Chasing rust...?

sure...you can use the harbor freight tools...and upgrade as they die. ;^) I'd reccomend at least stepping up one step from teh bottom....for instance buy the $20 angle grinder instead of the $10 one. I bought this one for a quick project about a year ago...several projects later its still working fine. I'll upgrade when it dies.....but have no complaints so far.

Buy a 10 pack of cuttof wheels, a few 4 inch flap discs and a wire wheel. The flap discs work great. ;^)

I have had a nice deWalt cutoff tool but found it was harder to find cutoff discs for it locally - mailorder seemed to be the only good way to go (none of the Lowes, Home Depots, etc near me had them).

Since I desperately wanted to get something done this one particular Saturday, I bought a cheap no brand grinder (~$30) with cutoff disks from Lowes - That thing has served me really well. It does have more vibration than the deWalt but who cuts longer than minutes at a time, right?

Now I use my deWalt with a wirewheel and this cheapie for cutting off.

Moral of this story: make sure you can get discs for the thing on a Saturday, whichever you pick.

Remco

Ok, so I can use cutoff disks on an angle grinder?? I thought I needed a cutoff tool (ie: something to cut out sections of rust) and a grinder...

thanks

Yup - you can and should buy several different implements to fight rust:

cut off disc:

disc: brush (cup and wheel):- -- thewheel variety brings the brush out on the edge.flap sanding discs: You'll need lots of cut off disks - your ACVW will just laugh at you if you have only 10 :) They are quite thin so wear quickly and can shatter.

Grinding disks are thick and do wear, but not quite as quickly. Don't use them to cut panels with them, because it will heat stuff up, warping your work (ask me how I found out :). You will also take 10 times as long as you would with a cut off disk.

I'd get the two types of brushes (cup and disk) - they both come in very handy, depending on what you're working on.

Those flap sanding discs I really like to blend over welds, etc. They don't take too much off at one time, like a grinder may. They do wear, so buy several at a time.

Whatever edge grinder you pick up, take note of the arbor size and disk diameter. This is so you can make sure you can pick up grinding disks for them locally. Check the ones out at lowes and home depot and compare them to the discs you can buy there and at harborfreight. I think most tools are

4.5" diameter, but the arbor size does vary.

Amazon has some really good books on metal working and body work. I'll pass you the ISBNs of the ones I like later.

Be careful and wear goggles (not shades, like those orange county chopper guys) for all these tools!

Hope that's useful to you. Remco

Books: "How to Repair and Restore Bodywork" - ISBN: 0879385146 "How to Paint Your Car"- ISBN: 0760315833 "Welding" - ISBN: 0071342451 "Metal Fabricator's handbook" - ISBN: 0895868709 "Ultimate Sheet Metal Fabrication Book" - ISBN: 0964135892 I have more books on the subject, but find the above the clearest.

DVD: "GMAW (MIG) Welding" - I think I got mine from Northern Tools.

Included the welding info, in case you are new to welding as well (as I am). Some technical high schools have adult classes on fabrication/welding, which I found to be very useful as well. Whenever possible, pick the brains of people that have done this a lot or are pros at it - there are a whole lot of little handy tricks they know.

Of course, practice, practice and practice some more. It is real work and not easy to learn. Lots of fun, though.

Remco

There's an old saying (or so I'm told): Buy once, cry once. It seems to make sense in the long run, instead of upgrading an number of times, save a little while and get something good. You will pay more for quality but it will pay you back. Cheap junk is still just junk. :) Cutoff wheels and grinding wheels are consumables. Always buy more than you think you will need.....and then buy some more.

this point can't be said too many times...those thin cutoff discs can and DO explode if put in the smallest bind....having done lots of fabrication and metal work in my time(used to do so for a living) i have many scars from those thin discs exploding....wear protective clothing....not just long sleeves and long pants.... get yourself at minimum a thick canvas type apron that will cover most of your frontside.... if you are too macho or too tough to do that shoot me an email and i'll send you a picture that will scare the bejesus out of you....but it will be a "NSFW" picture........ wire wheels hurt too when they fly apart....lots of little metal "needles" flying at you...

I agree with you there JT....unfortunately when it comes to power tools its pretty dang hard to tell good ones from bad ones based on what they cost.... i have litterally a half dozen angle grinders around here(used to fabricate, do metal work, and steam pipefitting for a living).... i also have a brandy new dewalt angle grinder....100 bucks...the best part of it was the cool azz plastic case it came in....too bad i threw away the case and kept the grinder....

I hear ya, Chris. I've had several just totally disintegrate and hit my face shield. (I actually wear goggles _and_ a face shield: my face is just too purdy for scars. :) At a _very_ minimum one should wear full goggles, though.

Those biker shows kill me when they merrily use power tools with just sunglasses on or when they just close their eyes when they squeeze the welder's trigger. That's just not responsible, imo.

Remco

You might want to think about a Makita 4" electric grinder , You can get both cutting and grinding wheels for them.

Yes you can get a body hammer and dolly set from Harbour Freight and it will be more then enough if your just doing body work. don't use them on any thing other then sheet metal.

Mario Vintage Werks Restorations

Hi Mario,

This one?

Does anyone make an electric die grinder / cutoff tool?

face shield should be mandatory and i didn't even mention because you did.... with those thin discs i have busted a clear face shield.... i prefer to use my welding shield...the sightglass flips up.....much better protection when the debris comes at you from a high rpm grinder....

Flap disks are quieter too, if you have neighbours like mine.....

James

Yes and with that you can use the flap sanding disk and cuttting disk

for smaller cutting and die grinding you can get Shaggies favorite tool a Dremel (sp).

Mario Vintage Werks resto.

Some metalworking links that have come in handy for me:

Group: rec.crafts.metalworking