Homemade attachment designs for angle grinders

This video — the title says "Ten" but I count only nine — shows and demonstrates nine different homemade attachments for an angle grinder. You can see that the materials in them are common and the arrangements of parts (and the set-ups for welding) would be pretty straightforward.

Some of these device ideas, I thought, were a little weak. Other common tools would do a better job. But I feel some are quite good.  I particularly liked these:  #2 (good for resharpening twist drills & thereby saving you money).  #3 (a better rest or table than my bench grinder has, so good for end smoothing and for beveling), but I think #7, black one, is a better version of pretty much the same thing.  #5 (cutting pieces off of sheet steel).  #8, orange (advantage: with a zip disc, can be used for cutting; disadvantage with a flap wheel” the gap between the disc and the table means it will not smooth or bevel down to the bottom of a piece supported by the table).

You may find that you like different ones… everybody has different needs & applications. I haven’t made any of these yet, but they’re the sort of things I like to make because they’re useful.

Thanks for sharing this.  There are some good ideas in here.  As you note some of them are pretty weak too.  In general his stuff for wood working with the angle grinder is probably better done with another tool.  I do like the drill bit sharpener and various "table grinding" setups.  I may have to try making some versions of these for some tool making I'll be doing before too long that I use my angle grinder for.

#1 - I really don't like to see homemade pieces of metal spinning at 10,000 rpm
#2 - Seems like if the angle was locked to the correct one for a twist drill it would be sweet.  But if it pivots your angle is variable.  Maybe that isn't a big deal?
#3 - I'd put a beefier support post on it but it looks like a nice one
#4 - When he turned it on and the chuck started wobbling I figured it would break right off at that point.  I'm thinking that one is pretty risky unless the chuck is designed for the application.
#5 - Pretty cool edge guide
#6 - See #1
#7 - Nice makeshift wrench if you lose the one that comes with it or if you have multiple sizes of grinder nuts to tighten (Joel, I think this is the one you didn't see)
#8 - I like this the best and it does a better job than #3
#9 - I think he'd be better off clamping the metal in the vise and sanding by hand.  The sanding disk isn't flat so he can't get the full face of the square stock sanded while it's flat on the table.  And using it to cut through metal is risky as you could see it nip the metal and drag it through at the 16:43 mark
#10 - See #1

Just my opinions but I agree, common tools can replace some of these riskier attachments.

Thanks, guys — glad you got into the vid.  I like that people share on this site. I try to post useful stuff, but as you can see from my ratio of posts to apples apparently my posts don't make the grade that often.

Thanks for the pie, David.

Joel Bercardin wrote:

Thanks for the pie, David.

I was actually the apple, but maybe you can make an apple pie from it.  :)  Thanks again for your quality post!

i find that most of these attachments take more time to make than they get used for , about the only one i find a use for is the little black flat plate to rest pieces on for sanding , they are okay for some light DIY and if you are miles out from the store for that one off job /repair ,and yes i have made a few of them ---like the cut off guide and a circle/disc cutter---but more than occasional light metal working with those small 41/2 inch grinders knackers their bearings and even quicker their bevel drive gears---and if you are in the habit of buying the cheaper ones ---like  i do ---dont try any of those---those plastic and monkey metal things fall apart even quicker.

I like the look of the drill bit sharpening jig.

There was a comment above about getting the angle right. It seems to me that by leaving the arm free to move, and having some freedom to adjust the position of the bit on the rest, you could fairly precisely fit the angle to the bit you were working on just by eye.

tony uljee wrote:i find that most of these attachments take more time to make than they get used for , about the only one i find a use for is the little black flat plate to rest pieces on for sanding , they are okay for some light DIY and if you are miles out from the store for that one off job /repair

I appreciate your reply, Tony. It's always a matter of what a particular guy feels he might need. It's a choice to make the thing or not.

tony uljee wrote:and yes i have made a few of them ---like the cut off guide and a circle/disc cutter---but more than occasional light metal working with those small 41/2 inch grinders knackers their bearings and even quicker their bevel drive gears---and if you are in the habit of buying the cheaper ones ---like  i do ---dont try any of those---those plastic and monkey metal things fall apart even quicker.

I've always bought pro quality Bosch grinders, and in my experience they're pretty rugged and they last. Your mileage may vary.

Use caution around those grinders though.  Especially with homemade/aftermarket accessories.

A little over a month ago Woodworking legend James Hamilton (aka Stumpy Nubs) just about became his pseudonym when a grinder attachment nearly took off his fingers in a painful accident.



Also, the crazy couple over at the Beyond The Press channel did some experiments not long ago with exploding grinder disks.




Their takeaway:
1) yes, absolutely use eye protection, BUT it doesn't do as much as you think, therefore
2) always keep guards in place and adjusted properly

Don't get me wrong I totally dig homemade tools!
And I certainly don't want to go all safety police here.
Whatever you decide, just use your head, think though what could go wrong, respect the tool... all that.