Which 4.5 inch angle grinder to buy

[robs660]

We started buying Hilti 4 1/2" and 7" grinders at my shop 2 years ago and I will tell you it was worth the investment. Our guys beat the snot out of them and they run all day every day without fail. I am not a fan of cheap tools. I prefer to buy it once and keep it for 20 years

 

[deereman75]

That's the spirit, fix up the old one.:thumbsup: I have thought about replacing tools numerous times, until I priced a new one. I have been teased beyond telling about fixin' old tools instead of replacing.:laughing: I take a lot of them to work and get harassed by all my mechanic coworkers.
hugs, Brandi

Well if it was my B&D industrial, I would fix it for sure. The reason I was considering replacement for this one is, it is a clarke strongarm, that my grandpa got at princess auto, like 15 years ago, for under $20. (hardly used, until I got it)

 

[Renze]

I allways buy the one-but cheapest model of a mainstream brand like Hitachi.
Buying the cheapest you get what you pay for. buying expensive, you get crap like soft-start (i dont intend waiting on the grinder to accelerate, it annoys me) or fancy looking handles.
lets start with a 50 dollar grinder: when you add 20 bucks and buy the one but cheapest for 70 bucks, you get a tool with double the lifetime. When you add another 20 bucks on top of that, you get gizmos but maybe a 10% longer lifespan over the 70 bucks grinder. In other words, the one-but-cheapest is the most bang for the buck, IMHO.

For drills, you cant get them strong enough. I burned my 500w drill while drilling 10mm in steel, which is (within) the limit for this drill, as written on the label. Right now i bought an 800W with hi and low speed: with lower revs, drills dont get burned blue, and with the gear reduction, the motor does neither.

With the welder we had a 180A hobby MIG for 700 euro. It was used quite a bit and every 1.5 year it needed a 350 euro repair when spools burned: that happened twice, so the cost of the machine over 4 years was 1400 euro. Then i bought a semi-pro 350A machine for 1400 euro, which should be able to hold up at least 10 years without repair: So more fun, and cheaper in the long run.

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

I've got one that is my favorite, and have used it for quite sometime doing cup brush duty. It's something like 7 amps, and was branded GMC from Lowe's. Its variable speed and has the rear grip design. That was about 8 years ago...started to cut in and out...Guess I finally got the brushes. Oh well. 29.99 down the drain.

Got a 10 amp DeWalt and a couple of HF grinders as well. Got a 9 inch 39.99 Cheapo too. If you can get up the muscle to hold it up and tolerate the slow wind up speed, when it gets to rolling, you can stand on it and it won't die. I've had to start using 7 inch disks, just to much to deal with the 9".

 

[crash325]

Looked at a whole bunch yesterday. Very few were #1 choice. Seems like most MFG. have dropped the 3rd handle mount that goes on top. I use it in that position a lot. Most of the real good or better ones were to heavy or bulky.

May just stick with the El Cheepo's and several of them. 3 Now and about 3 to go.

 

[Cat_Driver]

Can't beat this offer from RIGID tools. I just bought a rigid and sent in the lifetime warranty paper work. ..........RIDGIDｮ Brand tools a lifetime of free replacement batteries, free service and free replacement parts ...........

http://www.ridgid.com/Tools/R1005-Angle-Grinder/EN/index.htm

LIFETIME SERVICE AGREEMENT FOR RIDGIDｮ HAND HELD POWER TOOLS, STATIONARY POWER TOOLS AND PNEUMATIC TOOLS

In addition to the 3-Year Limited Service Warranty currently included with RIDGIDｮ Brand Hand Held Power Tools Stationary Power Tools, and Pneumatic Tools, purchasers of these products may elect for a limited time to receive a free Lifetime Service Agreement. To accept this Lifetime Service Agreement, you must register your product and submit proof of purchase as described below. The Lifetime Service Agreement provides the original owner of qualifying RIDGIDｮ Brand tools a lifetime of free replacement batteries, free service and free replacement parts subject to the limitations set forth below.


The Lifetime Service Agreement is available free of charge, for a limited time on all RIDGIDｮ Brand hand held power tools, stationary power tools and pneumatic tools, subject to the terms and conditions stated below. Customers have 90 days from date of purchase to register tools for the Lifetime Service Agreement.

 

[deereman75]

I have to say, if I was getting another angle grinder, it would be one of the old all metal skil industrial 7 inch grinders, those things last for ever. My current 7 inch will probably never die either.

 

[me0418840987]

Cat driver, Good luck with the Ridgid lifetime warranty. Take it to an independant authorized service center. Every time I take something back to HD, they always find a reason to deny and charge for the repairs. Usually it is because it is "Dirty inside" I have 2 Ridgid coil roofing nailers that I bought for the warranty, and that is their excuse for any reason I bring them in. Took them to a repair place out here, Not HD, but Ridgid authorized SC, and it was fixed in 1 day , no charge. Good warranty, poor store customer service.

 

[sharpanther]

I found a supplier with Maktec. It`s makita at 75% of the price. It`s been great quality and I used it in abusive conditions. Dewalts have plastic gears, so if you have heavy load grinding they fail, otherwise they`re really smooth. I tried discount brands but they were a waste of money.

 

[aczlan]

I have a Black and Decker Firestorm 4.5" that has held up well. I was given a lowes card for my birthday and that fit the bill. It is well built and I havent had any issues to mention.
Edit: Dad has a cordless Rigid drill for 7-8 years now and it has held up wonderfully. They have replaced the batteries 2-3 times, the entire drill once (the trigger died and the part was NLA, so he got a whole new drill)

Aaron Z

 

[mjncad]

I've got a Bosch 4.5" and I'd like a couple more.

 

[drizler]

I used to have 5 of the cheapos which covered every possible use and brush / disk. Over time they all bit the dust, many with premature regularity especially the HF blue ones. The HF orange grinders seem to last a long time or at least did though their swithes leave lots to desire. Now at last only the Makita 4/5" that I got free when I bought a 14" cut off saw. The Makita is nice now that I broke off the safety on the paddle switch. The HF's were a good deal when I could get one for $15. Now days with them costing $30 I'll pass for the better brands. Those HF swithes are just too crappy for that much $$$ from me.

 

[chopped]

lookd like they changed the look fo the el cheapo one.
4-1/2" Angle Grinder

 

[drizler]

Heavy Duty 4-1/2" Angle Grinder

If I was getting one from HF I would go with this one. Why, because it's the exact twin of the one I had for 8 years and worked even after being buried in the snow all one winter under a trailer. I also read a few comments about buying "The Orange One". That seems in keeping with my experience as well. The others I had were blue ones and they broke their switches very quickly in nearly every case. The one you picture looks suspiciously like the one I got at Big Lots one day and the switch broke in a couple of uses literally. The idiotic safety switch made it a horror to use and it died within an hour of use.
It's a crap shoot with the HF grinders no matter how you slice it. The extra brush set is a real joke as thats the ONE thing you will never need. Now if they offered another switch it would be a better deal. With any HF grinder the switch is always going to be the weak link. Too bad they don't just make a simple trigger type with no idiotic safety tab on it.

 

[Soundguy]

i have a nice makita 4.5 grinder.. and past that every few years I buy a cheap harbor freight one. I wait till they go on sale for 9$ and get a couple. i keep one as a backup and run one for 'junk' work. I get about 2-3 ys out of the 9$ grinders stripping rust and paint and making my welding look better. somewhere int here.. say 1.5-2ys I install the spare brush set. at about 2.5-3ys something usually dies.. switch or gear head or brush holder. I toss it in a bucket. every couple years I dig thru the bucket and take 2-3 of them apart and build 1 working frankenstein. right now my franke has a wire wheel on it.. my 2yr old has a grind wheel on it.. and the makita a cutoff wheel. still got a spar 9$ job in the box had for a year.

I do the same thing with other power tools .. save the carcasses and see what I can do with em..


soundguy

 

[mlh29]

I too was in need of a new grinder recently.
I dropped my old milwaukee and tried to catch it. ripped out gord and switch.
About an hr later my spares ( black and decker 4.5 that walmart sold 4-5 yrs ago both burned up... entirly my fault didnt let them have a break and the one literally caught on fire...

I looked for a long time on the net. Went to lowes bought a 4. inch porter cable on slae for 34.99 paid an extra 8 bucks for no hassle 3 yr replacement. It came with extra wheels and seems to be holding up well, not the smallest but gets the job done.
I agree wholeheartedly that power tools have gone down hill... have a 3/8 magnum milwaukee drill that crapped out.. the warranty place doesnt even wan tt o send in as part s cost more than th enew cheapie they sell as a replacement. I will be pordering th enew cord, switch and brushes and fixing asap after this deplyment. Good luck

 

[N8ghz]

I have 5 of them, 3 Skil from Lowes, and 2 Makitas. The Skil's are noisier, but have been good for me. I got tired of changing from discs to brushes or whatever, so I got 2 more Skils and 1 more Makita. Now I have sanding disc, hard grinder disc, cup brush, and radial brush, I keep a grinding disc on one of the Makita's too.
The Skil's were like $29 and the Makita's more.

I very seldom put a wafer disc on, due to having a Ridgid 14" chop saw and a Milwaukee Steel cutting circular saw. If I ran one of those much, I'd buy another Skil.

Both have served me well and I use the heck out of them all. I suppose by having 5 of them, I average the usage of all? instead of having just one for everything?

 

[crash325]

I'm now up to 3 and think that 3 more is in the works. Not thrilled with any of the 3, almost new Ryobi with twist handle, Grade 2 H/F almost new and a mostly worn out Porter Cable.

Do most of my cutting with a slit disk on the Ryobi. It has run hot from day 1. But to its credit it has done a lot of cutting.

H/F called heavy duty is really light duty and also runs hot. Some wire brushing and a fair amount of grinding.

Porter Cable is about 3 years old and pretty well worn out. It has had some hard use, but not really been abused.

Not sure what the next brand will be. It seems like most all of them have some short comings.

Want to add a 7" model in the mix for some real heavy work and the ability to deeper than the 4.5" will.

H/F Slitting disks are real good. Better than the high dollar disks. About a buck each, hold up well and I have never had 1 shatter.

Seen my "Sheep's Foot" thread, all the cutting on it was done with the Ryobi grinder. 2/3 of the stobs were cut with a metal band saw, that being the only exception.

 

[drizler]

I'm now up to 3 and think that 3 more is in the works. Not thrilled with any of the 3, almost new Ryobi with twist handle, Grade 2 H/F almost new and a mostly worn out Porter Cable.

Do most of my cutting with a slit disk on the Ryobi. It has run hot from day 1. But to its credit it has done a lot of cutting.

H/F called heavy duty is really light duty and also runs hot. Some wire brushing and a fair amount of grinding.

Porter Cable is about 3 years old and pretty well worn out. It has had some hard use, but not really been abused.

Not sure what the next brand will be. It seems like most all of them have some short comings.

Want to add a 7" model in the mix for some real heavy work and the ability to deeper than the 4.5" will.

H/F Slitting disks are real good. Better than the high dollar disks. About a buck each, hold up well and I have never had 1 shatter.

Seen my "Sheep's Foot" thread, all the cutting on it was done with the Ryobi grinder. 2/3 of the stobs were cut with a metal band saw, that being the only exception.

You want to cut lots of metal get a 14" cut off or a HF metal band saw. Those things go on and on forever consumable wise. I had a HF cutoff and it died in 3 years of pretty light occasional use, got a Makita now which is better of course. My buddy built lightweight utility trailers on the side and used one for years. The blade sux but the saw is pretty sound.

 

[devildog1]

Many pros use Metabos. Also I like Makita.

Metabos is th best I have had mine for about 20 years, don't use it to often but when iI need to grind or cut off some metal it works just great.
DevilDog