Angle grinders

Need a new 4 1/2" angle grinder. Prefer with cord. Any suggestions on what to buy or what to avoid. What are you using? Love it or hate it?

Thanks.

I have a Hitachi angle grinder that I've had for probably 7-8 years. I don't use it often, but when i use it, I use it hard. It has served me well thus far.

Skil.

I've got four set up with four different wheels. I use them constantly and they occasionally accidently get dropped from about 3 feet onto concrete. Of the four on the go, I go through about one per year which means they each last about four years.

Every Christmas these go on sale (in Canada) for $29.95 and I buy one for a spare. If I didn't need it the previous year I obviously don't buy another. They also come with a decent warranty so I sometimes put the spare into service and get a new one on warranty.

I also like where the locking switch is - its not somewhere you'll accidently be hitting it off all the time. They're light and comfortable enough to use with one hand.

You just can't do any better for the price.

How big of a motor do you need for grinding/cutting steel? I see some grinders with 6 or 7 amp motors and some with 11 amp?

If Doc was here I know where he'd say to buy one. I found out the hard way that you can forget about getting parts for anything they sell.

We beat the heck out of our Makita grinders in the steel mill and I was allowed to bring my tools home when I retired so I’m still beating on it. I have one set up with a cut off wheel and one for grinding

My Bosch grinders have held up very well, both were bought used many years ago.

I have a Makita I bought over 15 yrs ago. Honestly, I don't use it 8 hrs a day, everyday, but I've used it hard, dropped it more than I care to admit, set it on fire once (my fault, not the grinder ) , and it got soaked in the rain a couple of times. Still no issues. Never had a problem bumping the switch off either, if anything, the placement has enabled me to turn it off quickly when needed.

Mikita is reasonably priced and holds up to well.

Craftsman Professional tools were nice. Have a grinder & drill for year now.
Both 15+ years old.
But can't vouch for what's being made today.

I have a 35 year old Makita, haven't used it a ot in the last 10 or so years but it's been USED!!!
Also have a 5 or so year old Craftsman one that's hardly seen any use if any. Still in the box. PM me if interested. bought it when I had 4 employees, their gone and I'm downsizing

I'll take a good look at Makita. At my age I won't wear out any grinder that isn't junk. I hate junk. Thanks for the recommendations. Which style do you like? The long ones have a handle on the end and the short ones you hold around the motor. Is heat an issue with the short ones?

This^^^^^^

I used a Dewalt 11 amp in my welding shop, got used every work day before I retired. Sometimes some very heavy duty grinding. The average life was around 5 years in my welding shop, before the cord got killed, or the brushes wore out (you used to be able to get brushes, but it was getting harder to get them 4 years ago). I also can't speak for what they are selling these days.

At the welding shop, the 11 amp motors had a longer life cycle, especially if your doing a lot of grinding. The smaller motors would slow down on rpm the longer they were ran without a stop. The 11 amp grinders are a bit more heavy then the lower amp motored grinders, you use both hands with the 11 amp grinder, but that also gives you more control.

I can also tell you the grinding wheel you are using makes a big difference as well, the cheap wheels put a lot more dust into the air, and they grind away a lot faster then the higher quality grinding wheels do. A higher amp grinder and a good made in the USA wheel will be a different grinding experience then a china grinder with HF grinding wheels. The more you grind, the better you will understand. Gene

I have the short one you hold around the motor. Heat has never been an issue (and I'm in TX).

I bought a cheap one at Northern Tool for a project. I figured if it wore out after a few uses I would have gotten my money out of it. That was probably 15 years ago and it still works just fine.

Dewalt 10.5/11 Amp....about the only thing that holds up in heavy use....Ryobi grinders are pretty good believe it or not....Makita and Milwaukee are last on my list

The biggest pain for me with a side grinder is the switch. Have an old Makita with the "death switch". Decided to change, bought a Metabo. Clumsy to use. My advice, go somewhere that has a number of vendors displayed and try the switches. When you find one YOU like, that's a keeper.

Short one, never had a problem of any kind with it.

Agreed, seems the clown engineers who design these things never used one!, The Dewalt 10.5/11 amp model has the "safety style" paddle switch located down under on the center main body where one would hold it and your fingers are always on it....

We've been getting Dewalts lately for our weld shop where I work. We get the 13 amp I believe so it's like a 6" grinder but we use 4.5" discs. The main welder and the finish laborer can kill the brushes in 5 months! All parts are readily available at Ereplacement. The only thing I found I really dislike in ALL brands is the soft start modules / tachometers can go bad and replacements aren't cheap.

I like any of them that don't have a latching style trigger. Some of those really inexpensive ones are hard to turn off, that can be bad.

I have an Hitachi Angle grinder, works great and it’s been through some hard jobs. I’ve owned a few brands and it’s been the best one I’ve used.

Metabo or Milwaukee here for years without problems

I got tired of changing disks to cutting wheels to grinding wheels etc, while working on a metal fab project so I went and bought several Harbor Freight Ones for about $15 each. Each has a different accessory and saves a lot of time and effort.

I figured I could throw them away and not sweat $15. They have been used and abused for well over 10 years now.

The new ones have crap Switches. Sneeze and they pop loose and you have to latch them again. I would prefer a simple trigger or a switch that stays on no matter what. Instead they have millennial switches. They quit working when you need them to do their job the most.

Dewalt here too. No issues. Use fairly often.

i bought three well used dewalts at a swap meet maybe 8-10yrs ago, and they have worked great. the same guy had two more that didn't run, and i should have bought those as well just for parts.
i also have a makita, and it works great as well.
i have different wheels on each. makes a fab project so much easier.

To have at least two, one to cut (only) and the other one to grind or flap disc, and/or wire brush, is also how I roll.

In the mid '90s I bought a 9 dollar harbor freight for one job, thinking I only needed it for one job and it could die after that, and I wouldn't care.
That stupid thing kept going forever and finally died last year.
Only thing I did not like about it is, it had a latching feature that could lock the switch "on": no bueno...but it got the job done.

For an extra I tried a another el cheapo from menards, about 9 dollars.
That one did not disappoint, and died a couple months later as expected.

So last year I ended up replacing both of those clunkers with Metabo products (which seem to be Hitachi at the core).
They are okay and haven't had any issues with them.

I have some older Makitas (20 plus years old), and they’ve held up okay. I’m not sure if the new ones are any good.