Turning your angle grinder into a polisher

In this blog we detail two different methods of turning your angle grinder into a polisher and then how to polish using it! We will use an example query we had from a customer to help bring alive this common challenge. 

What is an Angle Grinder used for?

An angle grinder, is a handheld power tool used predominantly for grinding or cutting.  They were developed originally as tools for rigid abrasive discs. You can cut metal, aluminium, concrete, bricks, pavers, wood, and other dense materials; you can sand and polish different surfaces to sharpen tools and grind materials. Angle grinders can be used with different types of discs for different jobs. 

Many people have the common misconception that you can only use discs with angle grinders. However, we are here to tell you differently!

Below is an example of a query we recently had into our polishing experts and we will share our advice that we gave to our customer.

“I have a 4 1/2” angle grinder. It has an 18V battery with variable speed (Makita) and I wish to use this for polishing metals such as aluminium and steel/iron.

I am polishing lots of flat sheets and also sheets that are curved like a tray.

What items would you recommend and is there anyway i can turn my angle grinder into a polisher?”

Method 1: Using an M14 Taper

You can turn your angle grinder into a polisher by using a taper adaptor. Most grinders have a 14mm thread.

Please check the diameter of the thread. M14 for a 4 1/2″ angle grinder is the most popular.

Please take care when using this tool. Angle Grinders can be very dangerous.

We would recommend a taper to go with the Flex Surface Finishing Machine LP 1503 VR making it a very versatile tool for all surface finishing jobs.

Stage 1: Surface Preparation

Now that you have the M14 taper thread on the angle grinder, you can easily use this as a polisher. 

In order to polish this customers large sheets we would recommend preparing the surface with some RODA NyMops. We recommended that this customer use 6″ x 6 laps which would work fine on your newly created polisher. Depending on the wear of the sheets-  you might have a lot of rust to remove and pitting (go for superior brown), or it might be pretty clean (use black or green).  Ideally these NyMops would run at approx. 7-8 MS so on your grinder at about 1,500rpm.

Now we can go to polishing…

Stage 2: Coarse Cut 

This mid stage may not be required if the RODA NyMops have removed all the rust, machine lines and scratches. If however, there is still some flattening out to do then this stage is required and will now work a treat with your angle grinder that has become a polisher! 

We would use a dry sisal coarse mop with Abracut compound to coarsely cut.

Stage 3 : Polishing

Now you can move to polishing and use a soft loosefold mop along with compound. We sell a range of mops for polishing depending on the surface finish you want to achieve.

Our most popular loosefold mop is WDR and most popular compound is FF9. 

Between each stage a trade secret is to wipe over with a soft cloth and vienna lime powder… this clears all the grease and offers a great shine.. just a dab in so a small bag will last for a long time. 

Method 2: Using felt and abrasive discs

Angle Grinder Dishes on an M14 (115mm Grinders) or M10 (4” Grinders) thread are ideal to quickly turn your angle grinder into a polisher. 

These Angle Grinder abrasive accessories are the perfect tool, simply screwing directly onto your angle grinder makes them very quick and easy to use. Angle Grinders normally have a bit more power over a Drill which makes them the ideal tool for metal working.

Angle grinder dishes in Non Woven and Black dishes are used alone without any compound. These abrasive dishes are idea for metal surface preparation, they come in three grit grades. Grades from course to fine and idea to use before you start the polishing process with felt and compounds. The Black paint stripping dishes are the coarsest and perfect for aggressive metal working, they are also excellent for removing rust on metal items. 

Felt dishes are used for polishing with the addition of polishing compound. Felt wheels must be used with compound, either cutting or polishing compound will work. Load by spinning against the bar of compound. Depending on the compound you can polishing any metal from aluminium to stainless steel to a high polish / mirror finish.

For any other advice or help on turning your angle grinder into a polisher,  do not hesitate to give us a call on 01722711988 or email sales@moleroda.com or visit our contact us page and we can put you in touch with our polishing experts.  Also take a look at our you tube page for polishing videos and our instagram account for recent work we have done.