 Roger Bisby answers the questions on the Armeg Dust X Angle Grinder.
Who is Armeg?
The company, based in Doncaster, originally came to our attention when it invented the box sinker for electricians. It went on to invent a good many more drill attachments for cutting, drilling and chasing walls and making holes in tiles. So far everything that we have seen from this company has been an attachment but this is its first self-powered tool.
What is the product?
It is a cheapish unbranded angle grinder with a dust extractor hood added to it. The hood has a nice pair of rollers to run along the wall.
What does it do?
It chases out mortar courses using a fat mortar raker diamond disc. The depth can be adjusted slightly but it is optimised to 25mm for repointing, so you get a rake-out of consistent depth. Unlike an ordinary bare angle grinder this one catches most of the dust and that keeps the neighbours fairly happy.
How does it get rid of the dust?
You need to hook it up to a good industrial dust extractor, preferably with a cyclone to drop the heavy stuff before it hits the filter. We aren’t talking Dyson or Henry here because you need something a lot more heavy duty for sustained use in this kind of environment. We used a PMW dust extractor and even then a bit of the finer dust escaped the hood, though it did take the bulk away. It would be fair to say that it took 90% away. It is difficult to say if it this was due to the size of the outlet on the hood, which looks fairly small bore, or the dust extractor itself. If it is the dust extractor then we don’t know where you would get a bigger, more powerful unit. When using it you have to be careful to cut into the new mortar in the direction of rotation so it spins it directly into the hood. If you run it the other way the dust is simply kicked out the back of the chase and it misses the hood.
Can I use it without the dust extractor?
No, it will clog up quicker than you can say: “My name is Ebenezer and I am too mean to go out and buy a decent dust extractor.” The whole point is that it works with the dust extractor.
What are the drawbacks?
There are three main problems with this type of unit. The first is that nobody has yet come up with a unit that takes enough dust away to keep a miserable neighbour happy. The 10% that escapes is still too much for some people and you still need to wear a mask and eye protection - as we discovered.
The second problem is over-cut. This happens very easily with any diamond chaser, especially in soft brick. The hood prevents you from seeing the wheel so you have to be careful to keep it on the line. You should get adept at this with practice, but find somewhere to play before you start on the front of a Grade 1 listed building.
The third problem is that you can’t do the perps with the hood on. An ordinary guard is included, so you can convert back to an ordinary angle grinder but it would be quicker and easier to keep another angle grinder set up just for the perps.
What are the good points?
It is an honest effort to overcome the problem of dust, which is set to become the next big health and safety issue. More people die from dust than falling from ladders. Excessive dust can get your job closed down, so you can’t just carry on as you are. The fact that you are using the equipment means that you are being seen to address the problem even if you don’t achieve 100% success. The unit is also very competitively priced and, as it comes with the grinder, you don’t have to mess around converting grinders. You also get a nice box to keep it all together.
Can it be used for anything else?
We reckon that you could cut chases for cables with it. It isn’t ideal because you would have to make two sweeps to get the width, but you can put a thinner diamond blade in it so you remove less material and that in turn makes less dust. In fact, the hood might cope better with less volume passing through it.
www.armeg.com
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