I have had Milwaukee hitachi and maybe even bosch 4 1/2 inch grinders and they don't seem to last yes I am hard on them but used milwaukees about 5 yrs ago and then they didn't seem to last now dewalt seemed to be the best but today was using mine and the thing was getting so hot could hardly hold it in my hand with welding glove on! What is the best or most durable? Thanks Jerry
i liked my dewalt but it died prematurely so now I'm trying a Makita. it's been good so far but who knows for how long.
Metabo
The trick to a 4.5 grinder lasting IMO is patience. Buy a good rock and let it do the work. Running under heavy load makes the heat. Believe it or not I have a black and decker that I bought at a country hardware store after a Milwaukee croaked on a road call and it has lasted longer than any I have had, go figure.
Second vote for Metabo, darn near impossible to kill. Only thing I would say is any small grinder I get I open up the gear head and add some of the factory grease, but that's just me. Second choice would be Makita, then Milwaukie.
Yair . . . I seem to have standardised on Makita for pretty much every thing these days . . . but you have to watch it, they do make a handyman grade. Cheers.
Third vote for Metabo, had mine well over year now. Changing all power tools over slowly to it.
Makita
Anything pneumatic... use your air compressor ! :drinkup
Another for Metabo. Any extra cost you might put into buying them is well worth it.
Metabo and good grinding wheels
Speaking of good wheels, I buy the best I can find, penny wise and pound foolish to use cheap wheels, especially cutoff wheels. That being said, I bought a box of name brand cutoff wheels the other day at the local welding store off the "clearout" table. Should have known better these things are JUNK! Broke my own rule, burning through them they throw dust and sand like crazy, too cheap to throw them out so I'm using them up myself. The guy I pay to weld and run a grinder gets nothing but the good ones!
ACME , Wylee Coyote is the psr. They have anything you need , oil , jacks you name it.
ACME! Bwahahahaha.... gawd I loved that cartoon, and some of the things Wile E. came up with in his efforts to obtain lunch. :usa
I have a craftsman that I had run for years. I used and abused it and it still works. I retired it as it has a couple of teeth missing on the pinion and I got an air Ingersoll 4 1/2". Really like the air accept when its cold and humid. Likes to freeze up.
thanks guys for all the replies sounds like will have to get me a metabo and see how that works! Jerry
Walter is another brand made by Metabo. Just a thought, maybe it will give you some options to look at the same grinder, with different prices.
Yair . . . Just curious. What do you folks pay for an industrial quality 4" Makita . . . and what price are the super thin cutting wheels? Cheers.
The last Makita commercial grade grinder I bought ran about $150, and the zip cuts were around $4 each if I remember correctly.
5" Metabo, odd size, as I recall it was about $175 in a nice case, but it's been a few years. 1/16" thick 4.5" cutoffs, top quality $3.25 to $4.50 depending on quantity. Always cheaper by the box.
Yair . . . Thanks fellers. You are right up there with the prices. Most stuff in the US/Canada seems to be cheaper than here but a 850 watt 4inch Makita is about a hundred bucks . . . you can pay over three hundred for a you beaut 1400 watter if you want to though My last box of 100 cut offs was just under two hundred bucks last Christmas. I tend to use more of them these days as I decided to hand in my oxy and acetylene bottles as I couldn't justify the yearly rent . . . sure do miss the gas axe though, can't even braze a broken pipe these days. Cheers.
I don't buy any quantity of supplies anymore, so I am looking at a higher price. If you bought in any quantity, you'd get much better discounts than I have recently. But I don't do much work where I actually buy supplies these days.
Metabo
Used my metabo 5" grinder all day changing blocks on a roadtec. Payed $30 bucks for it at an auction.
Metabo is the only way to go. Very smooth and holds up well.
Something to keep in mind with these smaller grinders, a fair number of the 4 1/2" grinders will accept a 5" wheel on them, they come very close to the shield, but they'll give you more reach if needed on the 4 1/2" size.
I dont like grindeing that much so i use the big grinder as much as possible to cut down on the time spent grinding with the small one.I have a big craftsman grinder that i use the dished wheels one they realy cut this cuts wear and tear on the small one witch is a dewalt.
You meen it's soposed to have a shield on it. Lol
I saw a smoking deal for 11.99 for a angle grinder at harbour freight. Came with a blade and and extendable warranty so it must be great. Lol Jk. I have used Milwaukee with decent results but don't use them on a daily basis.
YEA "its supposed to have it on the tool not in the top of the tool box!!!" spoken by the safety lady at the last jobsite I was on!!! she stayed right with me ALL day to!!!
Metabo, the first came about 25 years ago, still going strong the last two about 20 years ago, also running strong, not sure how many thousand grinding wheels they've eaten up, but before the metabo's I thought a grinder would only last a couple years at best, now I take it for granted grinders are supposed to last a lifetime.
Believe it or not I get mine from HF when they're on sale for $10.00+tax. I had one last 15years, on average they'll last about 2-3 years with heavy use. I buy multiple units when I get them because I use them for cutting stone, wood carving, and another for metal grinding(don't like to change blades/stones). I know most will say JUNK but for $10.00 for a couple years, well I aint rich . I did notice one year(few years back) the sale units were a cheaper quality, but it was just that year. I do build a lot of my own attachments and also do a lot of woodcarvings so I do run them hard. I agree with Partsandservice, patience and a little softer touch will go a long way, in fact they seem to do better. I noticed carving wood seems to be tougher then grinding probably because of the aggressive blade digging in(??)
Metabo When I asked the guy at the tool store what's the best grinder he said Metabo. I said never heard of them and asked why. He said they never come back for repairs. Mine finally died but it didn't owe me anything! I then bought a rigid with a life time warranty. It's been repaired twice and I don't use it as much as the Metabo. The repair shop said he had a pallet full of Rigid tools to fix. It took 2 months to get it back. I used a HF in the meantime. Those seem like they'll blow up any minute,
Yair . . . I see a couple of comments about guards . . . In my opinion there are two tools. A four inch grinder with a wheel-guard is a pain in the butt with limited applications. Take the guard off and it becomes the "go to" all purpose cutting and shaping tool. As always "safety" is a trade off between practicality and common sense. Cheers.
100% agree. One shop I worked in, whenever OSHA would show up for an inspection we would go toss all of the grinders in the cab of a machine so they wouldn't see them. Then you run around adjusting tool rests on bench grinders and taping up extension cords while the foreman runs interference.
So I read through the thread and have 2 questions. 1) one guy says to use air as a power source, any thoughts on this? 2) Really no guard? my 4-1/2" grinder has a guard with a tab on the front so it can easily be clocked. I probably have as many cut-off wheels fly apart as I wear out, wouldn't cut-off without a guard, perhaps I lack some common sense it seems i can't concentrate on the task at hand especially when i put in earplugs.....LOL .....TIO
If you have lots of air and don't mind listening to the compressor AND the air grinder they're great, you get lots of power with half the weight. They also get cold instead of hot the longer you run them which is good in the summer, wear gloves when it's cold out, lol. As to the guards I rarely use them unless I am worried about the spark stream hitting something or someone close by, I rarely ever put myself in the plane of the wheel after so many years. I almost exclusively use PFERD cutoff wheels and unless you really jam one they will usually stay together even if you chunk one out, just shut the grinder off and change it. I find it pays a lot to buy the best cutoff wheels and mop disks you get three times the work done in less time than using cheaper supplies. That being said, I have seen some pretty nasty wounds from grinders that caught and kicked back, YMMV
I love Pferd cutoff wheels and chopsaw blades. I have had very few come apart on me. Their grinding wheels are pretty good but I really like Flexovit Metalhogs.
"Flexovit Metalhogs" Looks good! I'll have to see if anybody in this one horse town carries them.
Yair . . . theironoracle . I was really surprised about you comment of wheels coming apart. I have never had it happen since the early days of the 1mm cut offs . . . same thing with the chop saw. Here too Flexovit and PFERD are the top makes. I have the occasional jam and break a wheel but the pieces seldom fly (touch wood). Out of habit I try not to work on the plane of the wheel as, in the early days, I had a few of those large (I think 18") chop saw blades grenade on start up. I believe there are considerable legal implications concerning the removal of hand grinder guarding and it is outlawed in most shops. Cheers.
I have made a liveing welding i build every thing i can from the trailers that i use to alot of my shop equipment even a tractor that is used almost every day. You would probable have trouble finding some one that has used a grinder in more ways than i have. I cant remember more than 3 times i have had to remove a guard to grind or cut something in my almost 40 years owning one. One resone for this is i use die grinders alot.
We rebuilt the door on our scraper last year and hired a welder to help. He gave me a hard time for having the guard on my grinder and then proceeded to tell me a story about a welder he knew that got killed from having the guard on. I think he's been breathing too many fumes. Working with him was interesting to say the least.
Does your die grinder have a guard? I have seen them things fling stuff all over!
Its not what is comeing off the grinder that bothers me its the wheel is almost 100% exposed. When some one removes a guard its usually to get in a tight spot dangerous to start with.I have had to finish up 2 jobs were some one removed there guard to get in a tight spot and there grinder kicked back. The worst was a guy that some how got hit in the forhead by his grinding wheel when it kicked back on him. It was a weird deal how it happen. I had to finish up after he was taken to the hospital.