Wood is one of the oldest natural materials used in construction, manufacturing and household. To this day, it remains in demand due to environmental cleanliness and affordability. And one more significant plus of the wood is caused by mechanical compliance, which is important from the point of view of processing. For lumber, there is a wide range of cutting tools from the simplest hacksaw to jigsaw. But is it possible to cut a tree with a grinder? This is a universal tool for processing solid-state materials, but thanks to a combination of wide functionality, ergonomics and productivity, many craftsmen also use it in working with soft-body blanks like wood. How justified is the use of an angle grinder?
The advantages of using a grinder for working with wood
The tool has a powerful engine, which allows it to easily cope with all the rocks used in domestic housing construction and production. As a rule, we are talking about working with timber, board and particle boards. Even a minimum power of 500-700 watts will be enough to handle standard lumber. But here another question arises: "Is it possible to grind a tree as such or logs with a grinder?" This will depend on the size of the nozzle, but it is in solving such problems that a chain saw is more suitable. The grinder, in addition to performance, justifies itself in terms of functionality. Modern compact models weigh a little, but at the same time they have a wide range of adjustment, safety and control systems. The operator can individually adjust the machine according to the depth of cut, the number of revolutions, use soft start and other features.
Disadvantages of wood processing grinder
The main argument against using an angle grinder in working with wood is safety. There are certain ergonomic nuances associated with the inconvenient direction of the cut, but specialists from such cutting tactics often stop precisely the risks of injury. Why is it dangerous to cut a tree with a grinder? Compared with the same jigsaw or circular saw, the angle grinder does not have a stopper - a device that physically stops the cut when passing a critical point. In other words, when the landing zone or the center of the cutting blade approaches the surface of the workpiece, the likelihood of a hook and the tool flying out of hands increases. This can happen completely unexpectedly, as well as the direction of the discard of the grinder. The second nuance is associated with the nozzle itself. For example, disks with soldered segments are strictly forbidden to be used, as they may collapse during operation. But today, manufacturers also produce special equipment for servicing soft building materials.
Which disc for a grinder to saw a tree?
As already noted, on the construction equipment market there is a special tooling for angle grinders with which it is planned to process wood billets. Usually these are adaptive disks with expanders in the cut area and a special shape of the teeth. This design focuses on reducing the probability of a wedge. Moreover, for wood, you can find both cutting and grinding wheels. Another option for an acceptable nozzle for such purposes is chain equipment. But in working with it, one must take into account the wide grip of the cut, of the order of 8-10 mm. You can saw a tree with a chain disc with a grinder with a maximum depth of 125-230 mm. These are standard formats for the angle grinder, but the workflow will be characterized by a low level of vibration and no risk of the tool flying out of your hands.
Is it possible to cut a wood with a grinder with a metal nozzle?
Most of these discs have a small tooth, without fail supplemented with victorious or diamond crumbs. This allows you to work with metal and with natural stone. It is dangerous to use such nozzles for wood, but there are disc models, the device of which is close to the optimal cutters for soft material. So, you can grind a tree with a disc with a metal disc in cases when two conditions are satisfied:
- The circle has a rare and medium tooth (large increases the risk of a wedge).
- Segments or other inserts on the surface of the nozzle are made of tungsten or carbide.
This design will minimize unwanted effects during operation, but according to safety regulations, this is not enough for using the grinder in such operations.
Preparation of tools and blanks for sawing
The grinder should be carefully inspected and checked for functionality. The reliability of the connections, electrical connections, the operation of protective systems and structural mechanisms should be evaluated. Separately, the rigidity of the grip nozzle is checked. If you plan to saw a tree with a grinder in the room, then it will not be superfluous to prepare a construction vacuum cleaner. Modern models of angle grinders have a special branch pipe for dust removal - connecting a vacuum cleaner to it will help to avoid contamination of the workplace with small chips. The workpiece itself must be dried, cleaned of foreign inclusions and dirt.
The working process
Start cutting with a soft start, if there is such a function. It is important to ensure work at low speeds, if necessary, increasing the moment already along the way. Much in the tactics of changing the parameters of the cut will depend on the hardness of the workpiece itself and its size. How can I cut a tree with a grinder if I need a slanting cut? Unfortunately, the cut curve is not allowed at all. The workpiece is cut only at right angles, and any inclinations are excluded, since skew as such can be dangerous. Complex operations of curly and generally non-standard cutting are performed as part of post-processing with another tool. After completing work, you should wait for the disk to stop, turn off the device, and unplug the plug. Then the tool is disassembled and cleaned of wood chips with dust.
Recommendations on the way
There are a number of small technical and operational subtleties that are important to consider when processing wood:
- Many, in attempts to make work more comfortable, get rid of the protective casing. But it is absolutely impossible to do this, since the casing is the only barrier to the operator and the disc, the destruction of which can lead to injuries.
- To increase the reliability of the physical holding of the tool will help a special device - the bearing base. She will make a machine out of a manual apparatus.
- To ensure a more tenacious grip, it is recommended to cut a tree with a grinder in construction gloves with rubberized overlays.
- If the model of the angle grinder used has a locking function, it should not be used. Complicated situations may require a momentary shutdown of the device to minimize damage, and the included lock will not allow this.
Conclusion
General safety guidelines indicate that any tool and consumables should be used only for its intended purpose. Does this rule apply to the grinder in the context of its application to wood blanks? Most likely not, because the developers of modern models of this tool make the designs universal, and in the assortment of nozzles you can find special discs for soft-body materials. Another question - is it possible to grind a tree with a grinder as a target blank in a regular mode? Again, theoretically this is possible and allowed, but practically this approach does not justify itself. Circular saws cut wood and beams more efficiently, while chain saws do a good job with logs and felling trees. Therefore, the grinder can only be used as a one-time substitute for the profile tool for cutting wooden workpieces.