How To Unscrew A Disc On An Angle Grinder Without A Key

Tapping the nut

This method is similar to the previous one, only you can use a suitable metal rod or chisel. After fixing the spindle head, tap on the edges of the clamping holes in the direction of the wheel movement. Slightly moving the lock from a dead center, you can unscrew it by hand. However, the method is not the most harmless for the tool; the bore holes for a standard key are damaged.

Tips

If you had to use a gas wrench, you must remember about the very powerful shoulder of such a wrench and about the force that is applied to the parts of the angle grinder. If you do not act carefully, the spindle lock could be ripped off or the gearbox could be damaged.

All manipulations with the angle grinder disc must be performed with the power supply completely disconnected (the plug must be removed from the socket). Any inadvertent pressing of the start button will cause the electric motor to turn on, and the rod rotation speed is very high. In this case, injuries cannot be avoided.

Working with an angle grinder involves a lot of waste in the form of metal or wood shavings and dust. Before starting work, you must wear special safety glasses: they will protect your eyes from fragments of the cutting wheel itself in case of jamming and destruction.

Glasses are needed not only as a safety element. If the eyes are protected, more attention can be paid directly to the operation of the angle grinder, to ensure the correct cut or select the correct operating mode. This will allow the most efficient use of consumables (cutting wheels), minimizes the occurrence of abnormal situations with a biting disc or its destruction.

A protective mask that completely covers the face will perfectly replace glasses, this is especially true for a master with impaired vision, who wears diopter glasses, on which safety glasses cannot be worn.

The disc on the angle grinder can be installed both from itself and to itself, depending on the direction of rotation and, accordingly, the flow of chips. In work, this does not make a fundamental difference. However, an angle grinder with a circle on itself when biting the disc tends to jump out of the cut forward, and not on the person using it. This is especially important when working with powerful tools, but even a small angle grinder can be a serious hazard.

A specially mounted extension cord with a plug socket, preferably without grounding, will help to quickly stop the operation of a machine that has escaped from the hands.

Angle grinder is a rough tool and it is not worth striving to obtain an ideal surface as a result of its work, the main thing is to make a rough cut, which later, if necessary, can be processed in other ways.

To work without clamps and jamming, it is better not to cut long metal workpieces to the end, leaving 12 mm of metal in the cut: they will be easy to break off afterwards, this will practically not affect the quality of the workpiece.

It is better to place small workpieces in a vice or press them with a clamp to a workbench or other reliable horizontal surface. The quality of the cut and safety depend on the density of pressing.

To change the disc to an angle grinder, you must unscrew the fastening washer.

The fastening washer, as a rule, comes with special grooves, and you can only unscrew it with the appropriate wrench, which usually comes with every angle grinder.

On some angle grinders, ordinary nuts are installed as fasteners, which can be unscrewed with an open-end wrench.

To unscrew the fastening washer in its grooves, you need to install an angle grinder wrench.

On the other side of the angle grinder, press the locking button to lock the rotor at a standstill.

Next, you need to turn the key against the hour hand.

So the fasteners are unscrewed, then the old disc is changed to a new one.

After installing the new disc in place, first the fastening washer is twisted by hand, and at the end it is tightened with a wrench.

The angle grinder is now loaded with a new disc and you can start working.

Step-by-step algorithm of actions

The circle is fixed on the spindle head with a lock nut having an M14 thread. The standard set includes an open-end wrench with special protrusions for engagement with holes in the fixing flange.

To unscrew the nut, you need to fix the spindle. For these purposes, there is a special lock located on the back of the angle grinder. By pressing the button, you will fix the gearbox with a cotter pin, excluding the possibility of its rotation.

Insert the key into the holes. Hold the lock with one hand and turn it counterclockwise with the other, sliding the nut.

The direction of movement of the disc is usually clockwise. However, there are models that may be different. In any case, unscrewing occurs in the direction opposite to rotation.

When the nut is slid, it can be easily unscrewed by hand.

Remove the retainer and the old circle.

Remove the bottom flange.

After intensive work with the tool with metal inside the casing, you can find a build-up of burnt scale with abrasive. Use a steel brush to remove residue.

After cleaning, install the lower flange in place, while aligning the spindle grooves with the flange grooves. A gasket is placed on top.

If your model does not have additional spacers, then such washers can be prepared from plastic or thick cardboard. Next, you need to correctly place the disc on the angle grinder and close it with a similar gasket.

Important! Installable spacers allow you to easily unscrew the nut, even if the disc is jammed or broken.

Turn the top retainer counterclockwise (counter-rotating) by hand while supporting the cutting wheel. In this case, you also need to tighten the spindle lock and tighten the flange until you feel resistance. With an open-end wrench, hold out with a little effort. Do not overtighten the mount, otherwise you can overtighten the circle and it will warp.

Now you can continue to work. However, problems occasionally arise and it just does not work to unscrew the disc on the angle grinder. How to change the disc to an angle grinder in such cases, see further.

Heat

This is one way to remove a disc from an angle grinder without a key. The fixing nut is heated with an industrial hair dryer or gas burner. This will make the flange much easier to unscrew. However, there is a risk of damage to plastic parts of the angle grinder or gearbox.

What else can you do?

Breaking the cutting wheel

You can unscrew a jammed nut by completely destroying the disc. If there is already damage, then you can break it with your hands, but most often this will not work. Better to take a hacksaw or metal blade and saw it. This leaves you with a center ring and hard-to-reach pieces. Having found a suitable plate, holding it in a vice, grind off the remnants of the abrasive on it to the metal ring. After that, it will be easily unscrewed with a standard key.

The most radical way to unscrew a jammed hold-down nut is to cut it. It is advisable to resort to it only in extreme cases. Of course, you can find a new one, but you have to spend your time and money. Spare clamping elements are often included in the scope of delivery of the angle grinder.

How to properly place a disc on an angle grinder?

1. How to install correctly?
2. How to remove it?
3. How to change a disk if it is jammed?
4. Tips

Angle grinder disc (angle grinder) is one of its main working parts. It is the disc that determines the application of the instrument. With it, this machine can be used to cut, grind or polish various materials. Discs, depending on the purpose, differ from each other: from abrasive grit for metal, steel milling cutters and circular saws for wood processing, with diamond dusting for stone and tiles, all kinds of brushes, brushes and emery wheels for polishing various surfaces.

The disc of an angle grinder is a consumable material, it will not work to save on it in the process. The disc will gradually wear out (burn out) and need to be replaced. When planning work, you need to be prepared for this and it is better to stock up on several removable disks in advance.

How to install correctly?

Installing a disk on an UMSH is not that difficult. You can change it simply by following the instructions, although there are some nuances here.

First of all, you must install the disc in the correct direction. This is especially important if it is detachable. Typically, the side of the disc with the label on which the marking is indicated and, accordingly, the scope of its application, is slightly different from the opposite side. It may not appear immediately, but with prolonged intensive work, the difference will not only be noticeable, it will be obvious.

A wide pressure washer is placed on the side on which the label is glued, and the movable nut acts on it when tightening (installing the disc). The nut slides on the polished surface of the washer, without it it will become more difficult to tighten or unscrew, since the abrasive will firmly hold the nut and more effort will be required. This is especially important if a quick disc replacement is required or if it breaks down (jamming).

With circular saws or other products that have teeth or a significant difference in two sides, there is usually no problem how to set. For example, a grinding disc cannot be fixed on the contrary: it will simply be impossible for them to work.

Stone discs, including diamond ones, have a special rotation indicator in the form of an arrow: when installing them, you need to fasten them taking into account where the rod will rotate.

It is also important to consider the size of the disk when installing. In no case should you neglect safety and remove the protective cover, it is better to choose a disc of the appropriate diameter. Sometimes a worn-out disc from a large unit is placed on an angle grinder of smaller dimensions. However, a worn out disc, as a rule, cuts worse, the working surface is limited to about half the radius of the disc, the structure is slightly different. The disc burns faster and produces less work. This operation can be justified if the stem diameter is the same. But you won’t be able to change it back.

No debris should get under the disk when installing. Of course, the clamping nut may well squeeze small objects, something will press into the surface of the circle. But an imperceptible skew will cause a displacement of the plane of rotation and, as a result, a strong vibration of the entire mechanism, it can cause the destruction of the disc and, of course, you should not hope for an accurate cut in this case.

The clamping nut must be unscrewed with the wrench supplied with the tool. To prevent the stem from spinning, it must be locked by pressing a special button. It is necessary to unscrew the nut while holding the button down.

After twisting the nut, the disc is put on the released stem, face out, and you need to make sure that it is installed exactly in the seat.

A new angle grinder always comes with a number of cardboard shims when installing the disc, they must be laid so that they are between the disc and the pressure elements. These pads will help unscrew a broken or jammed disc.

Further, the nut is manually tightened to the stop and tightened with a special wrench. That’s it, the angle grinder is ready to go.

How to change a disk if it is jammed?

What to do if the angle grinder wheel is stuck? This can happen, for example, when, as a result of work, pieces of the workpiece being cut sharply clamp the rotating disc. Often this leads to its destruction.

It can be very difficult to unscrew the nut tightened as a result of rotation, if the circle is bitten.

• One of these methods would be to use two gas keys at once. In this case, the remains of the disc must be broken with pliers. Use one key to clamp the part of the stem located under the disc, and unscrew the flange with the other.
• Sometimes, in order to gain access of the gas wrench to the rod of the angle grinder, you have to disassemble the gearbox.

• From the problem of a jammed nut, a simple device is saved by cardboard or tin washers. They are often sold with an angle grinder. But over time, they can be lost or become completely unusable. Making homemade washers is not at all difficult. However, it is best not to neglect them.

How to remove it?

Discs, especially those designed for cutting, burn out quickly and must be replaced.

It would be useful to remind once again about the need to disconnect the angle grinder from the network. Work to be done with fast rotating parts and better protect yourself.

If you need to replace a worn disk, you need to perform a number of simple operations.

• The disc is secured to the stem stem with a threaded nut. In the set of any angle grinder there is a special key, on the arms of which pins are fixed, which cling to the holes of the flange.
• The spindle is fixed with a special button, the cotter pin of which, when pressed, enters the hole of the gearbox, thus fixing it. Having pressed the button with your right hand, at the same time with your left hand you need to unscrew the fastening nut with a wrench. If the nut has moved out of place, unscrew it by hand. That’s it, now the disc can be removed.

• There are times when for some reason the key was not at hand. What to do? The easiest way out is to stop working. But, as they say, this is not our method. It is also possible to unscrew the clamping nut of the angle grinder without a key. Often a pipe (gas) wrench is used for this. On such a key there is a device that spreads it. It is necessary to tighten the nut and, fixing the gearbox of the angle grinder with a button, move it from its place. Then it can be unscrewed by hand.

• The nut has holes for fixing it with pins on the horns of the key, you can unscrew it by tapping with a hammer on a chisel or a bar that is pressed into the hole.
• It is sometimes possible to push the nut off by simply tapping its edge with a hammer in the direction of twisting. However, in this case, damage to the flange may occur, especially the holes for the pins of the key; in the future, it may be impossible to apply the key to such a nut.
• A very good result is obtained when using a nail to make a key. It is better to choose a large nail, from 100 mm. Using a hammer and pliers, the nail is U-shaped. A hacksaw or chisel is used to cut off the tip and head of the nail. With such an improvised key, you can try to knock off the nut. You can bend the ends of such a key, then it will turn into a kind of open-end key, but this will require a lot of labor. You can also insert a gate, such as a hammer or other nail, into the arc formed by a bent nail.

Tips

If you had to use a gas wrench, you must remember about the very powerful shoulder of such a wrench and about the force that is applied to the parts of the angle grinder. If you do not act carefully, the spindle lock could be ripped off or the gearbox could be damaged.

All manipulations with the angle grinder disc must be performed with the power supply completely disconnected (the plug must be removed from the socket). Any inadvertent pressing of the start button will cause the electric motor to turn on, and the rod rotation speed is very high. In this case, injuries cannot be avoided.

Working with an angle grinder involves a lot of waste in the form of metal or wood shavings and dust. Before starting work, you must wear special safety glasses: they will protect your eyes from fragments of the cutting wheel itself in case of jamming and destruction.

Glasses are needed not only as a safety element. If the eyes are protected, more attention can be paid directly to the operation of the angle grinder, to ensure the correct cut or select the correct operating mode. This will allow the most efficient use of consumables (cutting wheels), minimizes the occurrence of abnormal situations with a biting disc or its destruction.

A protective mask that completely covers the face will perfectly replace glasses, this is especially true for a master with impaired vision, who wears diopter glasses, on which safety glasses cannot be worn.

The disc on the angle grinder can be installed both from itself and to itself, depending on the direction of rotation and, accordingly, the flow of chips. In work, this does not make a fundamental difference. However, an angle grinder with a circle on itself when biting the disc tends to jump out of the cut forward, and not on the person using it. This is especially important when working with powerful tools, but even a small angle grinder can be a serious hazard.

A specially mounted extension cord with a plug socket, preferably without grounding, will help to quickly stop the operation of a machine that has escaped from the hands.

Angle grinder is a rough tool and it is not worth striving to obtain an ideal surface as a result of its work, the main thing is to make a rough cut, which later, if necessary, can be processed in other ways.

To work without clamps and jamming, it is better not to cut long metal workpieces to the end, leaving 12 mm of metal in the cut: they will be easy to break off afterwards, this will practically not affect the quality of the workpiece.

It is better to place small workpieces in a vice or press them with a clamp to a workbench or other reliable horizontal surface. The quality of the cut and safety depend on the density of pressing.

How to properly place the disc on an angle grinder can be found in the following.