4.5" grinding disc

[kevin]

can any one offer up some info as to where to buy grinding wheels in bulk. merry christmas. kevin

[MMW]

I buy mine at Tractor Supply. They sell them in a 10 pack cheap. They don't last the longest but they are about a dollar each. Tons of online places to buy them, just do a search on the internet.

[taylorkh]

This is a "you get what you pay for" situation. I have also purchased disks from TSC, Lowe's, Horrible Fright (Harbor Freight) etc. Some have been OK and some have been crap (out of round, breakup on first use, would not cut hot butter - the HF cutoff disks). On the recommendation of several members of this and the Hobart forum I had a look at www.lehighvalleyabrasives.com

They have an excellent selection and very good prices. I purchased top quality SAIT disks made in the USA as well as flap disks and some really handy scotchbrite stripping disks from Lehigh.

Ken

[Midnightillusions]

Our company uses only Walter discs. They are very good. I have been using them for 16 years. Just usually get them from Air Liquide, or Praxair. Good luck and merry Christmas.

[Meltedmetal]

We grind a lot of very hard material and I agree with taylorkh, "you get what you pay for." If your supplier doesn't know what you are grinding they can not get you what you need. Nobody I know really likes to grind. It's noisy and dirty as you know. Unless you do a lot of grinding in difficult places, when your budget allows I would buy a bigger grinder to get the job done quickly. We use 9" grinders then 7" then 5" moving the wheels to successively smaller higher rpm machines as the wheel wears. We haven't bought 5" or 7" wheels in years. Hope I haven't derailed your thread too far.
To answer your question most any welding supplier or Industrial Supply should be able to get you what you need in bulk. We buy 9" wheels in boxes of 25 at about $12 to $15 per wheel. We currently use Walter but Norton also make an excellent abrasive. Try to match your abrasive to the job and if it's feasible use bigger, more powerful equipment. Good luck and enjoy the season.

Meltedmetal

[Dipsomaniac]

I buy my 4.5" grinding discs online here at http://www.shop3m.com/

[kevin]

thanks guys, the saying you get what you pay for is totally correct, years back i would buy them by a box of 100 for 50 bucks, im dating myself here, i was hoping to find a reputable dealer by mail, the local lws,s dont offer any real savings, i too have used sait with great luck, i will take your leads. thanks kevin

[kevin]

thanks ken,

i just spoke with chris stone at lehigh vally, he gave me a great price for sait wheels, they will arrive in 2 days, i also looked into the 3m line, i choose sait over 3m only due to no experience with 3m, merry xmas to you all

[wronghand]

I use SAIT, Walter or Wurth discs. You pay a bit more but the longevity of the discs makes up for the price difference. Like everyone else said: you get what you pay for

[Sberry]

I have used most of them including the farm store 10 pack which were remarkably good. I bought a box of premium and ran them side by side, I would say under heavy use the better ones were worth twice the money which makes it a break even deal. I wouldn't lose much sleep over it either way.

[kevin]

slightly off topic

speaking of buying stuff from the farm store or harbor freight, a few months back h.f. had a sale on 4.5" electric grinders for 15 bucks, i loaded up the cart with them, the store clerk was watching what i was doing, he came over, said put all but 2 back on the shelf and buy the lifetime warranty for about 3 bucks. i figured these to be total junk, to my surprise, they have been the best little grinder that i have used, my makita, ryobi, milwakee and sears are not any better, mayby in the long run, so you never know from these places, my business is too important for me to gamble with tools, but i can see how the inexperienced person can be suckered in. as i am typing this, the wife just handed me a hf flier from the mail, drillmaster 4.5" grinder on sale $9.99 wtf i paid $15

[Sberry]

I have seen the HF grinders go both ways but one of the best I found for the money, 30$ is the B&D at Walmart. I put one on my bench where use is high, its the go to unit, been there for couple 3 yrs and has outlasted a couple 100$ ones. Did some hard heavy work with it and I am not easily impressed.

[shortarc]

Same here on the Walmart B&D, got the first one about four years ago and thought it would be good for a few months, got another one this year and now use the new one with a wire wheel and the old one is still going strong with a flap disk on it.

[bretsk2500]

I prefer Walter.... nothing matches their zip-cuts for longevity of a cutoff wheel... as far as 1/4" stones.... I find walter, metabo, and norton wheels to be of equal quality...

I tend to buy my wheels by the box/case at the LWS... which is now a Matheson Valley... (the store itself has changed it's name 4 times now in the last 3 years or so...)

[Sberry]

Same here on the Walmart B&D, got the first one about four years ago and thought it would be good for a few months, got another one this year and now use the new one with a wire wheel and the old one is still going strong with a flap disk on it.

Thats what I did, bought one to carry behind the seat just in case, used it a couple times, was really impressed with the power, bought another one to ride the bench to give it the test. I did burn up the switch and was going to toss it, then handed it to the mechanic, came back in about 10 minutes, said it was fixed and we run it again for another pull and it still runs. As I recall I might have looked at the brushes and they about half worn out. If and when it dies(my guy said we only get one switch repair for free) it alreaddoesn'tnt owe me anything and then some. I wont be scared to replace it even if new one only goes half as long and this ondoesn'tnt appear to be done yet.
I think I could about argue this has been the best grinder I ever own considering the cost and dependability. Used it thousands of cycles.