The91XJ

Im done with the harbor freight drill master 4.5" angle grinder. After a few hours of use it will no longer hold the cut off or grinding wheels in place. Even with the chuck tightened to the max. I guess I can't complain for $14.99...

I was thinking dewalt or Milwaukee.. what do you guys have in your toolbox?

94XjSport94

I have a dewalt one, pretty nice and powerful.

superbee1970440

Dewalt here too. Mine has lasted for 8 years so far, runs like a top.

The91XJ

That's what I'm leaning towards. Home depot has one for about $80 I have my eye on. You guys run cut off wheels on the dewalt grinder?

fallenknight308

I use HF, they last about a year for me.
You cant beat that for $20!
The orange ones seem slightly (lol) higher quality than the black ones.
I buy 2 when I get 'em, re-grease the gear drive with high quality grease,
run 'em till they get too warm to hold, and take a break.
Dewalt or any other "color branded" unit is fine if you are working in an industry that requires high duty-cycle/uptimes.
Then the cost is justified imo.
Its all relative..

Dan91

Can't go wrong with a Dewalt or Milwaukee IMO

94XjSport94

I also like my metabo

superbee1970440

You can but using one as a cutoff wheel seems pretty cumbersome to me. I use an air cutoff wheel.

I actually had a Harbor Freight grinder shoot a flame out of the electrical cord on me. Pieces of junk.

93XJLI

**** that. my buddy's 5-6 year old makita took a dump and the closest store was harbor freight and he wanted to finish building a bumper. 2 hours and 3 HF grinders later he drove to home depot and bought a new dewalt.

x2. i have a milwaukee and between that and my buddy's dewalt i cant tell much of a difference besides that one is red and one is yellow. i've run both on and off all day and neither slows down or gets hot.

The91XJ

Thanks for the input guys! Looking at picking up a dewalt this weekend.

fallenknight308

Really? he went through 3? That is quite a failure rate.

Your describing duty-cycles that are obviously more demanding than someone
who is just cutting up a few pieces of spring steel once in a while or trimming their hood for hood vents.
In this regard the "Colored-Name" brands are the clear winner.

94XjSport94

I burnt up two HF ones. Once they get hot they will die lol. Like I said Metabo and my Dewalt are awesome.

Hammered

we use the dewalts at my work. I have a makita at home but I'm using them alot at work and the dewalts seem to hold up well.

Keep in mind theres at least two versions, a lighter weight one & a beefier (Bigger motor) one. read the specs

93XJLI

If you want a cheap one, my first one a few years back was a ryobi... Was like 30-40 bucks and worlds better than a HF one.

dnuccio

ive had good luck with the harbor freight ones. my first one was one of the blue ones i bought like 5 years ago. i dropped it and cracked the case, and it still worked for a while. then i replaced it with one of the black ones, and that one lasted a while too until i built my roof rack. it got so hot the plastic started to melt. im on my second black one now and it doesnt show any signs of quitting, and if it does, ill buy another. 10 bucks or less when theyre on sale (and use a 20% coupon), cant beat that.