Talked to a 40 year vet about my grinder setup yesterday

I was on a job at a refinery in Gary last week and this older guy named Skip watched me swap out a wheel on my 4.5 inch grinder. He said I was doing it all wrong, that I should be using a 7 inch for anything over 1/4 inch plate. I always thought bigger grinders were just for rough work but he showed me how much cleaner the cut is on boiler tube sheets. Has anyone else switched to a bigger grinder and seen a big difference in time or weld prep quality?

2 comments

2 Comments

black.jake8d ago

Man I used to be the same way, thought anything bigger than a 4.5 was overkill and just for heavy demo work. Then a pipefitter buddy made me try his 7 inch on a stainless weld joint and I felt like an idiot for fighting with the little one all those years. The extra weight does all the work for you, no more pushing down hard or burning through thin spots. Now I keep both sizes in my truck but the 7 inch gets way more use, especially on tube sheets and plate work. Makes a huge difference in how flat and clean the prep ends up, less time chasing grind marks too.

the_max8d ago

Heard Mike Rowe talk about using bigger wheels for finish work and it clicked for me too.