I was hoping somebody would say that. I've had tendonitis from my regular plain thick bosch grinder. Horrible. I had cross fiber friction treatment to fix it. For me rat tail is pretty mandatory.
Product What's your favourite angle grinder?
- Thread starter DavidR8
- Start date
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We kicked grinders around a lot in this thread -> https://canadianhobbymetalworkers.com/threads/angle-grinders-most-dangerous-tool-in-the-shop.4947/
KeeponDragon
Super User
I had 2 CT mastercrafts that lasted 15 plus years. And thats with hard abuse. I wasn't very proficient with my old flux core welder back in the day. I worked at CT Vernon for a few yrs. The hardware dept mgr mentioned at the time, they were made by Ryobi. Now, who knows.
When the 1st one died, I picked a Metabo from PA, great unit. Tons of oomph. and light.
Once I started shopping crackbook marketplace, I found an old 7" B&D polisher/sander for 25$. No trigger lock. Which is my only complaint with it. The weight of it does 90% of the work lol.
I found a big Makita rat tail, with some discs for 50 I think, a couple years ago. It looks to be about 20 yrs old. But runs flawless.
I had a PA yellow power fist once. It lasted a weekend before the smoke left the chat. Some of their stuff is a gamble.
Having multiple grinders though, is a godsend. So much time spent on changing from flap to stone to cutter to brush....ugh...
1st world problems...
When the 1st one died, I picked a Metabo from PA, great unit. Tons of oomph. and light.
Once I started shopping crackbook marketplace, I found an old 7" B&D polisher/sander for 25$. No trigger lock. Which is my only complaint with it. The weight of it does 90% of the work lol.
I found a big Makita rat tail, with some discs for 50 I think, a couple years ago. It looks to be about 20 yrs old. But runs flawless.
I had a PA yellow power fist once. It lasted a weekend before the smoke left the chat. Some of their stuff is a gamble.
Having multiple grinders though, is a godsend. So much time spent on changing from flap to stone to cutter to brush....ugh...
1st world problems...
Ironman
Ultra Member
I have 3 of the Milwaukee 4.5" plug in grinders. They have stook up while the dewalt and Makitas burned up. I find that if I take the shield off and squeeze it in the press a little, a 5" disk will fit into the shield. Light and powerful and still going strong. I do have a cordless Milwaukee, but I only use it for a cutoff disk as it sucks a battery dry quickly.
One advantage to Makita is that the parts are easy to get, at least in Calgary, there is a factory service center that has everything in stock, brushes, bevel gears, trigger's
The current line up may not be as good as it once was, but being able to just over and grab a set of brushes or a trigger is worth something
The current line up may not be as good as it once was, but being able to just over and grab a set of brushes or a trigger is worth something
Chalk up another vote for Metabo. I have 2, one is about 40 years old and I had to change the bearings a couple of years ago. It took an awful lot of abuse. The second one is newer, larger, and has the quick change system which I don't really like as it feels like something that could go wrong and might be hard to get parts for but so far, so good.
Brian
Brian
Dabbler
ersatz engineer
I took all my angle grinders out for a spin the other day - I was primarily interested in the smoothness - The only failure I've ever had was the switch on the thumb-switch variety--
The Milwalkee 4.5 (it wasn't snap-on it turns out) - and the Hilti 4.5 seemed the same as the PA 4.5" fixed speed. the next was the PA 5" rat tail, then the Metabo 4.5".
Surprisingly, the next jump up in smooth was the 4.5" variable speed PA.
Then another jump up for smooth in the large B&D. The Dewalt was next, and the smoothest was the Hitachi (now Metabo HPT).
@David_R8 Whjen you get a chance, can you try to describe how it feels to use it? Did you manage to find it on sale?
The Milwalkee 4.5 (it wasn't snap-on it turns out) - and the Hilti 4.5 seemed the same as the PA 4.5" fixed speed. the next was the PA 5" rat tail, then the Metabo 4.5".
Surprisingly, the next jump up in smooth was the 4.5" variable speed PA.
Then another jump up for smooth in the large B&D. The Dewalt was next, and the smoothest was the Hitachi (now Metabo HPT).
@David_R8 Whjen you get a chance, can you try to describe how it feels to use it? Did you manage to find it on sale?
Mines a Sears Craftsman 4 1/2 angle grinder. Still have the original box with price sticker $139.99. Haven't used it enough to wear it out. Also have a much larger 2 speed Sears 'Sander' which can take the 8" padded disks, 7" grinding disks and a fairly big cup brush. It saw a lot of use in the 70's
I paid $69 from Amazon.
So I gave the Metabo a pretty good workout this weekend. Both cutting and grinding. It's quieter than my Bosch and is definitely smoother.
Feels good in the hand and is well balanced. The arbor lock is a nice feature and is well placed for use.
Overall I'm quite pleased with it. Should my Bosch die on me I'll definitely buy another Metabo.
Dan Dubeau
Ultra Member
This thread gave me some grinder envy, so I picked up this guy on the way home tonight. I finally have a big grinder to spin that brand new wire wheel I've had sitting around for years for some reason, which is probably what's going to live on it for the most part.
