decker.

Cutting discs i buy from ebay and they are the stainless steel 1mm cutting discs. Buy them in packs of twenty.

[ibrooks]

Personally I buy the Netto ones at a tenner a throw (bright green). They tend to last about 2 years and they work hard in my garage. Problem is that they only have them in every so often so I usually have 3 or so in the drawer at a time so that if one does go dud I can just pull another one out of the box and carry on and they will have them in again before I kill them all. It also means that I can have one with a cutting disc, one with a grinding disc/flap-wheel and one with a wire brush all at the same time.

Iain

[Kam]

He's already bought one people so needs advice on the next step

Ah, balls. I've just bought the B&Q one and realised that it comes with a stone cutting disc and a metal grinding disc.

Is it possible to use the metal grinding disc as a cutting device? As in, to cut about a half inch strip off my wing (under the arches) to give more clearance for the tyres. Sorry if this is a stupid question.

My advice, unless you are ultra careful and don't want to enter any show n shines you might be able to cut it well enough obviously getting a cutting disc will make the job neater

But unless you have used one before you may need to practise on some scrap pile, an angle grinder at full chat when cutting is fun!

If its only half n inch and straight then go for it but I would of thought to trim the front panel for tyre clearance your gonna need alot more cutting than that and curved aswell? In which case you might be better off just getting a single cutting disc

[Shifty]

I would never ever ever ever ever buy grinding discs from netto/aldi or similar, they're chucked in bins, not stored correctly, you just don't know where they came from or how they've been treated.

I only buy them from places that display them correctly, hung by the centre. I've seen them explode and its not nice.

[M J W J]

I have never had an problems with cheap discs but they do seem to wear out quicker. At the price they are I don't care if they don't last as long.
As for discs exploding I have had it happen once and the disc was from a pack of 10 I bought from machine mart. The bits missed me but my ears were ringing like made from the bang it made.