Angle grinder brand quality

[clive]

I'm a fan of Hitachi, I fell off a ladder once while grinding and as I went over had the wits to throw the grinder as far as I could, we both hit the concrete and it bounced a few more times and was still going when I pulled the plug. That was about 6 years ago and it's done a whole lot of work since.

[AKmud]

Another vote for Hitachi. I picked up a 4 1/2" for $39 at Lowe's thinking it would be a disposable tool, but that was 5 years ago and it has seen a lot of disks since then. I now have three Hitachi (2 - 4 1/2" and 1 - 7"). For the price, they are hard to beat. I've also rebuilt the gearbox in my 15 year old dewalt and it just keeps on trucking.

[Ironman916]

I have about 7 different grinders, haven't sprung for a metabo yet, but am always looking for a deal. I have a 5" Fein, a 4 1/2 Makita, 4 1/2 cordless Makita, 4" Makita, 4 1/2 DeWalt, 4 1/2 Milwaukee, 7" Milwaukee & an old aluminum body Craftsman. Out of all those, the Fein is probably the highest quality, but they all work. I hate changing wheels so I can never have too many grinders.

[ethanhagle]

I buy the Harbor Freight models for under $10 a piece at their parking lot sales, and I usually pick up 2 at a time. They last over a year usually. I have a Milwaukee cordless for jobs outside the garage.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[downhand]

Walter Super 5 the older black version is hands down my favorite hand grinder. This past few months I have had extensive work requiring tons of hours of hand grinding and blending. I use grinders all the time but this is the first time I have used grinders for hours on end, day after day and the smoothest best all round power vs weight vs SMOOTHNESS especially a noticeable advantage is my Walter Super 5 and using the Walter EnduroFlex flap wheels. I have Metabo as well and run strong just not as smooth and your hands and forearms really notice the vibes after long use. There is something extra about the Walter grinders I really like and the Super 5 is a perfect match between power and weight. I can still one hand it and Ive had this thing for 20 years it still rocks and runs smoother than my brand new ones. I would also add that it makes a pleasant sound even though I wear ear protection the frequency is not offensive as most of these are. I have a couple new ones the Mini PS and whatnot but I prefer this older model the best.

Thought it worth the bump, no one pays me to review these tools this is unbiased, free advice you can take or leave as you please.

Happy new year to everyone

[Bonzoo]

Walter doesn't make grinders. They tell Metabo what color they want. I bought a 4 1/2 "brusless ac Hitachi variable speed that Carlos reaches for every day.So far we like it. It's skinny as the skinny Bosches but heavy as a block of lead but it runs nice. So far.
That 9" Skil I was bragging on died on me twice so I ran it over with my backhoe and bought a German Bosch 9".

[rlitman]

It seems like this thread will go on forever.

So, how do you like the brushless? I'd think that the fact that it doesn't heat up as much with continuous use would be nice. I'm guessing that it will not accept 120VDC (which some people here use from their welder's outlets).

[Kaos]

wow, this is an old thread.
I posted on this back in 2012 (post #11).
I still have and use the corded Dewalt's and even the HF that I posted about, but since then I have bought brushless, Dewalt (20v), Ridgid (18v) and Milwaukee (18v). The Milwaukee has the best feel and is my so called favorite, but they all work great. Honestly I can't tell if they are unusually hot or not, usually wearing gloves. I have noticed the corded ones get hot and even burned up a Dewalt after much abuse. FYI: The Ridgid has lifetime warranty on tool and battery when bought together.
I find a lot of uses for my side grinders, lol.

[rlitman]

...FYI: The Ridgid has lifetime warranty on tool and battery when bought together...

The Ridgid has a 1 year warranty (IIRC). It has a lifetime "service agreement" IF you registered at the time you purchased, and re-registered when they may or may not have notified you to, and re-registered every replacement part (because anything they send you is not automatically covered). Basically, the service agreement isn't worth the paper its printed on.

[ronsii]

wow, this is an old thread.
I posted on this back in 2012 (post #11).
I still have and use the corded Dewalt's and even the HF that I posted about, but since then I have bought brushless, Dewalt (20v), Ridgid (18v) and Milwaukee (18v). The Milwaukee has the best feel and is my so called favorite, but they all work great. Honestly I can't tell if they are unusually hot or not, usually wearing gloves. I have noticed the corded ones get hot and even burned up a Dewalt after much abuse. FYI: The Ridgid has lifetime warranty on tool and battery when bought together.
I find a lot of uses for my side grinders, lol.

Like yourself I have a bunch of dewalt corded and have been using the milwaukee 18v grinders for a while now: As for the 18's running warm... you can tell you've been running them but I wouldn't say they're hot... certainly not to the point of being uncomfortable. Right now I only have two of the milwaukee grinders so I still setup with my dewalts if I plan on doing more then 10 minutes of grinding/cutting/sanding/beveling/etc... This job required cutting and chipping out the old bricks and releveling the top of the type1 which was out by over well an inch! So I just grabbed a dewalt with a thin kerf diamond on it and my milwaukee sds.


On the other hand I got to this step repair and grabbed my milwaukee grinders and metal saw... never needed to start the generator til was ready for welding

[distrbd]

When I bought myself a Dewalt (DWE402) a while back I thought it was a bit too heavy for every day use , got used to it soon but never thought so many trades would use/like that model, it feels great in my small hands now and the paddle switch is just a pleasure to use.

[xmmancharl]

been using this cheap diamond hf stuff for removing mill scale.

sure works better than a flap disc







Charl

[Yofish]

4-1/2" grinders are merely a consumable these days. Why anyone would spend a lot on one is beyond me.

If you're just IN LOVE with your tool you might be interested in this piece, BUT the comments are the only thing worth reading:

https://toolguyd.com/hitachi-power-t...e-equity-firm/

Thing of it all is, one day it is thus and on another day thusly. IMO, buy a friggin' grinder and grind away. The very simple fact is no matter what brand, they cost more to fix (save a switch) than to buy again. Knock yesrself out telling me how tingly you get using your expensive grinder. A grinder, by definition, is not a precision tool and generally the need for one maybe means one needs to be more precise with the initial approach...

[ronsii]

4-1/2" grinders are merely a consumable these days. Why anyone would spend a lot on one is beyond me.

If you're just IN LOVE with your tool you might be interested in this piece, BUT the comments are the only thing worth reading:

https://toolguyd.com/hitachi-power-t...e-equity-firm/

Thing of it all is, one day it is thus and on another day thusly. IMO, buy a friggin' grinder and grind away. The very simple fact is no matter what brand, they cost more to fix (save a switch) than to buy again. Knock yesrself out telling me how tingly you get using your expensive grinder. A grinder, by definition, is not a precision tool and generally the need for one maybe means one needs to be more precise with the initial approach...

That's the way I look at it Yofish, after all... it is just a tool to get a job done!