Grinder Cut-Off Wheels Wear Out Too Fast? Check Your Cutting Technique

This simple tip makes your cut-off wheels last longer — A lot longer!

Grinder with Metal Cut-off Disc
Simple Tip That Makes Metal Cutting Discs Last Longer

Fireball Tool uses Pferd cutting wheels (his preferred cut-off wheel brand) to test two particular metal cutting techniques; Plunge Cut and Gouge Cut. He then reviews high-speed camera footage to figure out why metal cutting discs deteriorate so quickly.

Here is the end result yield between the two metal cutting methods:

Metal Cutting Technique Test Results

The Plunge metal cutting approach took 13 seconds to perform in the test but produced only 6 cuts. The Gouge method of cutting metal took 32 seconds to make each cut but survived more than 60 cuts. The Gouge cutting method takes just more than twice the time, but the cut yield is increased ten-fold over Plunge cutting metal.

Simple Tip That Makes Metal Cutting Discs Last (a lot) Longer