I use my 30 year old Makita. I do have a couple HF grinders. The super cheap one with the switch problem: It wasn't actually the switch. If you pull it apart, there is a long plastic arm from what you see as the "switch" and the actual electrical switch. That plastic arm slips up off the actual electrical switch. A dab of super glue fixes the plastic arm to the real switch and no more problems. At least for the one I have. I keep a wire cup in it and don't abuse it like I do the Makita.
rslifkin wrote: My HF grinder... It is unbelievably loud though.
True statement. I tried one on my work truck, hated it and bought another Hitachi.
I have a Porter Cable that has the same problem. Crazy loud to the point I almost never use it. I keep a wire cup on it.
The Hitachi's are reasonably quiet, compact enough to run with one hand, and light enough to use all day while fabricating. I have two of them in my shop. One with a cutting wheel, one with a flap sander.
Dr. Hess wrote: I use my 30 year old Makita. I do have a couple HF grinders. The super cheap one with the switch problem: It wasn't actually the switch. If you pull it apart, there is a long plastic arm from what you see as the "switch" and the actual electrical switch. That plastic arm slips up off the actual electrical switch. A dab of super glue fixes the plastic arm to the real switch and no more problems. At least for the one I have. I keep a wire cup in it and don't abuse it like I do the Makita.
^ I was going to suggest pretty much this exactly. As long as the actual grinder works usually it is the cheap parts like this on HF stuff that can be replaced or made to work most times.
Bang for the buck, Hitachi hands down. Great quality. I worked in a service center and motor rebuild shop for over 10 years and their motors just seemed to be a step better than most others - balance, grade of the bearings, shunted brushes, etc. De Walts were real "buzz bombs" balance-wise, which tends to drastically shorten bearing life. If $$$ aren't a factor, then Milwaukee and Bosch are good choices as well, obviously.
I thought about buying a nice grinder and then I didn't. I bought the 30$ harbor freight with the paddle switch and then repacked the grease before using it after watching an AvE video on the subject. I've beat it up pretty bad working on my miata and it was left out during Hurricane Matthew last fall. I can't be more impressed.
I've been in LOVE with my Milwaukee Fuel cordless grinder. I'm tempted to buy another so I can keep one with a cutoff disc and the other with a flap wheel. There is so much freedom in cordless, the batteries last great (and I have a bunch of them anyway form my collection of M18 tools), and the power is impressive!
I got tired of DeWalt and others not lasting near as long as they should and went to Metabo. The Germans still build good tools. Not real cheap but still within a hobbyists budget.
I own a fabrication shop with 10 guys and lots of grinding/cutting. For years we used Milwaukees they would last a little over a year. They could be repaired but we are lucky to get 6 months from a repaired one. Tool sales/repair shop said try Metabo. A little more money, lasts a little longer. (Side note, its funny that when you take in one for a repair it always costs about half of whatever retail is.) Anyway after getting tired of this I decided to try some cheaper options. They destroyed the best HF one in about a week. We then went to Ryobi. Home depot has a 4-1/2" with a trigger like a 9" grinder for $37. We have never gotten less than 6 months out of one. They are not as good as the Milwaukees or the Metabos but I can buy 4 for the cost of one of those. When they break I just buy a new one.
I've got 4 grinders. My go to one is the GMB house brand one from lowes. its variable speed trigger and was VERY inexpensive 10+ years ago when i had to fix my race car for the next day. 2nd is my dewalt but recently you got to shake it to get it to run, I think its time to clean or replace the brushes. It was twice the $$ as the above and there about the same age. Then i got to cheap ass older HF units the HF units are flap wheel and thin cut off dedicated units as they're worn out POS
Check out this guy's great grinder reviews... click here
He takes them apart, informative and very intertaining!
With all the abuse I have put my dewalt through, I did this today
Yes, it got hot, but to be fair, I was doing a LOT of grinding/cutting to get that rotor off of the hub.
No problems with a HF grinder over the past five-six years at work. Regrease the gearbox every now and then and they last forever. Takes three minutes and a Phillips screwdriver.
A general rule of thumb if you buy any power tools from HF is never buy anything that is orange. The gray/black models last waaaay longer. Yes, they cost a little more, but so what. I had an orange angle grinder let the smoke out (in a very literal and acrid sense) the first time I used it, buffing some tires before applying traction compound. Well, I buffed a quarter of a tire.
I've had my Porter-Cable for over 7 years now, no issues and it's not exactly led a pampered life. It is however a loud little beastie, I just make sure I wear ear and eye protection anytime I use it. For $40 it's definitely earned it's keep.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/PORTER-CABLE-4-1-2-in-7-Amp-Trigger-Switch-Corded-Angle-Grinder/1208961
I bought an HF 4.5 with the slide switch 9 years ago and used it until I moved from Fl 2 years ago. Never had any problems. Im not positive, but im pretty sure it wound up in the giant tote of tools I sent to Mazduce.
When I needed a new grinder I bought the HF 4.5 with the paddle trigger. Its only been a few months but again, no problems.
Knurled wrote: No problems with a HF grinder over the past five-six years at work. Regrease the gearbox every now and then and they last forever. Takes three minutes and a Phillips screwdriver. A general rule of thumb if you buy any power tools from HF is never buy anything that is orange. The gray/black models last waaaay longer. Yes, they cost a little more, but so what. I had an orange angle grinder let the smoke out (in a very literal and acrid sense) the first time I used it, buffing some tires before applying traction compound. Well, I buffed a quarter of a tire.
^ LOL this seems to be true, I once bought a $9 orange heat gun from HF got it home and went to use it. Well even though it was a heat gun, you don't expect actual flames to shoot out of the end of it as well as a ton of electrical smelling smoke......I took it back the next day and got the next level up which was Black and haven't had any problems with it.
I order a Metabo and it came in Saturday. Put to work that day and ran it almost three hours straight. Today (Sunday) ran it for two hours then another 30 min. Ran great, never got hot (unlike the H.F unit), not a buzz bomb as my hands were not numb at the end of the day. One last thing the unit has a useful cord length!
I would say this unit is almost as good as my departed Bosch grinder.
Thanks, for the help.
Paul B
My 20 year old Makita is still kicking just fine, a few ground up project cars, a dozen choppers and some around the house projects. I also like the diamond encrusted steel cutting blades too. Almost no dust and sparks and last a fair bit.
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