An angle grinder is a versatile electrical tool that you can use for many different materials. To work on a high-density material like natural wood, you need some angle grinder attachments for woodworking to protect yourself from possible injuries while saving your budget and time on professional tools.
This article will introduce some attachments that can be valuable for your upcoming home fixing projects or DIY jobs.
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Can You Use Angle Grinders On Wood?
An angle grinder can effectively handle all woodworking tasks, including carving, shaping, and sanding. In other words, if you are searching for a fast and efficient tool to accomplish your wood-related tasks, you should go for an angle grinder.
Common Angle Grinder Attachments For Woodworking
You can pick up one or several attachments based on your job’s requirements.
Angle grinder attachments for wood carving/shaping
To carve or shape wood, you can use an abrasive carving disc or carving wheels:
- Abrasive carving disc: This razor-sharp disc can be used on wooden sculptures or furniture. Its conical carbide teeth go with or against wood grains to provide cuts or remove residues on wooden surfaces with high precision.
- Carving wheels: These wheels have aggressively sharp steel or alloy teeth like on a chainsaw and are often used to cut through thick wood logs with ease and grease.
Check now: Top 7 Best Angle Grinders For Wood Carving
Angle grinder attachments for sanding wood
Abrasive flap discs are first used in the early 1980s on angle grinders for finishing wood. They consist of several small pieces of sandpaper connected with a robust disc. Abrasive sanding discs are highly advisable for their sanding quality, material-removing capability, and longevity.
Besides wood, flap discs can also be used on metal to remove paint or condition the working surface with less wasted time and labor than sandpaper.
When working with flap discs, always start with a heavy grit, then switch to a lighter 100-120 grits or use finer-grit discs at the final steps to remove deep scratches and gouges.
Angle grinder attachments for wood cutting
For the cutting tasks, you can just simply upgrade the current wood blade of your grinder.
A specialty blade, like a three-teeth saw blade, is also a good option for wood cutting jobs, provided that you use a blade that has an appropriate rotating speed with your angle grinder. The three-teeth construction of this woodcutter attachment allows you to perform your job at high speeds with fewer risks of kickbacks.
However, since this blade has newly appeared on the market, you might spend more effort and time to find it.
Be aware of risks related to woodcutting!
Although angle grinders are a cost-efficient and compact tool for wood cutting, working with them can be risky. Among the accidents resulting from woodcutting with this tool, more accidents occur in home DIY projects than in professional job sites.
So, if you have a large number of logs to cut, or you are working on wood carving as your serious career, you should choose a miter saw, or a circular saw for a safer and more efficient working experience.
Attachments To Turn Angle Grinder Into Other Woodworking Tools
Wood saw attachment
You can use a chainsaw adapter to turn your angle grinder into a wood saw at a lower cost than getting a real chainsaw. But remember that these accessories are applicable on light-duty jobs or handling small tree branches.
Before purchasing this conversion kit, you should check if it fits your angle grinder’s arbor.
Steps to make the conversion:
- Put the rubber ring in the angle grinder. Make sure it grips the tool tightly.
- Place the wood saw attachment on the grinder, and tighten it up. Make sure it doesn’t move.
- Install the guide bar adjustment.
- Install the chain guide plate on the tool, then tighten it with 2 metal rings.
- Install the chain so that the pinhead should follow clockwise with the angle grinder.
- Put the washer on the front cover, then install the front cover on the angle grinder. Then, use a screwdriver to tighten it up.
- Install the handle.
- Put oil in the chainsaw before use so that the chain won’t break.
Wood sander attachment
Apart from a wood grinder wheel, you can use a simple wood sander attachment to turn your grinder into a micro-belt sander to sand odd-shaped areas. You can apply this attachment to the disc guard position of your tool with clamps.
This helps you save a lot of money for a wood belt sander. But the best part of it is that you don’t need to use any unique tool to install it. However, it’s not easy to disassemble this attachment from the grinder.
Wood chisel attachment
Why purchase a wood chisel when you can use a simple attachment to switch your angle grinder into a compact chisel for carving wood, bamboo, or root.
Unless you have special requirements for those tasks, this 2-in-1 tool can handle general-purpose woodworking projects quite well.
Using this tool is very safe, and it won’t hurt your fingers. However, make sure that your machine has sufficient power for the projects since the performance of this chisel depends on it.
Drill chuck attachment
If you need to drill some small holes in your DIY projects, this drill chuck attachment, along with your angle grinder, will make it possible in a few seconds without borrowing or purchasing a powerful drill.
Please remember that this attachment can only handle occasional light-duty jobs. It is not meant for heavy-duty, everyday drill requirements.
See more common angle grinder attachments for drill here!
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
1. Is angle grinder good for woodworking?
An angle grinder is a fast, reliable power tool for woodworking. It can accomplish three important tasks like carving, sanding, and shaping.
2. Can you grind wood with an angle grinder?
Yes, once you have a good flap sanding disc.
3. Can you cut wood with a metal cutting blade?
Although you can use a metal cutting blade to cut wood, it is not advisable.
Using an abrasive cutting blade on a flammable material like wood can lead to catastrophic fires or explosions. Besides, using this blade on such a high-density material can also cause kickback.
4. How to use an angle grinder on wood?
Always follows these precautions for safe use on wood:
- Wear PPE.
- Use the guard.
- Hold the grinder tightly with both hands.
- Run the disc 1 minute before using it to make a real cut.
- Orient the work to make the debris direct downward.
- Orient the work to make the disc spin away from sharp edges.
- Keep the grinder out of children’s reach.
To Sum Up
There are countless angle grinder attachments for wood cutting, shaping, carving, and polishing. Instead of purchasing separated special tools, you can choose appropriate items based on your requirements to get your jobs done conveniently and efficiently.
An angle grinder can have a maximum speed of 15,000 RPM, enough to cause fatal accidents. Thus, you should be highly cautious while operating an angle grinder. Plus, always follow the operation instructions and wear safety glasses and PPE before handling any jobs related to angle grinders or any similar power tools.
