Just call me 'Angle' of the morning . . . .
I have been evaluating a few more of these less expensive, mini-grinders (will post some separate threads on each), and noticed something interesting. Although, the grinder head tilt angle is fixed on most of these, they are not all fixed at the same angle (!). At first I thought it might be an illusion, or a perspective thing. And no one cares about a variation of a degree or two on this type of tool. But a couple of them looked significantly different. So I took them down into Philbert's Secret Underground Research Laboratory ('PSURL') and applied SCIENCE (or engineering, or math, or something) on them.
Hard to measure with a standard protractor, so I clamped the heads down, inserted a small piece of card stock in each vise, traced the line, and measured it off the paper (highlighted in these photos for emphasis - those lines did not actually appear).
[ATTACH=full]866686[/ATTACH]
Here's what I got -presented a couple of ways, in case one makes more sense:
[ATTACH=full]866684[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=full]866685[/ATTACH]
Small differences may be due to my measuring error. But the 10° difference between the Grizzly and Forester (identical to Oregon 310-120?) is H-U-G-E!
60° has long been the 'standard' / 'default' angle for cutting a variety of different types of wood, and what STIHL usually recommends. Oregon has been recommending 55° for most of their chains for several years now. It is a separate discussion to decide which is 'best', which cuts faster, which lasts longer, etc. Of course, on 'standard' grinders, this angle is adjustable. But if these details are important to you, and you are thinking about one of these fixed head angle grinders, this might be interesting information.
Philbert
