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I switched from a 4-inch grinder to a 9-inch for bevel prep and the difference was huge
I was working on some 1-inch plate for a pressure vessel job about three months ago, and my bevels were just taking forever. I was using my trusty old 4-inch grinder, and it felt like I was going at it for hours on each joint. My foreman, Mike, came over and basically said I was making a mountain out of a molehill and tossed me his 9-inch. I was skeptical because I thought it would be too heavy and hard to control. But after the first pass, I couldn't believe it. The bigger wheel just ate through the material, and I had a clean, consistent bevel in maybe a quarter of the time. The real test was when the welder came behind me and said the fit-up was the best he'd seen from me all week. Has anyone else made a jump in grinder size and had it change their whole prep workflow? I'm thinking about buying my own now.
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palmer.henry29d ago
Heard a buddy of mine mention the same thing about surface prep on a bridge job... said the 9-inch knocked out work in half the time but you gotta watch the kickback. It's a trade off but for flat plate it sounds like a no brainer. Better to have it and not need it than spend all shift fighting a little wheel.
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barbara3992mo ago
My cousin tried that with a car project. Ended up taking a chunk out of the fender.
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