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Burnt through three grinding wheels on one weld seam yesterday
Figured it was just a bad batch of wheels or the metal was being stubborn. Turns out the bevel angle I was using on that pipe was way off, like 5 degrees too steep. Saw the older guy next to me finish the same joint with one wheel and asked what I was doing wrong. He pointed out my prep work was the problem, not the wheel itself. Anyone else learned a hard lesson about how much bevel setup affects your consumable costs?
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emma7682mo ago
Blame the grinder first too before realizing it was me all along. Prepping the bevel wrong can eat through wheels like crazy because you're basically trying to force the grinder to do extra work it wasn't meant for. That 5 degree difference probably made the contact angle way too aggressive, so the wheel was digging in instead of cutting smooth. Your older coworker saved you a lot of money and headache by pointing it out early.
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cameron6842mo ago
Yeah I actually saw a video from some welding instructor going over this exact thing, he said most guys burn through wheels because their angle is off by just a few degrees. He showed how a steeper bevel makes the grinder contact the edge instead of the face of the wheel, so it basically wears down twice as fast. Once I matched my bevel angle to the recommended 30 degrees for the material thickness, my wheels started lasting way longer. It's wild how such a small change in setup can double or triple your consumable life.
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