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3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2021 10:59 pm
by Oscar
I just got this baby today. Holeee Schikes! It is a bad piece of equipment! It's the biggest air-hog I own. It's pretty much a "dead short" to the compressor, aka it's like just opening a 1/2" air hose wide-open, no restriction. It brought my 10HP Polar Air 35 CFM air compressor to it's knees fast! :shock:

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Highly recommended!

Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 12:57 am
by tweake
Oscar wrote:I just got this baby today. Holeee Schikes! It is a bad piece of equipment! It's the biggest air-hog I own. It's pretty much a "dead short" to the compressor, aka it's like just opening a 1/2" air hose wide-open, no restriction. It brought my 10HP Polar Air 35 CFM air compressor to it's knees fast! :shock:
thats the trouble with compressed air, its just so inefficient.
10hp+ to run 1.5hp tool :shock:

Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 1:29 am
by Oscar
tweake wrote:
Oscar wrote:I just got this baby today. Holeee Schikes! It is a bad piece of equipment! It's the biggest air-hog I own. It's pretty much a "dead short" to the compressor, aka it's like just opening a 1/2" air hose wide-open, no restriction. It brought my 10HP Polar Air 35 CFM air compressor to it's knees fast! :shock:
thats the trouble with compressed air, its just so inefficient.
10hp+ to run 1.5hp tool :shock:
Tell me about it. Honestly, to properly satisfy this grinder, I'd need a 15HP compressor and about 15-20 more CFM!

Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 1:44 am
by tweake
Oscar wrote:
tweake wrote:
Oscar wrote:I just got this baby today. Holeee Schikes! It is a bad piece of equipment! It's the biggest air-hog I own. It's pretty much a "dead short" to the compressor, aka it's like just opening a 1/2" air hose wide-open, no restriction. It brought my 10HP Polar Air 35 CFM air compressor to it's knees fast! :shock:
thats the trouble with compressed air, its just so inefficient.
10hp+ to run 1.5hp tool :shock:
Tell me about it. Honestly, to properly satisfy this grinder, I'd need a 15HP compressor and about 15-20 more CFM!
if you can get 10% useable power out of the air system thats incredibly good. the pro's tell be most setups would only get 4% useable power out of the system.

Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 10:19 am
by JayWal
What would be the advantage of an air tool like this then? I get the uses of the smaller 1/4 hp air die grinders, I use those all the tim, but what about these bigger ones. More power than electric? Cheaper? Better speed control?

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Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 10:37 am
by Oscar
JayWal wrote:What would be the advantage of an air tool like this then? I get the uses of the smaller 1/4 hp air die grinders, I use those all the tim, but what about these bigger ones. More power than electric? Cheaper? Better speed control?

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk
Can't burn out the windings. :)

Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 10:47 am
by BillE.Dee
One nice thing about the "air" operated tools....they will STOP when they get caught in something. An old friend of mine had an electric grinder that sounded like a Ford 427 at idle when he would just squeeze the trigger...couldnt stand the NOISE when he gave it full throttle. The electric tools "coast" to a stop and by the time everything does come to a stop, the electric cord is wodded around your writs, arm and legs and a whole new vocabulary is designed.

Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 12:50 pm
by BugHunter
I've been switching to electric in my shop. Anything new, electric or bust.

I was at the local pharma shop a few weeks ago and the guys there showed me tools that had just come in ups while I was there. Eh, they are real nice, and they gave me some catalogs for the ridiculous priced tools. But unfortunately for me, I'm not looking for ways to empty the checkbook like they seem to. They might be real nice and all, but I can grab a dozen at HF and throw em in the garbage any time they need oil, and I'd still be ahead money.

Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 12:58 pm
by BugHunter
This was one of the items they had just received. They had several of em. Said they were really nice! Yea, I bet they are!
https://www.zoro.com/dynabrade-air-belt ... /G3606827/
:lol:



Here's more of the stuff.
https://www.zoro.com/search?q=&brand=DYNABRADE

Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2021 8:08 pm
by LtBadd
No doubt the Dynabrade air tools are great, the last shop I worked at had them. That belt sander tool is great, but there are electric versions and other brands available

Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Mon Jan 18, 2021 2:18 am
by tweake
JayWal wrote:What would be the advantage of an air tool like this then? I get the uses of the smaller 1/4 hp air die grinders, I use those all the tim, but what about these bigger ones. More power than electric? Cheaper? Better speed control?

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they handle dusty environments a lot better. they run cold. they are a lot smaller. better speed control (tho electrics have caught up on that front)
there is advantages to having air tools, but you need to be aware that they cost a lot to run. over here its very rare for a home shop to have a 15hp air compressor.

golden rule of thumb is don't use air tools unless you actually need to.

Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2021 6:59 pm
by Oscar
Look ma'! Twins!

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Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2021 7:57 pm
by BillE.Dee
What would be the advantage of an air tool like this then? I get the uses of the smaller 1/4 hp air die grinders, I use those all the tim, but what about these bigger ones. More power than electric? Cheaper? Better speed control?

I've found that the main reason for air operated tools is, when they get caught up or jammed, they will stop without taking your wrist apart. By the time an electric tool stops, you already got the wire wrapped around your arm. my opinion because I've had some pretty large electric drills with wires around my arm and parts flying in circles on presses.

Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Sun Feb 28, 2021 11:17 pm
by Oscar
BillE.Dee wrote:What would be the advantage of an air tool like this then? I get the uses of the smaller 1/4 hp air die grinders, I use those all the tim, but what about these bigger ones. More power than electric? Cheaper? Better speed control?

I've found that the main reason for air operated tools is, when they get caught up or jammed, they will stop without taking your wrist apart. By the time an electric tool stops, you already got the wire wrapped around your arm. my opinion because I've had some pretty large electric drills with wires around my arm and parts flying in circles on presses.
Definitely not cheaper! :)

I like the compact-ness of pneumatic tools.

Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2021 6:49 pm
by Oscar
Triplets! :o :shock:

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Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Fri May 21, 2021 7:52 am
by Toggatug
My opinion on one of the main advantages of a air tool is they simply don't die if they're made well and kept oiled.

You can run them in much more hazardous environments with no worries

I've got a quite a few air tools out of the 60's. Two of the industrial ones I have even have grease zerks on them and are trucking along just fine for me.

And on the note of electric not stopping quickly some companies have actually integrated clutch brakes into there grinders that'll stop the wheel within 2 seconds or less if they feel a jam up.

Those new 3m's sure do look nice though Oscar.

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Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Fri May 21, 2021 6:12 pm
by tweake
Toggatug wrote: You can run them in much more hazardous environments with no worries
thats the big advantage of them. run in dusty conditions, the air flow blows crap out.
electrics usually suck air in for cooling and foul the contacts with dust and gets interesting when that goes bang.

what tends to kill air tools is moisture, especially as most home shops don't have moisture removal. oiling helps but you have to be careful you don't blow oil out onto your work and stuff up your paint job.

Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Fri May 21, 2021 6:53 pm
by Poland308
At an industrial level the cost of compressed air to electricity usage also plays in.

Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Fri May 21, 2021 8:00 pm
by tweake
Poland308 wrote:At an industrial level the cost of compressed air to electricity usage also plays in.
thats the big downside to air tools.
compressed air is a huge cost compared to electrically powered tools.
its a case of don't use compressed air unless you have to.

Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Sun May 23, 2021 8:32 am
by Toggatug
I guess our shop is in that sweet spot for amount of air usage since it seems rather cheap to run our air system.

I keep in mind though we have multiple massive receiver tanks to keep up with he volume demands our flushing and blasting systems take from the system.


But then again I've never done one of those fancy cost analysis of what one charge up of the air system actually costs us. Or maintenance of the compressors and driers runs us annually.



Oh and one huge benefit I've forgotten is most air tools will have a smaller size compared to their electric equivalents which allows access to places electric couldn't dream of getting into.



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Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Sun May 23, 2021 8:36 am
by Poland308
I once worked in a shop that also used a lot of air for the shot blast. The two hoses were 4”. Lots of air demand. Because of that they also ran all air tools. About 100-150 guys. Air tools definitely took the abuse better. For instance when you lean into it on an 8” air grinder you just bog it down. But if you lean into it with an 8” electric you overheat it and cook the windings.

Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Sun May 23, 2021 8:40 am
by Toggatug
Poland308 wrote:I once worked in a shop that also used a lot of air for the shot blast. The two hoses were 4”. Lots of air demand. Because of that they also ran all air tools. About 100-150 guys. Air tools definitely took the abuse better. For instance when you lean into it on an 8” air grinder you just bog it down. But if you lean into it with an 8” electric you overheat it and cook the windings.
Well that shop was definitely waaay bigger than mine.

I've always been curious what it's like to work in the big shops.

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Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Sun May 23, 2021 7:58 pm
by tweake
Toggatug wrote: But then again I've never done one of those fancy cost analysis of what one charge up of the air system actually costs us. Or maintenance of the compressors and driers runs us annually.
i think thats really common. people simply don't work out what it costs to run.
also, like my work, our air use is fairly small so who cares about the running cost. its not worth spending the money to make it more efficient. plus with our machines there is no alterative anyway.
but as you creep up in size the running costs start becoming a major factor.

all it needs is to get one of the air crowds to set up the power monitoring data logger on the compressor and that will give how much power your using. usually have flow and pressure output logging as well so you can tell how efficient the setup is.

Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2021 9:25 pm
by sbaker56
How do these eat up steel with a cubitron fiber disc compared to say a semi hefty 13 amp corded grinder?

Re: 3M 1.5HP Air Grinder - The Rolls Royce of air grinders

Posted: Mon Sep 06, 2021 10:19 pm
by Oscar
sbaker56 wrote: Wed Aug 25, 2021 9:25 pm How do these eat up steel with a cubitron fiber disc compared to say a semi hefty 13 amp corded grinder?
I don't have a 13A corded grinder, so I can't say. All I can say it that they are badass. The true 12k RPMs really makes it sing! I have other "12k" air grinders, but I have a feeling they actually fall short compared to these babies.