Technical What type of grinder do you use?

Makita. End of story. I got by for a several years with an old Craftsman 7" that my brother gave me. It was heavy as hell, but did the job. A couple years ago I decided I should get something ligher, and bought a Milwaukee 4", thinking it was a good brand. That POS is LOUD and vibrates like crazy. Five minutes of grinding would beat the hell out of me. Finally got fed up and bought a 4.5" adjustable speed Makita, and couldn't be happier--smooth, quiet and a pleasure to use. Makita. End of story.

 

Ridgid. I've started buying everything from them when I need to replace tools. They're the only ones that offer the warranty and the tools are tough. They even warranty the batteries for life, nothin beats hauling $400 worth of batteries in and getting fresh ones for freee. Hell, if they made boxer shorts I'd buy those too

 

5" makita ,they stand the test of time for daily use in a workshop. Or my big ol 9" portable mill black and decker , not a toy for the faint of heart.

 

Variable speed.....
I used one once and thought it would nice feature especially for sheet metal work. I cannot justify another grinder but if I did I would spend the extra cash for one.

How many people have different grinders for different jobs?
I have 3 small grinder. My Mikita has a flap wheel, the Cdn tire one has a thick grinding stone and my 4" hitachi has a zip wheel.

 

I haven't had good luck with name brand ones had two Dewalts fail in under a year and my matabo at work lasted 3. I had a harbor freight one that lasted 5! And it was only 15 bucks so that's what I get now both Dewalts failed at the slots where the brushes go in the matabo I actually still use every once in a wile but it has a bad trigger the harbor freight ones trigger also failed. I'm hard on them I guess. But I was very suprised the harbor freight lasted so long my new one defiantly won't it allready lost the lock the holds it so you can change wheels. The cheaper grinders are much louder I.m.o. but they get the job done

 

I've been using the ryobi unit from Home Depot for hobby use I've had three or four over the last 6 yrs. they are long handled so when you remove the gaurd you can run the much larger diameter discs comfortable. This is why I but them.

The rotational lock pin broke and on one and another, the oldest, the pin caused the housing of the head to crack.

 

I've been using HF grinders for years. I had one that lasted 9 years and I beat the***** out of it. Its replacement lasted five minutes. Returned and its replacement is still going. HF quality is hit and miss, I had an expensive brand and it too failed after a short while so I figured why spend the big bucks? HF is only a mile from me and for what I do its fine.

 

We used Milwaukee grinders for years until the late 90s when they had switch problems. We bought Metabo next and they were pretty good but the guys use a 4.5" when they should be using a 9" so we buy the best 4.5" that cost nearly $200. Lately the grinders started to disappear either stolen or they get dropped, broken, smashed, melted when laid on a hot surface or torched over and they don't want to tell anybody. We started buying Harbor Freight grinders because we could buy 10 of them on sale or using a discount coupon for what one good Metabo cost. Over 3 years our cost per year for grinders is 1/5 of what it was. The best way is to buy a couple a month so you always have some under the 90 day warranty so you can return any that fail and aren't damaged. We use quality Norton wheels that make any grinder work better.

 

my buddy has several Old early 90's makita grinders that the switches died ( plus the switches are in a odd place on the end of the motors not near the gearbox ) . so instead of replacing the switches he got a deadmans pedal on the floor and wired the grinder full time on ( plug goes thru the pedal first , a 10 foot cord to the pedal from the grinder makes it so you can work around stuff , and shutting them off is almost better if your wearing stiff gloves or your hand cramps up. for kneeling jobs he uses a 1x2 cut to fit in the pedal box and kneels on it to turn it on . for overhead work he uses his milwaukee with a paddle switch ( which I never had problems with on mine )

 

I have had my 4" Makita at home for over 25 years, never failed me yet.
we use at work the Milwaukee 4 1/2 and have to replace them almost once a year

 

There's a common thread running though this... 'I've had my (your brand) grinder for (5, 10, 20) years and it's been great!' with not many reports of how happy someone has been with the name-brand one they've bought lately. Yes, the HF grinders are cheap but they've stayed the same amount of cheap, which sadly can't seem to be said about the quality for the name brands....

 

Yep,
When I hear a guy say his grinder has lasted 25 years. I think about trying to find a 1990 model, not a brand new one.

That old Bosch I had was an absolutely awesome grinder. I beat the hell out of it every day religiously for years making a living with it. It's identical model replacement was no where near the quality. Manufactured cheaper and yet costing more.

 

Black & Decker 4.5 inch. Daily use for 24 years. Brushes finally wore out 2 months ago. Put new brushes in, and now it's good for another 24 years!