Over at a Plumbing question thread, I mentioned using a cutting wheel on a grinder to cut soft copper, and my actual plumber friend chilcutt questioned my veracity for using this approach. Not that I'm complaining, if you think of a normal angle grinder wheel, it does sound whack.

Here's some pics of the kind of cutting wheel I was talking about. In my experience, not too many people know about these -- one job I was on, I persuaded the supe to buy a box of them, and this guy had way more experience running jobs than me and it was the first he'd heard or seen of them.

Good lord, I've had that li'l tool box for my grinder for more than 12 years -- some sort of weird emotional attachment.

I got the number wrong in the earlier thread -- they're .045" thick. Hard to find sometimes -- White Cap supply has them as well as many welding shops. I propped up a normal grinding wheel next to it for comparison. These things cut through steel very nicely -- much less room for difficulty than with a sawsall, for example. But be careful. That little wheel will do a number on your fingers, especially with the guard removed, like I've got it. Once, the blade sort of caught in the steel and it whipped around and bore down on my little finger. I stuck my finger in my mouth to prevent dripping blood on the floor (not to mention to recycle nutrients) and later, while I was bandaging the finger, I noticed something in my mouth. It was a small chunk of flesh! Recycled that too.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

yeah, they're great for sheet metal and small stuff, they cut real fast.
Watch out on bigger stuff, they like to shatter and send shrapnal everywhere (with some decent force too)

~Nate

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95 Honda Shadow ACE 1100.
1999 Plymouth Neon Expresso. 2.4 swap, 10.5 to 1 comp, big cams. Autocross time attack vehicle!
2012 Escape, 'hunter" (5 sp 4cyl)

I've always worried about the shatter possibility. Hasn't happened in a big way but when they get down to the end of their lifespan, they do start to send out little bits of themselves.

I've got some of those welding goggles used for Oxy/Acet. with reading glass lenses inserted. Regular safety glasses will often let sawdust and other crap through the gaps around the glasses. They're still better than nothing, but the welding goggles really do the trick.

When I worked for the big companies, them guys are death on not using eye protection -- way too much legal liability from that, and they get reduced insurance rates if they have safety meetings and random inspections by safety consultants, who will dole out black marks for lack of using safety equipment.

I don't always use the eye protection for everything, but for grinding/cutting metal, always.

Once, I was sawsalling some steel and a small bit shot onto my forhead, about an inch from my saftey glass protected eye, and sizzled on my skin for a second or two.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

Dry dia blades last longer, but prob grab metal more.

Nice gaurd....just like all my tile setters have

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

Yeah, I should stick it back on . . . . if I can find it.

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1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

You can find those thin wheels at a welder's supply store. They are mostly used to grind clean the root pass in pipe welding.

They sell them at HD/Lowes too.
Shattering is not too bad. It not really terribly high velocity. Just have your goggles on. What I hate is when they bind and the tool leaps out of my hand. Make sure you use the leading half of the wheel, not the back half.

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1984 300TD

I am sure that your cutting wheel did work. However your original post stated that you were looping soft copper thru your attic, and I just wondered why you would run power up with you , when the ridged cutting tool can stay in your pocket. Guess you just have your own way of doing things,and that's cool.

Yep....we dont use Dewalts too much anymore because when you set them down behind you they like to takeoff with that lever switch. We've gone back to makita's with their switch that gets caked with dust and fails to turn on (or off) when you need them most instead. You gotta love union labor and safety......

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

I blow my Makita 4"er's switch (and other switches) out with compressed air when I get done...keeps the vents clean too...

Never had a problem with a tool running/not running when switching to that opposite state of operation...

No CA? A small flux-brush does a nice job removing the crap from around switches and vents, in a pinch!

I got to scrap out and keep the money from over 410' of 3-1/4" transmission line (copper inner and outer conductors - the stuff was destroyed when the tower crew pulled it up a tower and "zippered" the side of it for about 85' - sucked water like a horse after a race...). I used my B&D 7" circular saw - For the first part, I put on a 7" masonary blade and "skinned" a cut on the outer jacket black-vinyl (Scrap yard didn't want that job...it would reduce the price for the coppper.) Once the jacket was off, I switched over to a metal-cutting blade and split the copper line outer from end-to-end, removed the copper center conductor, unwraped the spiral teflon spacer from around the center, then I cut the the two pieces into 15' sections to make the transport easier and manageable...and I was able to scrap out the line with minimal loss (copper "dust")..the whole job was done w/the B&D 7" circular saw, one 7" masonary blade and the one 7" metal blade. At the time, "clean" copper was going for about $0.85 - $0.95/lbs..

Safety gear? You bet?

Ear protection/eye protection, a good pair of work gloves, a decent pair of work shoes and jeans. I picked up a hat and spun the bill around to the back after realizing that hot, melted vinyl doesn't stick to cloth as well as it sticks to hair and bare skin around the safety glasses. I also spun the hat's bill around to the back after realizing that anything NOT being deflected off the bottom on the hat's bill down the front of my face was more preferred...and it also kept the stuff, then, from falling down the back of my neck and into my shirt.

"Top button buttoned, collar up, sleeves down."

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M. G. Burg
'10 - Dakota SXT - Daily Ride / ≈ 172.5K
.'76 - 450SLC - 107.024.12 / < .89.20 K
..'77 - 280E - 123.033.12 / > 128.20 K
...'67 - El Camino - 283ci / > 207.00 K
....'75 - Yamaha - 650XS / < 21.00 K
.....'87 - G20 Sportvan / > 206.00 K
......'85 - 4WINNS 160 I.O. / 140hp
.......'74 - Honda CT70 / Real 125
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“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ Yogi Berra ~

We use the 3" ones on an air die grinder. Great for getting into smaller areas, but as you said,,, wear all the protection you can find.

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95 SL500 Smoke Silver, Parchment 64K
07 E350 4matic Station Wagon White 34K
02 E320 4Matic Silver/grey 80K
05 F150 Silver 44K

We used Bosch adj. speed ones at the last granite shop I worked at. Lots of dust, but the switches held up pretty good.

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1984 300TD

The stupid guard just gets in the way of 'Git-r-Done.'

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Never a dull moment at Berry Hill Farm.

He wasn't the one looping the soft copper thru his attic, he was just offering advice on how to cut the copper.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

We have a cutoff saw like that at work. Instead of a fiber reinforced grinding disk, we use an actual small saw blade.


It's amazingly dangerous. We use it to cut alum. tabs off of cnc'd parts.




One worker got a fairly nice gash on his knee from it...

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-1983 VW Rabbit LS Diesel (5speed, VNT/Giles build)