# Power tool question: be honest and save my life **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 18, 2000, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-tool-question-be-honest-and-save-my-life/26026 "2000-07-18T21:36:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-tool-question-be-honest-and-save-my-life/26026/1 "2000-07-18T21:36:16Z")
- - - or lie and help me kill myself. - I have a 4 1/2" grinder. Problem is, I need to remove a bunch of masonary. The regular silicon carbide wheels used the regular way are just barely cutting it, pun intended. The usual procedure is to make a bunch of shallow cuts next to each other with a [power] saw blade, and remove the material in between the cuts with a hammer & chisel. I can’t find any grinding wheels that are thin and hard enough for this use, however. I’d rather not buy yet another power tool. - The mounting collars on the grinder “supports” a blade with a 7/8" hole (when they are oriented properly), but the grinder shaft is 5/8" in diameter and the collars can be flipped over to present: ta-daa!, a flat surface. Did they make it this way so that you could use 5/8" x 4-inch blades on it? Can I get a 5/8" x 4-inch diamond saw blade and use it on the grinder, or not? The diamond blade is a single steel blade with abrasive electroplated around the edge, so it isn’t gonna fly apart, but is there any other reason? - MC ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-tool-question-be-honest-and-save-my-life/26026/2 "2000-07-18T21:51:59Z")
Does your mother know you’re playing with these things? ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-tool-question-be-honest-and-save-my-life/26026/3 "2000-07-18T22:14:17Z")
Just make sure the blade is speed rated for your saw and you should be fine. Tile saws use the same type of motor as your angle grinder. Wear goggles and be safe. ---
**Author:** ![Medea\_s\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Medea\_s\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Medea_s_Child)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-tool-question-be-honest-and-save-my-life/26026/4 "2000-07-18T22:40:03Z")
Be careful. Hate to lose valuble typing fingers. ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-tool-question-be-honest-and-save-my-life/26026/5 "2000-07-18T23:51:33Z")
OK, here’s the best advice I can give you. It’s the advice I take, myself: Pay somebody else to do it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![lswote](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lswote/32/5737_2.png) [@lswote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lswote)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2000, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-tool-question-be-honest-and-save-my-life/26026/6 "2000-07-18T23:56:20Z")
Maybe I don’t understand the problem, but I would use a 7 1/4 inch circular saw with a diamond carbine blade. Very effective on stone, concrete, even metal. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-tool-question-be-honest-and-save-my-life/26026/7 "2000-07-19T03:26:34Z")
If you’re talking any significant amount of masonry, get (borrow, rent, steal) an air compressor and a little chipper instead of cutting it all away. It’s a whole lot easier than making all the little cuts and chipping the rest out by hand. ---
**Author:** ![DougC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7feea3/32.png) [@DougC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougC)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2000, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/power-tool-question-be-honest-and-save-my-life/26026/8 "2000-07-19T10:30:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Maybe I don’t understand the problem, but I would use a 7 1/4 inch circular saw with a diamond carbine blade. Very effective on stone, concrete, even metal. - Wanderer - I can’t reach the area with a big tool, and I dunno no diamond carbine (carbide?) blades. Aluminum oxide is for ferrous metal, silicon carbide is harder and it’s _supposed_ to be for masonary (normally it works fine) but the stuff I am cutting has fieldspar particles scattered in it, and fieldspar is harder than silicon carbide. At times the grinding wheel wears down faster than the marble! Diamond’s the only option left, and I can’t find diamond grinding wheels anywhere, just saw blades. - And yessssss, , , mom knows what I’m doing. That’s why she made me do it outside! Whaddaya think, we’re stupids? Sheesh! - MC