Wire Wheels
Twist knot wire wheels for removing scale, slag, rust and paint - aggressive cleaning before the arc and between passes.
Knotted or crimped - pick by aggression
A twist knot wheel has its wire twisted into stiff bundles. That stiffness is the point: it hits hard, removes heavy scale, mill finish, weld slag and rust, and holds up on work that would fold a softer wheel. It is the wheel for preparation and for cleaning between passes on dirty steel.
A crimped wheel is softer and more flexible. It cleans lightly, conforms to contour and finishes rather than strips. Reaching for a crimped wheel on heavy scale wastes both your time and the wheel.
Check the RPM rating against your grinder, every time
This is a safety item, not a performance note. A wire wheel rated below your grinder's free speed can throw wire or come apart, and at grinder speeds that wire travels far enough and fast enough to go through clothing and into skin.
Read the maximum RPM on the wheel and compare it to the plate on your grinder before it goes on the spindle. Full face protection, not just glasses - a wire in the eye is one of the more common serious shop injuries and it is entirely preventable.
Wire shedding is normal - plan for it
Every wire wheel sheds. Keep bystanders out of the arc of the wheel, keep the wheel turning away from you where the work allows, and expect to find wire in the weld prep if you have been aggressive. Wire left in the joint becomes an inclusion.
Never share a wheel between stainless and carbon steel
A wheel used on mild steel embeds iron particles into stainless, and that iron rusts on a part specified precisely so it would not. Keep a dedicated stainless wheel, mark it, and store it away from the steel bench.
The same rule applies to aluminum - iron contamination in an aluminum weld is a defect, and a shared wheel is how it gets there.
Light pressure cuts faster
Let the wire tips do the work. Bearing down folds the wire over, which cuts more slowly, heats the work and destroys the wheel in a fraction of its life. If it is not cleaning at light pressure, the wheel is worn or it is the wrong type.
Free shipping over $175 across Canada. Counter pickup in North York.
