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Old 04-23-2018, 06:00 PM   #1
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HF cutoff wheels?

Hey Everyone,

I am in need of cutoff wheels for my angle grinder. Harbor Freight has them 10/$10. Much more attractive price than the $3.49 each price at my local hardware store.

I was planning a trip to HF and got to thinking that I had heard some negative about HF's cutoff wheels.

Have you all used them? Do you consider them safe to use?

Thanks.

S.

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Old 04-23-2018, 06:15 PM   #2
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I've used 100s of them only had a couple break.
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Old 04-23-2018, 06:17 PM   #3
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I have used them and with a steady hand and caution they last about as long as the more expensive ones.
The biggest issue with any cutting/grinding wheels is that it is rated properly for your grinder.
The speed rating on the harbor freight wheels are a lot lower.
For example
My daily use Hilti grinder for work is rated at 8000 RPM and Hilti is the only one that makes any wheels rated for that
A dewalt,hitachi,Milwaukee are rated around 6000 rpm and that's about standard
But the harbor freight stuff is rated ? 3-5000 which won't last anytime on a higher rpm grinder.
Cutting wheels are dangerous and disintegrate easy anyway but using one that is not rated for your tool will be a waste of money and even more dangerous than using a properly rated one
But a HF grinder at 30$ is probably rated for there wheels.
Good luck and be safe
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Old 04-23-2018, 07:24 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PNW_Steve View Post
Hey Everyone,

I am in need of cutoff wheels for my angle grinder. Harbor Freight has them 10/$10. Much more attractive price than the $3.49 each price at my local hardware store.

I was planning a trip to HF and got to thinking that I had heard some negative about HF's cutoff wheels.

Have you all used them? Do you consider them safe to use?

Thanks.

S.
They're all I use. They're as good as the ones at Lowes/HD.
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Old 04-23-2018, 10:29 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PNW_Steve View Post
Hey Everyone,

I am in need of cutoff wheels for my angle grinder. Harbor Freight has them 10/$10. Much more attractive price than the $3.49 each price at my local hardware store.

I was planning a trip to HF and got to thinking that I had heard some negative about HF's cutoff wheels.

Have you all used them? Do you consider them safe to use?

Thanks.

S.
I once had to use fiber cutting blades a lot...cut so sparks go down or at away from you...avoid positioning your behind the blade and resist the urge to get rid of the guard...and it's very important to mind the RPMs and "putting your weight into it"
Good luck
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Old 04-24-2018, 07:39 AM   #6
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So far, so good.
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Old 04-24-2018, 09:17 AM   #7
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Thanks for all of the replies.

I had heard some negative. I suspect that someone was spinning them too fast.
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Old 04-24-2018, 09:50 AM   #8
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Quote:
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Thanks for all of the replies.

I had heard some negative. I suspect that someone was spinning them too fast.
Get the right size arbor of course. I bought some that are just off. It was a pack of 25 off the internet and I'm too cheap to get new ones. I eyeball center and then tighten the plate so it's close to round when spinning. Since it's off by such a small amount it "works".

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Old 04-24-2018, 10:49 AM   #9
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THey have changed them up somewhat lately, probably just rebranding them. The ones I have are the older Warrior 40 grit ones. I use them with a cheapo B&D 4-1/2" angle grinder with no problems. I have been through probably 5 packs of them and only broken one in that time.

A steady hand is key. The one I broke is because I got the grinder / wheel at a bad angle in a cut...

HF stuff, for the most part works. Temper your expectations. While occasionally they do sell an item that is a real gem, you get way more than you pay for, but typically you are just going to get something that does the job you need it to do, on the cheap...The typical sacrifice is fit and finish, which can translate to accuracy problems. I have had to spend a bit of time ironing out some fence adjustment problems on an older HF sliding miter saw.... and I will never bother with their router bits, but things that don't need super accuracy, they are fine...
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Old 05-05-2018, 10:59 AM   #10
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Well, I started out with a cutoff wheel that I bought at the welding supply place a couple of years ago and have use a handful of times.

I started making the cut on my rear cap for my roof raise. I got half way through with the first wheel. Then I switched to the HF wheels. I used 4 of them to finish the 2nd half.

For reasons that I can't explain I was able to make a neater, straighter cut with the first wheel than the HF wheels.

I am going to try another "expensive" wheel for comparison when I get a chance.
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Old 05-05-2018, 12:57 PM   #11
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I started my bus demo with HF 4 1/2" cut off wheels. I then switched to multipacl of Diablo from Home Depot. The diabloe seem to last a little longer and I had fewer blowouts. However, I'm on my last Diablo and picked up some HF disks last night. I'll post the difference, if any, that I notice.
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Old 05-05-2018, 08:57 PM   #12
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Only ended up making one cut with HF wheel today. It seemed to work about the same.
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Old 05-05-2018, 10:24 PM   #13
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Only ended up making one cut with HF wheel today. It seemed to work about the same.
For consumables, they're cheap enough that they're really hard to beat.
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Old 05-05-2018, 10:45 PM   #14
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Less than $8 for ten wheels. The others are $23~ for 15 wheels. No doubt the savings is worth it. I have now gone through a minimum of 50 cut off disks during this demo and patch phase.
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Old 05-06-2018, 07:44 AM   #15
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I have a buisness doing metal fabrication, hf wheels are terrible compared to good quality ones. I can make one good wheel last longer than the whole pack of hf. If you are only using them one or twice a year they are great. If you are going to do a lot of cutting go to a weld shop and ask them for their recommendations. That being said, if it is your first time using a grinder you should get the hf ones to practice. Please wear a full face shield, that wheel is spinning at more than 10,000 rpm and if you bend it sideways in the metal it explodes and flys everywhere.
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Old 05-06-2018, 08:23 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ninjakitty View Post
Less than $8 for ten wheels. The others are $23~ for 15 wheels. No doubt the savings is worth it. I have now gone through a minimum of 50 cut off disks during this demo and patch phase.
I've demo'd about 4 buses on 2 grinder discs and about 5 cutoff wheels. And that includes a roof raise!

You sure you're using them the right way?
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Old 05-06-2018, 08:39 AM   #17
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Nope, not sure at all.
Quote:
Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
I've demo'd about 4 buses on 2 grinder discs and about 5 cutoff wheels. And that includes a roof raise!

You sure you're using them the right way?
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Old 05-06-2018, 08:41 AM   #18
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I've had to cut a couple of holes in the floor though...Click image for larger version

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Old 05-06-2018, 08:44 AM   #19
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Been using these disks to cut holes in floor and to cut out patches from ceiling metal.
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Old 05-06-2018, 08:46 AM   #20
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Used the one on the right to cut out seat bolts. One on left is new. Perhaps it's because I use the thin cutoff wheels for the 4 1/2" grinder?Click image for larger version

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