Grinding machines are a part of almost all of the households these days. The main reason behind this is many times, unexpectedly, something breaks down in the house, and we have no choice but to call a handyman to fix it. This can prove costly, and that is why most people prefer doing such stuff at home. A grinder is one of the essential tools required to fix such things as leaking sinks or rusted pipes at home.

An angle grinder is one of the most common and popular grinding machines available, and many people do not know about the other types of grinding machines available in the market. In this article, we will learn about other types of grinding machines and how they are different from angle grinders.

Difference Between Angle Grinder and Other Tools

Following is a brief comparison of angle grinders with other types of grinding tools.

Disc Grinders/Bench Grinders

Bench grinders are usually used in workshops and are manufactured according to specific requirements. These are heavy-duty machines with the grinding discs fixed. These grinders are also used for precision work and are used in small industries, ranging from carpentry to diamond cutting industry. Unlike angle grinders, these are bigger and need a lot of space. They also consume more power than even the biggest and best angle grinders available in the market.

Bench/Disc grinders work at higher RPMs but the safety regulations, which prevents manufacturers from increasing the RPM or size of handheld angle grinders. Since bench grinders are usually designed for a specialized task, the versatility of those is less than angle grinders. Angle grinders can be used in many situations, unlike bench grinders, which have limited use.

Belt Grinders

Belt grinders are usually used only for polishing metal or other surfaces. These grinders are very different from the angle grinders as angle grinders use grinding discs, but in case of belt grinders, sandpaper or emery cloth is used for grinding purposes. The design is such that a belt of sandpaper is fixed on a rotor shaft and a roller. When the rotor is turned using motors, the belt rotates, and it can be used for grinding work.

Belt grinders are often used for shining the surfaces, and depending on the size of the grains on the sandpapers, the level of polish can be varied. More significant sized sandpapers are used for obtaining coarse surface finish, and fine sandpaper can be used to get a more polished surface. The amount of finish provided by belt grinders is better than what can be achieved even by the best angle grinders available.

Surface Grinding Machine

Surface grinding machines are also a type of fixed grinding machines, unlike angle grinders.

In this type of grinding tools, the discs are thicker as compared to angle grinders and usually is made up of a particular type of stone. The grinding disc is placed vertically in this case, on a fixed platform, and is made to rotate in a clockwise or an anti-clockwise direction.

The edge of the grinding tool is used for grinding operations in this case, unlike angle grinders where the edge is used for cutting operations, and the face is used for grinding. Various safety devices like eye protection and emergency stops are mandatory according to the regulations for such devices.

Gear Grinding Machines

Gear grinding machines are also fixed because of the precision required and are very different in design as compared to angle grinders. In this case, the grinding roller has threads made on it as per the standard sizes, and they are usually used to clean shafts having threads or gears on them.

The threads on the grinding roller interlocks with the threads on the shaft and cleans the spaces in between better than any other grinder available. These are specialized grinders, and achieving the same level of finish is difficult even by using the best angle grinders available.

Die Grinders

Die grinding machines, just like angle grinders, are handheld grinders that are portable and are very easy to store. The design of die grinders is different from angle grinders. Unlike discs of angle grinders, these have a cylindrical die, which is used for grinding inside narrow passages like pipes. The main cutting area, in this case, is a periphery of the die.

The size of the cylindrical die is tiny as compared to grinding discs.

Even though the angle grinders are more powerful, die grinders rotate at higher RPMs, and the surface finish provided by Die grinders is better than even the best angle grinders. Because of this reason, die grinders are very common in the diamond polishing industry.

But as compared to angle grinder discs, the area covered by the die grinder is less, and hence the time taken to grind the same surface is more in case of die grinders.

How Are They Different from Angle Grinder?

An angle grinder, as the name suggests, is a grinding machine on which the disc is placed at a right angle to the shaft. They are usually handheld, and hence, the best angle grinders are usually the ones that are lighter in weight but also powerful enough to get the job done. These are usually used for rough grinding and cutting work. They can also be used for precision work if the workpieces are not small enough for fixed grinding machines. Angle grinders for precision work require more expertise as compared to fixed disc grinders. Another feature of an angle grinder is their smaller size and versatility, which makes them standard for household purposes.


All the grinding tools are different from each other in design, as well as their usages. The job which can be done by a belt grinder cannot be done as efficiently by an angle grinder. In the same way, the versatility and portability offered by an angle grinder cannot be matched by other grinding machines. So, declaring anyone grinding machine better than others is not possible as it depends on a particular use case scenario. However, still, an angle grinder is good enough for any general-purpose jobs required at home. And this is the reason behind the popularity of angle grinders in households.

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