Flap Wheel
Shaft-mounted flap wheels on 1/4" shanks in coated and non-woven grain, for die grinders working inside bores, slots and contours a disc cannot reach.
Where a shaft-mounted wheel is the only option
An angle grinder reaches flat and open work. A shaft-mounted flap wheel in a die grinder reaches the inside of a pipe, the bottom of a slot, a radius, a weld inside a fabricated box - the places where a disc physically cannot present its face to the work.
They also conform. The flaps flex around contour rather than cutting a flat facet into it, which is why they finish radii and curved work far better than any rigid abrasive.
Coated or non-woven
- Coated flap wheels carry abrasive grain on cloth flaps. They remove material - deburring, weld blending, cleaning up cut edges inside a bore.
- Non-woven flap wheels are an open nylon web with grain through it. They clean, blend and finish without cutting appreciably into the base metal, which is exactly what you want when the dimension matters or when you are producing a uniform finish rather than removing metal.
Reaching for non-woven to remove a weld wastes an expensive wheel. Reaching for coated to produce a finish removes metal you wanted to keep.
Match the RPM, and mind the shank
Die grinders spin far faster than angle grinders - commonly 20,000 RPM or more - and a flap wheel run above its rating comes apart. Check the maximum RPM on the wheel against the tool, and remember that air tools free-run faster than their rated speed when unloaded.
Seat the 1/4" shank fully in the collet. A shank gripped only at the tip whips, wears the collet, and eventually snaps at the collet mouth - at speed, with the wheel attached.
Light pressure, and keep it moving
Let the flap tips work. Pressing bends the flaps over so their sides rub instead of their edges cutting, which generates heat, glazes the abrasive and finishes the wheel early. Inside a bore heat has nowhere to go, so keep the wheel travelling rather than dwelling.
Do not cross-contaminate
A wheel used on carbon steel embeds iron in stainless and in aluminum. Dedicate wheels by material and mark them - this is cheaper than explaining rust on a stainless part.
Free shipping over $175 across Canada. Counter pickup in North York.
