Favorite angle grinder?

WARRIORWELDING said:
Teaching we run all the red stuff, same in fire truck fab. I do personally feel that they are definitely not what they once was.
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I find this funny because a lot of the fire world switched to red because the yellow quality was going down, and red just offers so many damn tools.

Duane
 
CLRracer said:
I find this funny because a lot of the fire world switched to red because the yellow quality was going down, and red just offers so many damn tools.

Duane
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And it matches most of the trucks too…..
 
Another Makita fan here. While I’d like to have more grinders, I have only ever bought one and it has done everything I need it to.

my only complaint is my fault for not knowing better when I bought it. I bought a 4” and it has a smaller wheel shaft on it. It used to be that you could find the wire wheels that screwed on that were made for the smaller threaded shaft, but not anymore. I’ve had to buy a couple of cheapie harbour freight wire cups that come with an adaptor. That's my only complaint, and like I said, my fault for not knowing better 15 years ago.
 
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mbalbritton said:
my only complaint is my fault for not knowing better when I bought it. I bought a 4” and it has a smaller wheel shaft on it. It used to be that you could find the wire wheels that screwed on that were made for the smaller threaded shaft, but not anymore. I’ve had to by a couple of cheapie harbor freight wire cups that come with an adapter. That my only complaint, and like I said, my fault for not knowing better 15 years ago.
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I just saw on the news the other day that they are still making new ones and it's always good to have a backup, haha.
 
I know it wasn't mentioned but avoid Bosch. My dad gave me a brand new one years ago; when the brushes went south all the sudden on my trusty Dewalt paddle 4.5" I tried using it and nearly killed it the first go. Just is not a quality tool.

My Dewalts have served me well over the last 15 years.
 
cordless is milwaukee.....cause m18 is life.

But corded for me is rigid...they have specials now an then on a 2pack for the cost of 1. I think i have 4 now. I ahve killed one after like 7 years of use.....
 
I have a DeWalt that has been magnificent and I’m jonesing for a 20V DeWalt for stuff away from the shop.
 
My go to are the $40 plug in skill brand grinders from Amazon. I have like 4 of them, let some of the smoke out of one and let it sit for a few days and it still works. I like these because they are cheap enough that I won't care if I cover them in metal shavings or drop them and they work pretty damn good.
 
sammi_davis said:
Makita is one of the few independent's left and they make great tools . Not sure how much they still make in GA , but at one time is was a large portion of their US sales. They have slipped in market share , but if anything they have cranked their quality up higher. They have a tough road ahead of them as most folks stick with one brand for battery interchangeability. We dont sell their product and dont get many requests for it . After 6 months of a fully stocked tool department we sell 60% Milwaukee , 30% DeWalt, 5% Craftsman and 5% Black and Decker. The most requested tools to add in are the heavier duty Milwaukee stuff and we have brought in a bunch since this picture was taken.

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I know exactly where this is. Go in there every couple of weeks. I have been working at the old MillerCoors plant for over a year.
 
shawn said:
My Milwaukee gave up the ghost last weekend, so I bought two of these. They're $89/ea at Lowes right now for 11amps. Paddle wheel works more or less like the old Milwaukee.


Incidentally, the battery powered Makitas now have a proprietary arbor. It's X shaped and won't take a normal disc or wire wheel.
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good grief as if makita wasn't already the odd child. I really like the stuff they produce but making moves like that want sway me to bother with them. I once wanted to retool everything to them so all my "coworkers" wouldn't pack my stuff up with their own.
 
shawn said:
Incidentally, the battery powered Makitas now have a proprietary arbor. It's X shaped and won't take a normal disc or wire wheel.
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Dang, looks like they got backwards compatible backwards.
www.makitatools.com

Makita USA

Makita USA: The Leader In Cordless with 18V LXT Lithium-Ion. The best in class for cordless power tool technology. A leader in power tool technology for the professional.
www.makitatools.com www.makitatools.com
BackwardsCompatible_001D.png


Do they really think people are going to buy XLock grinding wheels for their Harbor Freight and Dewalt grinders?
 
jeepinmatt said:
Dang, looks like they got backwards compatible backwards.
www.makitatools.com

Makita USA

Makita USA: The Leader In Cordless with 18V LXT Lithium-Ion. The best in class for cordless power tool technology. A leader in power tool technology for the professional.
www.makitatools.com www.makitatools.com
View attachment 372972

Do they really think people are going to buy XLock grinding wheels for their Harbor Freight and Dewalt grinders?
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looks like a tool less gimmick. Neat actually but I cant imagine the hassle if locating all the relative disk types in this configuration is worth the time saving. Its all good til some wear is involved and things get dicey. Wonder how spectacular failures can be? I've locked down and partially exploded my share. I cant help but think a little slip is a good thing.
 
Bosch created the X lock just like they did with the SDS hammer drills. They are licensing anyone who wants to use it for almost no cost.

It works fantastic and we have sold a few of the grinders and quite a few cut off and grinding wheels.
 
Not that I use any of them a lot, my go to is my Hitachi, but seems like most everything I do, I end up needing to change from cutting to flap to wire wheel to cup brush. So I bout three of the $9 HF models. I only use the HF ones for lighter stuff. From a comparison video, or several actually, They even said they were fine if not used on heavy handed needs, so I took that to heart and that's how I use them. So far, they have lasted several years. My biggest complaint with any of them is the switches. With my hanky hands and fingers, it is some times difficult to turn them on. Another complaint about them is the vibration. It's there from new, until now. No change, same as it was out of the box. I also have a dewalt 20V. It's nice, but I only have 2amh batteries. And the grinder will eat through them fast! But, I have four batteries and 2 chargers, so far it hasn't been an issue. Any of them with a switch is a complaint of mine. If money wasn't an issue, I never buy another switched type of any brand.
 
I have an old Dewalt corded one with the paddle switch. That's my go to grinder for any HD work. I also adapted it for biscuit cutting. It's so old that the cord rotted and I ended up replacing the cord about 6 months ago. There is no question the Dewalt is the best grinder I have.

I also have a HF grinder that's about 4 years old now. It still works but has issues with the case halves staying put. Not a big deal.

As I have all Ryobi cordless tools, I also have the HD brushless grinder. I'll grab that for anything where I need to make a quick cut and that goes in the tool bag when wheeling. With 4.0 Ah batteries it goes a decent amount of time but will shut off if pushed too hard. I just have to remember to back off pressure on a cut if it's thicker than 1/8".

I now have a Porter Cable cut off saw which I use way more than I ever thought I would. The quality is not the Porter Cable of old but it makes straight cuts. Fortunately, it wasn't overly expensive so if it dies in a couple of years, I'll just get another one.
 
sammi_davis said:
Bosch created the X lock just like they did with the SDS hammer drills. They are licensing anyone who wants to use it for almost no cost.

It works fantastic and we have sold a few of the grinders and quite a few cut off and grinding wheels.
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No doubt that it works well, but when you bust your cutoff wheel at midnight for that thing you need to fix ASAP so you can go do that big thing tomorrow, you can't run down to walmart and buy an Xlock wheel, so now you have a useless grinder. I feel like it would have been smarter to make the pattern smaller so that it would work with standard 7/8" wheels instead of the oddball wheels working with standard 7/8" arbors. I also think its fixing a problem that doesn't exist because you could do the same thing with a friction lock on a standard 7/8" wheel.
 
shawn said:
My Milwaukee gave up the ghost last weekend, so I bought two of these. They're $89/ea at Lowes right now for 11amps. Paddle wheel works more or less like the old Milwaukee.


Incidentally, the battery powered Makitas now have a proprietary arbor. It's X shaped and won't take a normal disc or wire wheel.
Click to expand...

What was the main reason you went with the DeWalt unit?

jeepinmatt said:
Dang, looks like they got backwards compatible backwards.
www.makitatools.com

Makita USA

Makita USA: The Leader In Cordless with 18V LXT Lithium-Ion. The best in class for cordless power tool technology. A leader in power tool technology for the professional.
www.makitatools.com www.makitatools.com
View attachment 372972

Do they really think people are going to buy XLock grinding wheels for their Harbor Freight and Dewalt grinders?
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In a professional setting, with a stock room/truck, X lock is sweet, and blade changes are like an F1 pit stop v. a NASCAR pit stop, and no parts to lose or drop 100s of feet. For DIY - hard pass, To JeepinMatt's point, Wally World don't sell them in Harlan KY.
 
UNCC-CRAWLER said:
What was the main reason you went with the DeWalt unit?
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Lighter and felt better one-handed than the equivalent Milwaukee. Didn't hurt that the yellow one was $30 cheaper. This was the Milwaukee option:

www.homedepot.com

Milwaukee 11 Amp Corded 4-1/2 in. Small Angle Grinder with Lock-On Paddle Switch 6142-30 - The Home Depot

The 11 Amp 4-1/2 in. Small Angle Grinder (Paddle, Lock-On) delivers up to 3X more durability and up to 50% more power than the competition. With a 1,400 MWO motor that powers through the toughest jobs,
www.homedepot.com

I couldn't run them at the store, obviously.... but will say that the new DeWalts are silky smooth.
 
Dewalt grinders or bust. A new stator bearing and some brushes revived a 10+ year old grinder that was begging for death a few times.
 
I have an old Craftsman Professional model that I have had for over 20 years. I don't know if I can say it's my "favorite", because in general I hate angle grinders, but it's the only one I've owned, and it has cut and ground ALOT of metal and suffered a lot of abuse. I've run it many a time until it was too hot to touch without welding gloves on, and it is still going strong.
 
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