Angle grinder

[monstermetal]

I tend to use the grinders a little more for wire wheel and flap disk than grinding wheel, though, so my recommendations are skewed that way.

One thing I am a firm believer in is using sanders, not grinders for wire wheel applications... Your typical peanut grinder spins 10,000-12,000 RPM and has no overload protection (the new Milwaukee grinders do have electronic overload so if your using it with a cut off wheel or wire wheel and it gets bound up it will shut down) But Sanders only spin 6000 RPM and many are variable speed. Or Polishers can be even better (if you can find one that is powerful enough) because many times they have triggers that control the speed, rather than a dial. Sanders have soft start typically (they slowly ramp up to speed) and so you can kind of have a variable speed situation by feathering the trigger on and off as needed for your wire wheel... Personally I think its must if you do much wire wheeling. Grinders with wire wheels are a very dangerous thing. I used to work for a crane builder and we would buff big "I" beams with 9" wildcat grinders and 6" cup wire wheels prior to paint... I saw a lot of hamburger made from forearms from guys wearing there flannel shirts with the cuffs unbuttoned....

Anyway next time your in the market for a new wire wheel grinder, try a sander instead... After you do I bet you never go back to a grinder...

[ofafeather]

I can't tell you what a great place this forum is for learning new things, sharing information and just a general sense of community, especially for a newbie smith. The amount I have learned here over the past few months is fantastic. I never even thought about angle grinders before digging in to this thread. Some great food for thought in application, types of grinders and safety, too. Thanks, all for your contributions.~Eric

[canuk]

we have a cheapie jobmate brand, its like the HF and it gets used on a regular basis and heavily it has seemed to hold up very well, light too

[arftist]

For large grinders, I have 2 Milwaukees, a Metabo, and a Bosch. All have performed very well for many years. For small grinders, I use only Metabos, but I respect Hilti and Fein. All others including Bosch and Milwaukee have died premature deaths. Cheap grinders like Dewault, HF, and Ryobi can really cause damage to the nerves in your wrists due to excess vibration, and simply are not worth the risk. By the way, Metabo makes many models of small grinders. They have some which have a smaller body than any I have ever seen before. They are 4.5" and six amp. Though I usualy buy only 5" or 6" small grinders, these little ones are so light and easy to hold with just one hand, that I had to buy a couple for detail sanding.

[Sukellos]

I have a Makita 7" that I've had for over 30 years and it still sings. It's a heavy baby though. I have a little Makita 4" that I've had for around 20 years. The problem is the arbor shaft is an odd size (1/2") and hard to find wheels for now. I think most all manufacturers have gone to a 5/8" arbor now. If budgets is a problem, buy a Ryobi. I have a 4-1/2" that I use for flap wheel sanding/polishing. They won't stand up as long as a Milwaukee or a Makita but they'll do you until you can get something better. That said, my Ryobi chop saw has served me well for about 10 years now. Personally, I've had really bad luck with any motor driven Craftsman tools I've bought. I won't buy them anymore.

[blazerbud]

I used to run two 4 1/2" Black and Decker, back when Black and Decker was the best. For the past 15 years Black and Decker are cheapos. The Dewalt is identical shape but might be cast from different pot metal.

I also have a high dollar 9" Bosch. It sounds like a shop vac.

When I was younger, I started putting my name and date of purchase on all my tools. This is what the old guys I worked with did. You'll blink and one day the brand name stuff is 15 years old and still running strong.

I also have 4 or 5 HF grinders with different wheels or sanding disks or brushes. I got them on sale for less than $10 each. They are triple that normally now.

You can loan the cheapos to people, don't loan the Bosch, it has more torque than most Helicopters.

[John McPherson]

Horrible Freight and DeTractor Supply 7 to 9 inch grinders are exactly the same, just different colors of plastic and paint. The Kawasaki, McCullough and Cummins names in hand tools means nothing, they are chinese tools sold thru Costco, Sams Club, flea markets and who knows who else. It seems someone found a loophole in trademark law, and exploits the gullable.

Walking thru Home Despot looking at 4.5" grinders this week, everthing under $150 now seems to be made in china. My Black Friday 2-pack chinese Dewalts are noisy, but have held up for a year now, and are about twice the amps and torque of any other <$50 grinders that I have seen.

My advise: buy based on amps, then on name brand. And only loans tools that you never expect to see again.

[double_edge2]

i, like unkle spike have a grinder for each type of wheel.
the cheap grinders will only do a little job for a while so put them to task equal to their quality. for serious grinding cutting and brushing, i use the dewalt and makita. pay good money and get spare brushes at the same time, and you have a good tool. the $20 ones smoke and burst into flames (quite litteraly)

and i might add.....the same for disks and sanding backs for grinders..i used some chinese no name no qual ones and they shatter under duress, cheap stuff is good for your toenails and heels, but when you start on metal be very aware of your safety gear and exploding disks!!!!

Edited December 20, 2009 by double_edge2

[Dodge]

I appreciate good quality tools; especially hand tools. For wrenches, its Craftsman, Snap-on, Matco(insert favorite top-end brand) Hands down. That being said, besides my 4" Makita, I own 3 HF angle grinders. I have two 4" and one 9". I don't use the 9" as much as any of the 4"ers so Its still in great shape. I do how ever, use the 4" ones extensively. The Makita, I have had for maybe 10 years and the plastic switch bar has been worn out for about 5 years. It works but I have the internal toggle switch black taped to the outside so I can turn it on and off. The two HFs I used the most;one I keep a cut-off wheel mounted and the other usually a flap disc. One has had the cord near cut in two and repaired and the other drop a good distance and broke the plastic housing from the metal frame. Duct tape holds that one together and both still work fine after 3 or 4 years abuse. When one quits working, if I have the extra cash, I may pop for a dewalt/makita/milwakee or such but if HF has one on sale for $14 again at that time, I'll probably pick up another. Besides, you just cant have too many tools...can you? :D

[newbladesmith]

I'm not sure what the brand name of my angle grinder is. i got it at a cheepie discount store for 20$. I know that it works beautifully, i used it to cut through a piece of rr track with a thick grinding disk, (couldn't afford a cutting disk at the time) and the metal casing didn't even heat up like the one i had been borrowing before i bought it did.

[Jeddly]

I'm sure its been mentioned already, but I really like my Makita 4.5" grinder. I have two of them. One with a flapper disc installed, and one with a course wheel on it.

After heavy use, (couple months worth), I usually take it apart, and clean it really good with a quality contact cleaner like LPS NoFlash.

Going on 4 years with nary a problem.

My roomate has a Black and Decker one that is absolutely annoying. Its crazy loud when its just running, only slightly louder when grinding steel.

[Dragons lair]

Im with larry. 5" milwaukee 12amp super magnum.Have a few craftsman, B&D and a 9" bosch.
Always grab the milwaukee first. One hand starts re a thrill.
Ken

[reefera4m]

I appreciate good quality tools; especially hand tools. For wrenches, its Craftsman, Snap-on, Matco(insert favorite top-end brand) Hands down. That being said, besides my 4" Makita, I own 3 HF angle grinders. I have two 4" and one 9". I don't use the 9" as much as any of the 4"ers so Its still in great shape. I do how ever, use the 4" ones extensively. The Makita, I have had for maybe 10 years and the plastic switch bar has been worn out for about 5 years. It works but I have the internal toggle switch black taped to the outside so I can turn it on and off. The two HFs I used the most;one I keep a cut-off wheel mounted and the other usually a flap disc. One has had the cord near cut in two and repaired and the other drop a good distance and broke the plastic housing from the metal frame. Duct tape holds that one together and both still work fine after 3 or 4 years abuse. When one quits working, if I have the extra cash, I may pop for a dewalt/makita/milwakee or such but if HF has one on sale for $14 again at that time, I'll probably pick up another. Besides, you just cant have too many tools...can you?

Dodge, I noticed this old thread and thought I'd pass this along. I too own a 4" Makita that after 15-20 years the plastice switch bar wore out. I went to my absolutelyy favorite parts place ereplacementparts and they had a new part in my hands in just a couple of days. I had a little difficulty getting the Makita angle grinder apart so I called Makita, they walked me through the procedure in about two minutes. That was a couple of years ago and it is still working.

[buell508]

Metabo

[JNewman]

I recently replaced my 5" makita which had put up with many years of abuse and always worked well, I burned it out running a 7" diamond cup wheel grinding the concrete foundation for my hammer. After reading this thread I thought that soft start on the grinder would be a good idea. I do like the soft start and for light grinding the soft start allows more control. However with the Makita the soft start does reduce the torque. With my older grinder if I leaned into it, it would just bear down and grind away, with the new one I can stop the wheel.

[Bad Creek Blacksmith]

I saw where Tractor Supply has some Kawasaki angle grinders (5.8 Amp) on sale for $29.99.

Anybody ever used any Kawasaki tools? I had one of their '73 model trail bikes, still got it, as a matter of fact, but I'm not sure about their power tools.

Don

Bought one ......didn't last but two hours, finally bought a metabo just need to get a couple more.

[thingmaker3]

Cheap grinders like Dewault, HF, and Ryobi can really cause damage to the nerves in your wrists due to excess vibration, and simply are not worth the risk.

Jerry Bennett, who has been wielding grinders for a living for nearly three decades, taught me a spiffy trick a few years back. Losen the 90 degree handle a quarter turn to absorb a great deal of the vibration! This makes a huge difference on the cheap grinders, but can also be more comfortable on the high-end grinders. Never loosen more than a quarter turn. Re-tighten when done.

[bob sutton]

metabo hands down, the best!

[Loki Steelheart]

What brand of angle grinder do you like? Need to buy a new one and I'm not buying a HF angle grinder.

I have a refurbished Milwaukee grinder works great!before that it was all hand filing and hacksawing

[HWHII]

I worked in a large industrial fab shop for 17 years. 175 employes. I have tried probably every grinder on the market. Distributors would bring in there grinders and lets us try to abuse them on purpose. For many years the old Black and Decker was the main stay before they sold out to Dewalt. We stocked parts for them and just rebuilt them. All the major brands held out well. The main thing you should do for all grinders is blow them out daily to get the dust and grind debree out for longer life. We even bought HF grinders as a disposable option but they sometimes would not last even a hour in heavy work never more than a month. In the end we just bought Dewalts 10 amp 41/2" by the pallet full because of pricing. They did perform really well though. I personally have found great deals in the pawn shop on grinders

[reefera4m]

Bought one ......didn't last but two hours, finally bought a metabo just need to get a couple more.

I don't have any experience with Kawasaki Grinders but I bought one of their cordless drills - it started smoking the first time I used it. I returned it for a full refund an bought a Makita. :D

[newbiesmith]

I have a Skil that I've used for over a year on different projects here and there. Some smithing related and some non-smithing related. I love it.

-Dan

[tzonoqua]

I currently have a 115mm Metabo, which I love...it's not overly loud and there is less vibration than from others I've used. I also like the fact that it is made in Germany, yes it was more expensive than your made in China stuff, but I feel better that the German employees were paid decent wages and have a safe working environment.

Have previously used Blue Bosch, very good, and Makita, also very good.

I also have a new Dewalt 230mm grinder which is Ok, it was half price in a sale, so it was the right price, but I'm not sure I'd buy Dewalt again. I think they are perhaps one of these brands that may have been good in the past but now maybe not so good.

I always wear goggles when grinding, have gotten grit in my eye too many times when just wearing safety glasses. And I always wear hearing protection when grinding, not just earplugs but full on ear muffs, I just cannot bear the noise!!

I would never use a wire cup brush with an angle grinder, I tried it once and scared the living daylights out of me! For wirewheeling a have a bench grinder with wirewheel on it, it's not very powerful so it a piece gets caught, it cuts out or slows right down, will probably burn out the motor quicker, but rather that than the alternative of having a sharp bit of metal flung at high velocity!! I like the idea of using a variable speed sander for that wirewheeling.

[John B]

I would never use a wire cup brush with an angle grinder, I tried it once and scared the living daylights out of me! For wirewheeling a have a bench grinder with wirewheel on it, it's not very powerful so it a piece gets caught, it cuts out or slows right down, will probably burn out the motor quicker, but rather that than the alternative of having a sharp bit of metal flung at high velocity!! I like the idea of using a variable speed sander for that wirewheeling.

I prefer a lower rpm for the wire brushing finish too, I have a couple of ways to do this, as well as the bench grinder with wire wheel as you have, I stripped out the mounting shaft from an old "past its best" angle grinder, turned the shaft down and use this in a chuck on an electric drill that can have a variable speed controller fitted, this gives a very controllable rate of rpm.

For the smaller delicate work, I use the shaft mounted wire wheels in the battery drill, again quite controllable without throwing needle like missiles everywhere

[ThomasPowers]

I have an old, large, all metal Milwaukee, cut some full sized railroad rail into several pieces with it last Sunday without much fuss...