Technical What type of grinder do you use?

Yeah, HFs 'Drillmaster' line is junk. When they offer different quality 'grades', don't buy the cheapest...

If you can find any Milwaukee tools that still have the aluminum bodies (not the fake grey plastic 'aluminum' they use now, or anything with an all-plastic red body), those are worth repairing if they're not completely trashed. The bigger Makitas are good units too (at $140, they should be). But the under-$100 units (regardless of brand) are all throwaways IMO, when repair costs are equal to 30% or more of their original price.

 

H.F. puts the 4 inchers on sale pretty often for less than 10 bucks. Pretty hard to beat. They have lasted me long enough to get my moneys worth.

 

I have a 4.5" Ryobi I bought in about 1988. It just won't die.

 

There was a thread here a while ago and somebody suggested that you must be careful when you start using a new grinder and not to overheat it initially. Kind of like a break in for the brushes. I believe that. I bought a nearly new throw away brand and used it for 7 years until I dropped it and broke the plastic case. Bought a new dewalt one and have used that one for about 3 years. I would like another and use one with a grinding wheel and the other one with a cut off wheel.

 

I have a 7" Ingersoll-Rand and a 4 1/2" Sears Craftsman Industrial both have served me well.

 

How odd. My childhood best friend owns a business that does exactly that.

With cars, on the side, of course.

 

I keep using HF grinders. Sometimes you can buy them with a coupon for $10.

One self-destructed cutting up a car but I think it got some sand in it. And I was using another one with a 4" wire cup brush earlier this year that got an imbalance in the brush - and it broke the case. The cast part of it where it screws on, snapped off. By then it was 2-3 years old, so... for the work I do they're fine. For bigger work, or using one in a shop, I'd go up in quality.

 

4 1/2 Metabo with the thumb locking head and spring loaded nut for easy on off wheels.That brand has never given me any grief and they last long! To replace switch can be a bit tricky cause the little brass contact springs can break.By that time the armature is worn out so its time for a new one anyway.

 

I have an old Craftsman that has lasted me for well over 20 years, has yet to fail me. Of course its not in daily use. Good friend of mine has about a dozen HF grinders all set up with different heads so even though he uses them a lot he switches from one to the other as the day goes on. They last him a lot longer that way, and has been stated they may not last forever but there's never a repair bill with them. And most HF tools do come with spare set of brushes.

 

I find it a little ironic that several people on a traditional hot rod forum seem to be happy to buy a cheap POS grinder with the intention of throwing it away when it quickly and inevitably breaks. Those mindsets don't go hand in hand IMO.

 

I was a 'tool snob' for years, refusing to buy the cheap imported tools. But a funny thing happened... the 'quality' tool makers cheapened their products to compete with the imports (and each other) to where the 'cost of ownership' quit making sense. And these low-cost tools have made it possible for nearly anyone to acquire the tools needed for doing this work. Yeah, it's more than a bit sad that it's come to this, but when even the 'quality' manufacturers cheapen their product to generate more sales, it's time to look at alternatives.

It used to be easy to select a quality item; you looked for the 'Made in USA' label. But now that nearly everyone has moved some or all manufacturing offshore, it's become a*****shoot. The eye-opener for me was the Xmas I asked for a chop saw and the wife bought me a Milwaukee saw; out of the box, it was simply a red-painted version of the import ones being sold at the discount tool stores for 1/2 the money. Lot of money to pay for a name.....

 

I have a 7" Holzer that's decades old and refuses to die, use it mainly with a 10" shrinking disc now. Like others, I've had Milwaukee, Walter Metabo, AEG, etc., and now believe the "good" brands aren't what they used to be, the armatures, switches and plastic bodies don't last nearly as long. For 4 1/2" grinders I now have one Black & Decker, one DeWalt and two Mastercraft, with a 4" knot wheel, hard disc, cutting disc and sanding disc more or less permanently mounted. Buy the Mastercraft tools when Canadian Tire puts them on sale, in my experience they'll last almost as long as a "good" brand, my youngest is about six years old. All grinders will last longer if you blow them out so they don't arc internally, and occasionally put a dab of fresh grease in the gear head. IMO, "Power Fist" tools from Princess Auto are mostly rubbish.

 

Crazy Steve said it best in post 41, its not just tools. In the past used to buy nothing but Price Phister faucets etc... for any home projects. Its now just Phister and latest faucet didn't last a day before it started leaking. While looking over their literature notice it was copyrighted by Black and Decker which gave me great insight why it failed. Anyone interested in seeing why many of us don't always buy up price wise just need to go to wikipedia.com and read the price physter article. and when you see the names now owned by the Stanley Black and Decker group you'll understand what has been done to American manufacturing. Its not all about wages, lots of it is government regulations and outright greed running companies.

 

I wouldn't put a zerk as the case will develop pressure( because there isn't a relief for the excess grease to come out of ) and blow the grease out of the seal and it will most likely be on a panel that you want to paint and have to wash the snot out of to get the grease to pull out of the pores ... its not to hard to open the gear cases up and change the grease out and you can inpsect the gears too at that time . I changed the phillips headed screws to allen bolts so they do not strip out

 

I wouldnt use any Dewalt for even a doorstop. They arent the tool they once were.

 

If you do a bit of research into who actually owns the various tool brands, you'll find most are owned by just two companies; Stanley Black and Decker, and Techtronics (based in Hong Kong). Both also supply 'other' branded tools to third parties (Craftsman, Ridgid to name two) so 'brand loyalty' isn't worth much anymore. Makita and Metabo are two 'majors' that aren't owned by a big conglomerate, maybe the only ones.

 

My first grinder was a Craftsman, it lasted about 5-6 years. Next one was a Black and Decker, only lasted about 2 years. Bought a Campbell-Hausfield air grinder at WalMart about 10 years ago and it's still going strong. I've got 200' of air hose, so I can use it almost anywhere in the yard if need be. Doubt I'll ever go back electric since the air works much better for me.

 

These are all 4 1/2 inch
my trusty Black and Decker industrial finally fried after 20 years, if anyone remembers black and Decker industrial became dewalt, brushes were a lot, it got retired.
I have 2 hitachi, they sound like hell running. But hold up well and take a beating.
Menard black and red brand, bought it on a $10 rebate, the switch has always been difficult, it bogs down, I use it for light stuff, it was worth $10, barely.
Dewalt with paddle switch, real torquey, runs well, gives a vibration that I can't use for long.
Makita, I have 2, my favorite. The grinder body is smaller than most and easier to 1 hand comfortably, well balanced, no weird vibes. I'm done searching, I'll pay up for more makitas.
I set up 4 at a time for bodywork, wire wheel, cutting disc, heavy grind wheel, sandpaper disc. It helps me move faster not changing wheels all the time.

 

Makita.

 

This has been interesting
I had no idea there was "The Big Two" in power tools
In 2006 I bought my buddy's Dodge Dually from him as he wanted a new one. I'll never have to buy another late model truck. I have upgraded just about everything. Point is - I got so F-ing pissed when I found out it was made in Mexico. I didn't know this when I bought it
But the Ford diesel was***** box so I wanted a Dodge.
I have to buy a couple 4 1/2 grinders to replace my torched Milwaukee. I might try a Makita and a cheap***** box one just to see for myself . I hate buying cheap tools.



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Craftsman seem good.

 

X2 on Walter Metabo. Mine's over 30 years old. Never let me down and still has quiet bearings. Pricey but well worth it.


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Here is some fuel for the grinder debate...
I have a 5 " metabo grinder that I paid almost $400 for in 1984 !
3 switches, 1 cord, 1 set of brushes, 1 set of armature bearings and 1 set of head bearings in 30 years....
The rest of the story.....
I have a snap-on, a black and decker, and 2 dewalt grinders that are identical except for color and labels !
Heavy duty "commercial " grade grinders....I have serviced and repaired them all.
Black and decker, dewalt, porter cable all the same company.
Dave
,

 

I have a makita, Canadian tire in 4.5" and a 4" hitachi which all work okay.
I also have a 18v dewalt 4" grinder and for a quick cut or remote location it sure is handy. I only run the thinnest blades on the that one

 

I've got a Ryobi and a DeWalt. DeWalt of course is better but the Ryobi has been hanging in for 7-8 years. My Dad has an angry sum****** called a WildCat. I'll have to look and see if that's the brand or the model but it's named right. You turn it on and it's all you can do to hold on from the torque.

 

Wildcat was part of black and decker industrial. Back when they cared about making some really good stuff .
Real monster this thing is

 

Domo arigato, Mr. Metabo.

 

Just reading this thread makes my fingers bleed.

 

We've got a couple of the 9" Wildcat grinders at the shop, still around from when my dad bought them 40 or so years ago. If you ain't used to handling a big grinder, them damn things will hurt you real bad, real fast.

In the small grinders, we've bought 50 or more of them over the years. The Ryobi ones made in the 80's when Ryobi was a Japanese company are probably the most durable mid priced ones I've seen. But once Ryobi became part of Techtronix (Chinese), they got rid of that durability***** real fast.

Probably had at least a dozen of the Chinese Ryobis replaced under Home Depot's 2 yr warranty. Always the same thing........ switch failure. They coulda spent another 30 cents apiece on switches, and I'd say every one of them would've outlasted the warranty even with daily commercial use.

We've got a couple Milwaukee 4.5" grinders laying on a shelf. US made, about $130 apiece, still both look brand new and both dead as hammers. Milwaukee's quality was going downhill well before it became Chinese owned. Their sawzalls went from the best money could buy to about the equal of Harbor Freight.

Back to the OP's question of What grinder I use... anything from a Dremel to a Blanchard. But at 63 I'm getting too damn old to drag that 14,000# Blanchard to the work

 

hitachi all the way, tons of power and they take a beating