a grinder is a grinder, right???

[welder_one]

at my work, we use dewalt 4 1/2 inch grinders, they burn up pretty good too. most of the stuff i make there is aluminum and weld it, then grind it flat and smooth. for some reason not even the13 amp one has held up very well to constant hard flap wheel use. at home i use a 12 amp milwuake, and a "green, no namer" i use it for trash jobs. but the milwuake doesnt get nearly as hot. they will not purchase milwuake tools at the plant for some reason. maybe something to do with the distributor. the lws carries dewalt, so no help there. i have heard of metabo, does anyone know if they are as good as they claim them to be??

[aametalmaster]

Metalbo is a good grinder, but lots more money and they get hot also esp when its 100* inside the shop...Bob

[welder_one]

i understand that a grinder is going to get hot, but i dont understand is when they get hot, smell funny, and let a little smoke out.(weekly occurance)

[fun4now]

you must be really hard on your grinders
the dewalt gets a prity good reputation on here, as dose the millwaukie and the metabow seems to be the one of choice for thouse that have the $$ to invest in it. byt the other 2 are top choices.

[All-about-design]

dewalt grinders

At the fab shop I work in there are approximately 40 of the 4-1/2" grinders in service. WE send in approx imately 2 a month for repair...and replace probably 2 a year...paying higher prices for other brands has not seemed to justify changing brands for better quality...we tried some Ryobi, MIlwaukee, and Makita and all failed the first time past a rebuild point.

While all were decent none were spectacular. I hate to say it but I view them as a relatively expensive consumable and in the end it comes down more to personal preference than hard and fast...this is better data.

Good luck...use what you like and don't beat your self silly making a decision.

[Anti-GMAW]

Heres an older post of mine on a similar thread about the same question.

Metabo all the way! I wont buy anything else. There the best grinder I've ever used. I burned up the dewalt they gave me at work after a month and switched to using my Metabo. I'm going to get a couple more soon. Flap wheel, grinding wheel, and wire wheel. Mine should have deid a year ago the way I treat it but it works just as good as the day I got it.

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t280/deathbot3000/000_0122.jpg

http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t...0/000_0123.jpg

[tacmig]

Try this!

http://www.us.hilti.com/holus/modules/prcat/prca_navigation.jsp?OID=-17683

[PLUMMER]

I just did some research on 4.5" grinders. As far as cost goes Metabo is right in line for $$$. The milwaukee is the most expensive when comparing the same AMPS. and same featured units. Dewalt is a Black & Decker product, and one of the least expensive besides ryobi. In tests Dewalts ran the hotests under load. Ryobi outlasted the Dewalts and B&D's. Milwaukee is a very good unit less heat and ISO 9001 . Bosch, Metabo and Ryobi had very good performance, except for the ryobi switch. Best bang for the buck was Bosch when comparing 8-10 amp Grinders. Makitas were also rated well but inconsistent issues with brushes,switch and gear cases. Plus old school ergos on the makitas. Bosch and Milwaukee best warranty, but milwaukee had some preventitive maintaince in order to keep up warrranty. Which seemed like a hassle. I personally chose the bosch, then metabo and then ryobi according to reseach and the 2 local authorized repair centers for all of these units. Ryobi is definately a consumable when considering its 29-39 dollars for the 8.5 amp version, cheaper to buy new than repair. 10 amp metabo 75-85.00, milwaukees only good unit is the big 12 amper at 99-110.00 , variable speed version 159.00, bosch 8.5amper 69-79.00, dewalt 10 amp 59.00. dewalt 12 amp 75-80.00 and the largest dewalt 4.5 " 119.00.
Keep in mind toolless wheel change option, stay away from variable speed unless its used in conjunction with a positive on off switch. Those usually burn up, especially when working off genertors and gens with load sensing pulse. small size for tight spots like makita,ryobi,bosch and metabo, rest are bulky and heavy. Look for lock on switch capability, toolless guard adjustment, (milwaukees seemed to be best) not sure of how durable it will be. Bosch and metabo have anit vibration handles too. good luck hope this helps.

[HMW]

I use Metabo, work great. Also have the older Balck and Decker "professional" series which were pretty good too. Seems the 4 1/2" grinders take a beaten because I think we use them for jobs bigger than they were made for Lets see, i've ruined a Craftsman, Makita and although I love Milwaukee power tools, I used one of them up too. So far the Metabos still going, One is only about a year old the other is 3-4 yrs old.

good luck, you'll proabably change your mind on brands a dozen times over the years. As in most things you get what you pay for, so don't pick a cheap one.

[HMW]

Heres an older post of mine on a similar thread about the same question.

I rememeber, you keep your grinders in the kitchen

[crawler]

I have a few grinders (makita, milwaukee, metabo) for home use. I have not had any issues with them since I don't use them daily. I keep several because I'm too lazy and don't want to spend time swapping out grinder wheels (abrasive, flap disk, wire wheel). Much easier to grab another grinder with the proper abrasive.

One thing I do like and look for is the weight and size. There are many times when you don't need an 8+ amp grinder. More amps usually means bigger and heavier grinder. I think you'd want to have at least 1 heavy duty (8+ amps) grinder for the tough jobs.

I also prefer the paddle switch over the regular on/off switch on top of the grinder.

Last note.. Look to see where the exhaust exits. Make sure it does not shoot straight up since this will cause grinder dust to blow in your face. If you have this issue, you can bend some thin sheet metal and build a shield to keep crap from blowing into your face.

[fun4now]

what do you all think about the tool-less change feature on the grinders ??? i never liked the tool-less change on saws-alls, but have not tried the tool-less grinders. mostly because i did not like it on the saws-alls. is it a good thing or a cheap selling point?? do they hold up and hold well ??? or should you take it off as soon as you get it?? can you take it off or are you stuck with it if its on the grinder to start??

[PLUMMER]

One thing that has consistently poped up in alot of forums or search engines, when looking at the best durable grinder. Metabo has clearly been recomended more by far. I would say if I counted it was said to be the best more times than all the others combined. There were also more acient metabo pictures than any other still in operation. Professionals and everyday users in shops mostly recomended Metabo. Dewalt was second for recomendations, but I noticed it was used in the penny pincher shops and the yellow color seems to be more of a fad that sells than the units performance itself ,for reason to buy. Never seen an old dewalt still in operation, not that there isn't but most said it was cheaper to replace than repair. With all this said I still went with bosch myself, since I use only occasionaly and the warranty seemed much better. I like the rest of my bosch tools asawell.

[Steve]

We burn up a few 4 1/2 grinders a year. It depends a lot on the user. You just can't load em up and expect them to last. Let the grinding wheel do the job seems works the best. For a lot of AL work an investment in an air angle grinder will do best. With an auto oiler they outlast the electrics. The AL shavings get into the electrics motor and there you go. Paddle switch is best as the top switch ones tend to lock in on when you don't want it to.

[littlefuzz]

I was having a problem with burning up the dewalts (the reg and the HD ones). Seems like every few weeks I'd burn one up. I got a small Hitachi that lasted over a year (the bigger hitachi didn't last long). It had a good design with the thumb switch on top toward the head of the grinder. Now they've swapped to Bosch, they work good but I don't like the paddle switch since I grind one handed a lot and have a problem with my hands going numb.