I had a Toyota Tacoma rear bumper that I had to cut in half today. It was brand new and about 1/16" thick metal I would assume, but didn't measure it. As I gathered up the tools and such I found that we had two different cut off wheels in stock and figured I do a little test to see which was better.

One was a "value line" product Bullard Abrasives "The Competitor" #51303 that one of our suppliers gets for us, the other is the "top of the line" (most people think so) from 3M #01989 that we get from our paint supplier. Both were 1/32" thick 3" discs with a 3/8" hole for the mandrel bolt.

I was surprised to see that I only cut about a 1/4" of the diameter of the Bullard disc off cutting one of the cuts on the bumper.

I do as I usually would with something like this, running the disc back and forth on a section to thin the metal instead of trying to cut thru like a saw. But the Bullard disc did it pretty easy, I was impressed.

The other cut I made with the 3M and was more impressed with it, the cutting was faster, much faster. And I only removed about 1/8" of the disc! I would have never thought I could cut that bumper in half without going thru a few discs.

Anyway, so the 3M disc won, but what about the cost? I figured the Bullard was a few cents cheaper and just wouldn't be worth the savings. I called the paint store where we get the 3M and found that they cost us $4.10 each. I called the supplier of the Bullard, and got a shock, how about $1.05! Yep, they may not be quite as good but they are a MUCH better value.

So, not only will we be staying with the Bullard I am calling the paint store and telling them to not send ANY of those 3M ones to us.

Brian

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa167/BasicsofBasics/100_1146.jpg

This shows the Bullard sitting on top of the 3M to show the difference in amount worn off.
http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa167/BasicsofBasics/100_1147.jpg

Nice real world test Brian! I guess the old adage "you get what you pay for" does not apply here. thanks!

In your words, it was "much faster" to cut with the 3M disc. I would think that if you had a fair amount of cutting to do, it would be cheaper in the long run to use the 3M disc considering $70-100 hourly shop rates. Since you would use two cheapies to one 3M, now we are talking $2 per "usage" cheaper which I would think could be easily eaten up with saved labor costs.

Thanks for doing these tests, BTW. They answer questions that alot of us have but never take the time to check out. :thumbsup:

i cant believe you cut a tacoma bumper!! thats a sin!!! cut up a mustang bumper!!..i work in a garage..thanks for the info!!

Thanks for doing these tests, BTW. They answer questions that alot of us have but never take the time to check out. :thumbsup:

I have lots of questions swirling around in my scull, sometimes I get answers to them. :) Of course, any real scientist would say the only answer I got was which disc cuts a Tacoma bumper faster. :)

Under different circumstances we may get a different result.

Brian

whats the altitude where your at? what was the tempeture?? what psi was your compressor set at and which name brand cut off tool were you using??and was it oiled??

In your words, it was "much faster" to cut with the 3M disc. I would think that if you had a fair amount of cutting to do, it would be cheaper in the long run to use the 3M disc considering $70-100 hourly shop rates. Since you would use two cheapies to one 3M, now we are talking $2 per "usage" cheaper which I would think could be easily eaten up with saved labor costs.:thumbsup:
Factor in the time to change wheels.

BTW where are these products made? My money stays in America, especially when it comes to tools. JMHO.

BTW where are these products made? My money stays in America, especially when it comes to tools. JMHO.


3M = Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. ;)

whats the altitude where your at? what was the tempeture?? what psi was your compressor set at and which name brand cut off tool were you using??and was it oiled??

LOL, the thing is, as long as both were done at the same altitude, tempeture and psi and the die grinder wasn't oiled between discs, it makes no difference.

Brian

Factor in the time to change wheels.

BTW where are these products made? My money stays in America, especially when it comes to tools. JMHO.


Yes, oh yes, the Bullard is made in Taiwan and the 3M in America. This IS a big thing to me as well. But when the difference is FOUR times as much for the same outcome, that is hard to take.

Brian

I buy the Metabo brand at my welding supply and the work well.....

Why not just get a diamond inpregnated disc and be done with changing disc all the time?
And the cuts are far thinner, faster, and shapes are far easier due to the smaller wheel size.

Not tring to argue here but as the wheel gets smaller it will wear faster. You might be surprised to actually know how much of that cheaper disc is actually gone. I am not convinced that you wont go through 5 or 6 of the "cheaper" discs to the one 3M disc. I think you should keep cutting with the discs to see how much material the discs will actually cut before they are totally used.

Also 3M is based in MN, but that don't mean that the disc was made in the USA actually. I know people that lost there jobs at 3M because their job outsourced to Mexico.

Sorry not trying to be a dick, just a couple thoughts.

I use the dewalt ones at lowes, or the (I forget the name) blue ones at HD, or the Northern tool variety...never really had a problem, but I have never compared job to job, or cost to cost...

I know that I will never, NEVER use the Harbor freight ones again...cheap, thin, and explode very easily. I got a nice gash on my shoulder from one. Good thing I was wearing my face shield!

Hmmm.... odd, I've used the HF multi-packs my entire project and never had any issues with them. Can't beat $1 a piece for 3 cut-offs, 3 flaps and 3 grinders.

i too buy the packs of HF discs and have NEVER had one explode. i probably have run through a couple hundred of them. 10 pack of 4.5" for 8 bucks. cant beat that price anywhere. and they last as long as i would expect them to. ive used many other brands before, but i cant justify 4 bucks for a disc when it doesnt seem to last much longer. brian may have proved that theory wrong, but i still sleep better with the cheap ones.

Tim

I got some Dewalt ones and Some offbrand and Tractory supply for 1.99 a piece, because the ones i was using of my uncles he said were 3 bucks a pop but they are about .050 thousands thick 3" but the dewalt ones when they chip they gernade and dont last for ****. So when i went to Production tool to ask how much the Cutoffs i borrowed from my uncle were they were like 1.65 each so i got 50, and they were like 1.40 after you got so many and they last awhile. when they get smaller in diam. there good for grinding welds there woven really good i think they say Bates on them?

So when i was at the welding store the other day they had the same Cutoffs on the shelf and were like 4.17 a piece = O