Angle grinder AGC for stainless steel

[PreferrablyWood]

I will be doing some work with stainless steel. I would like to hear if anyone has used the Festool AGC angle grinder for this application.

From what I understand it's best with a lower speed threshold than the AGC offers but maybe it will do fine if you work slowly or take multiple passes.

The the alternative I'm looking at is a metabo WEV 17-125 QUICK INOX that is specifically designed for working with stainless steel.

thanks for any help in advance.

 

[Peter_C]

I just use a regular 4 1/2" grinder for stainless work *shrugs* Cuts, grinds, and works just fine with a flap disk. The Festool grinder sure would be nice though!

 

[Cheese]

Both Fein & Metabo make several 5" grinders specifically for stainless work. All the stainless models are variable speed and the max speed is also lower than a traditional 5" grinder to prevent burning the stainless. A conventional 5" grinder runs 11,000-13,000 rpm while the stainless specific grinders stay within the 7,500-8,000 range.

The AGC is variable speed so you can throttle it down a bit. According to Festool, setting #4 is 6,900 and setting #5 is 7,700 so that puts you in the correct speed range.

Both the Fein & Metabo can go down to 2,000-2,500 rpm while the AGC will only go down to 4,500 rpm. However, I don't think that that will be a problem because I doubt you'd need to go that slow. 

 

[RJNeal]

[member=23193]PreferrablyWood[/member], just a reminder , when working with stainless, remember not to slow the grinding wheel down on ferrous metal like a bench. It will contaminate the wheel and transfer to your work there after, allowing rust to set in later.

 

[rvieceli]

Metabo makes a great grinder. I do not think you would be disappointed in their offering.

I have this one and it is smoother than all my other grinders.

METABO W 9-115 QUICK
https://bismetabo.com/sample-metabo...gle-grinder-10-500-rpm-8-5-amp-w-lock-on.html

As my others die I'm planning on replacing them with Metabo. And yes I have multiple grinders as I hate switching disks in the middle of a process.  [wink]

Ron

 

[Peter_C]

[member=23193]PreferrablyWood[/member], just a reminder , when working with stainless, remember not to slow the grinding wheel down on ferrous metal like a bench. It will contaminate the wheel and transfer to your work there after, allowing rust to set in later.

Does the new Festool grinder have a brake on it? I bought a Milwaukee grinder due to the fact it has a brake on it. Going forward I will only buy grinders that have a brake on them for the added safety from "the spinning wheel of death".

So what does Festool mean by this below as it isn't clear? You would think a braking motor would be in the top of features list, if it had it, but I read and searched the instruction sheet and found "brake" was not used a single time.
"Soft start-up, electronic overload protection, motor brake and restart protection"https://www.festoolusa.com/products...5348---agc-18-125-li-eb-basicus#TechnicalData

 

[Cheese]

So what does Festool mean by this below as it isn't clear? You would think a braking motor would be in the top of features list, if it had it, but I read and searched the instruction sheet and found "brake" was not used a single time.
"Soft start-up, electronic overload protection, motor brake and restart protection"

I also read the manual and as you've pointed out, a motor brake is never mentioned.

I did however come across these 3 items:

Recoil protection:
In the event of a sudden speed reduction, e.g. if the power tool becomes jammed in a separat­ing cut, the motor is switched off immediately.  To put the power tool back into operation, it must first be switched off and then on again.

After machining metal:
Blow out the inside of the power tool through the vents using dry, oil-free compressed air. Otherwise, conductive dust deposits may build up in­side the power tool. This can cause a short- circuit.

Do not use this power tool for polishing or sand­ing surfaces using diamond discs or for appli­cations involving diamond or hard ceramic discs.

 

[yetihunter]

"Specifically made for stainless steel" is a marketing term for a high torque/lower RPM variable speed grinder as far as I am concerned.

I have the WEV 15-125 HT and the AGC 18.  Fein makes the Festool model and I'd reccomend the FEIN WSG 17-70 Inox over anything Metabo makes, any day of the week.  However, if you're grinding concrete, I'm not sure where to get a loop handle for it.  The Metabo's are nice in that the current models have a loop handle that plays nice with each model and also with most Makitas.  I love the Festool and no doubt think it would be great for stainless steel, but the corded grinder you are looking at is about 1700 watts and so it's a bit of an apples and oranges comparison.  The 18v grinders out there are near and under 900 watt performance.

I've never engaged the mechanical slip clutch on any Metabo I've owned but I have a bunch on a corded Makita while cutting a sidewalk in half. It's pretty much no different than a mechanical clutch on a drill as far as the experience is concerned.  If you push it too hard or it binds, the motor purrs, the gears grind,  but the arbor ain't spinning.    The Fein/Festool has an electronic bind protection.  All of the cordless grinders I've used have one.  If you're heading toward danger, it just hits the brakes, every time. The Fein/Festool will automatically slow down the speed if you're getting too aggressive and so it gives you a warning to back off but it will indeed hit the brakes hard if you bind.  Both methods work, extremely well. 

The Festool AGC 18 is a niiiiiiiice grinder.   

 

[PreferrablyWood]

Thanks for all the quality advice.

I'm interested in stainless steel in combination with projects where I'll be combine metal and wood like larch or tropical so here stainless is recommended. I think I'll go with the cordless Festool and use stainless steel specific cutting and grinding disks.

The Festool goes slower than my present metabo grinder. And cordless is an advantage for sure. Working with stainless steel will only be occasional so used carefully it should be fine. For heavy prolonged use use I'd get the Metabo I mentioned and I like the brake and the paddle switch on the one I have presently.

The Festools compatiblity with my existing batterries is a strong point. I think I have about 7 .

 

[aloysius]

There's quite a few excellent quality Inox grinder/polishers out there.  Anything else will be a compromise.

 

[PreferrablyWood]

I ordered The Festool AGC grinder today.

Have 5.2 ah batteries to use with it already so it seems like a bargain for the functionality it offers.

Later I will likely get the 6.2 ah battery and newest version charger for extended use and the 4 ah battery for applications that demand mobility.

 

[neeleman]

Note that Festool doesn't recommend the 4,0 HPC batteries for use in the AGC 18 angle grinder.
And some other machines as well (HKC, TSC, DSC-AGC).

 

[Peter_C]

I ordered The Festool AGC grinder today.

Have 5.2 ah batteries to use with it already so it seems like a bargain for the functionality it offers.

Later I will likely get the 6.2 ah battery and newest version charger for extended use and the 4 ah battery for applications that demand mobility.

The Festool grinder is going to be AWESOME!

I don't have a Festool grinder, but do have a Milwaukee Fuel, which eats batteries. 5.0Ah batteries are about useless. With three 5.0Ah batteries, two 9.0Ah batts, and one 8.0Ah battery I can almost keep up with grinder usage, utilizing a charger for every battery. I will admit to frequent heavy grinder usage.

 

[mino]

Good choice. You will not be dissappointed.

The AGC18 is the best fine-work grinder I ever had in my hand. The best way to describe it to folks over here is it being a "grinder CXS". It is not the most powerful, and is not the smallest. But it is just a joy to use.

If I had only one grinder, it would be this one. If I wanted something more powerful for cutting work, I would look into the 7" and bigger 36/40V category.

Ref INOX: It has a pretty good torque at low-speed for how much power it has. The constant-speed electronics does a good job in not allowing the tool to slow down which is what makes it such a joy to use to begin.

It is no a power-aplenty-cutting-monster like the 1400 watt AG 125 is. But no single-battery grinders really are ... I cut tiles with it and even (concrete) wall and as long as one does not push it too much, it can handle itself fine.

 

[Frank-Jan]

So what does Festool mean by this below as it isn't clear? You would think a braking motor would be in the top of features list, if it had it, but I read and searched the instruction sheet and found "brake" was not used a single time.
"Soft start-up, electronic overload protection, motor brake and restart protection"

I also read the manual and as you've pointed out, a motor brake is never mentioned.

I did however come across these 3 items:

Recoil protection:
In the event of a sudden speed reduction, e.g. if the power tool becomes jammed in a separat­ing cut, the motor is switched off immediately.  To put the power tool back into operation, it must first be switched off and then on again.

After machining metal:
Blow out the inside of the power tool through the vents using dry, oil-free compressed air. Otherwise, conductive dust deposits may build up in­side the power tool. This can cause a short- circuit.

Do not use this power tool for polishing or sand­ing surfaces using diamond discs or for appli­cations involving diamond or hard ceramic discs.

I didn't read the manual thoroughly... would this be because they want you to use the one with the dustextration?
I have cut tile and and Belgian bluestone with mine, it handled it fine.

 

[mino]

I didn't read the manual thoroughly... would this be because they want you to use the one with the dustextration?
I have cut tile and and Belgian bluestone with mine, it handled it fine.

Possibly. I have made a shim which allows me to fit all the AG 125 accessories with the AGC 18. All work fine. I.e. I have the DCC-AG, the DCC-AG FH cutting accessories as well as the DCG-AG for sanding.

The only reason I can imagine them saying it ref. polishing is that the AGC 18 is not really designed for heavy continuous loads like polishing presents. And without Dust Extraction, you should not really do any concrete stuff (aka use diamond accessories).

Thinking about it more, it is possible the protection of the AGC 18 motor against abrasive particles is not made to the (Festool) level which they would consider as allowing usage with diamond stuff wihout compromising the longevity of the tool.

I do know for a fact that the AG 125, coming from Protool times, is one of the most durable angle grinders around for heavy use specifically thanks to the special coating of the motor windings. These grinders usually go through a couple gearing changes before the motor gives up. The AGC 18 mechanics are from Fein, so it can be Festool does not consider it "durable-enough" for heavy use with diamond discs.

I use mine for all knds of work, but I like to use brain, so will not overload it. Then I bought all the DE accessories for a reason - they cost me more than the grinder itself after all ..