Angle Grinder


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Old 04-14-15, 05:20 AM
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Angle Grinder

Harbor Freight has what they call a heavy duty angle grinder for $20.00

Heavy Duty 4-1/2" Angle Grinder

It's only 4.5 amps. Is that really heavy duty? I don't think that I will be using it a lot. Any opinions?
 
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Old 04-14-15, 05:26 AM
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Occasional use only, light duty service. You get what you pay for. For $20 bucks you'll get $20 worth of service.
 
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Old 04-14-15, 05:27 AM
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I'll have to go out to the shop and double check which one I have but I bought a HF grinder 5 [?] yrs ago and have been well pleased with it. They had 2 different ones and I bought the one that had the most amps. I think it was around $20 with a coupon.
 
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Old 04-14-15, 05:38 AM
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Seriously, for $22 do you think it's heavy duty. I wouldn't be so worried about the amperage as the general construction quality and what the gears are made of. But... for $22 who cares. Use it till it dies and then throw it away. For intermittent or home use it will probably last many years. You could burn through five or six before you get to the cost of a true heavy duty one like from Metabo and others.
 
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Old 04-14-15, 05:56 AM
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The one I have is 4.5 amps, #91223.
I also have a 6 amp B&D that I bought from HF 25-30 yrs ago. The main reason I bought the HF brand was so I wouldn't have to switch from grinding wheel to wire cup. Both work equally well although I do prefer the paddle switch on the B&D.
 
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Old 04-14-15, 06:48 AM
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Have two of the HF 4" angle grinders. The one with abrasive wheel is going on year 8 and the one with wire cup is on year 3. Satisfied with product.

Have two 9" Craftsman, (35+ years) but now use the HF more because of its size.

RR
 
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Old 04-14-15, 07:06 AM
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Only bad I've ever heard about their angle grinders and DA polishers has to do with the crummy grease (or NO grease) in the gear head. Open it up, scoop out the bad grease and replace it with a good extreme pressure / high temp grease--Mobil 1, Royal Purple or similar. Don't pack it in too tight--the grease expands when it gets hot.

Replace the soft M4 x 0.7 x 16mm screws with allen head replacements. You'll thank me later.
 
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Old 04-14-15, 10:33 AM
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For $20 you can't really go wrong. If you have a good blade and aren't trying to do anything to serious it will probably work fine.

I have a cheap 650w angle grinder which was not as cheap as your link but could possibly come from the same factory in china. I use all the time, with a disk that cost more than the grinder I was able to build a fire box in my grill from refractory bricks. I've used it with a wire brush to take of rust. I use it to mark openings that I'm going to make in in masonry walls. I use it to sharpen my shovel blade. If you're cutting pipe what used to take several minutes with a hacksaw is now a matter of seconds.

I bet you'll use it more than you think.
 
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Old 04-14-15, 04:16 PM
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Pilot Dane, of course I don't think that it's really heavy duty. That was sarcarsim more than anything.

guy48065, are those the screws that hold the casing together?
 
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Old 04-14-15, 04:48 PM
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20 years ago, I would have said no way. Today, still not owning any of their power tools, but having seen some of them in action, I would have no qualms with giving them a shot for something that I did not intend to use on a regular basis. Sad, but true.
 
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Old 04-15-15, 03:32 AM
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Did they have their own brand of electrical tools 20 yrs ago? 20-30 yrs ago I bought name brand electrical tools from them; Makita, Porter/Cable, B&D and probably some I've since forgotten. In the last 10 yrs I've bought a drill, 4.5" grinder and router with the HF brand all of which have preformed satisfactorily.
 
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Old 04-15-15, 03:58 AM
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I don't know if their power tools have changed in the last 20 years, and perhaps I didn't word that correctly, but my point was that 20 years or so ago, after trying a few of their hand tools and whatnot, I wrote them off as total junk, and no way I would have bought anything from them, let alone power tools. But, as I mentioned, have been around some of their power tools in recent years, have even bought a few seldom used hand tools from them again, and feel that their quality has come up to the point that I would be willing to give even power tools a shot, as long as I wasn't counting on it on a daily basis.
 
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Old 04-15-15, 04:10 AM
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I've been buying tools from HF for 35+ yrs .... back before they changed their name from Harbor Freight and Salvage. Some of their hand tools are junk but others are pretty decent especially considering the price. Their worthless tools are generally priced so cheap you know they aren't worth having. I've used some of their tools in a commercial setting and not been disappointed. The main thing is to realize just what you are buying and whether or not it's suitable for your intended use.

I don't know how their quality compares over the years. I have a HF floor jack that I bought 30 yrs ago, it died and I was going to buy another until I read the horrible reviews so I rebuilt it instead.
 
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Old 04-15-15, 04:48 AM
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We use this in an industrial setting/welding. My boss considers them throw aways but these last the longest..

4-1/2" Angle Grinder with Paddle Switch

Ill take a picture of it today and ask him how old it is..

Nothing less then the highest amps you can get IMO.. He used the other grinders and they burned up in a couple of days...
 
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Old 04-15-15, 06:12 AM
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Yes, I was told to go for the highest amp rating. A 20 dollar item is definitely throw away. I don't know about $30. As Esand1 stated, I probably will end up using it way more than I planed.
 
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Old 04-15-15, 06:57 AM
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Originally Posted by pulpo
guy48065, are those the screws that hold the casing together?
The gear casing, yes. We call them "cheese head" screws because they're made of steel with the strength of cheese
Might have to resort to using vise-grips to remove them even the first time.
 
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Old 04-15-15, 07:42 AM
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I have a 4-1/2 inch Milwaukee angle grinder I bought at least thirty years ago. It was getting a bit anemic, something that I attributed to worn brushes, and although the Milwaukee repair station is just a few miles from my home their hours didn't really coincide with mine. Upon taking it apart I found the brushes were indeed worn out and I also promptly lost the spring on the switch when it fell to the floor in my messy garage.

So I got a coupon for a Harbor Freight grinder, I don't remember which one but it wasn't in stock at my local store anyway. I did buy one that cost around $25-$30 dollars and it has done everything I asked of it.

I finally found the spring for the Milwaukee and did make it to the Milwaukee store where I bought a set of brushes. There is no comparison between the two grinders but considering the HF model has a cost of 1/4 (or less) of the Milwaukee I say go for the HF model if your usage will be limited to home shop projects.

One more thing, once when inspecting the internals of a boiler I saw what looked like a crack in the steel of the steam drum (steam enclosing portion subject to the full pressure of 250 psi). Calling in the insurance inspector he agreed with me and then a boiler repair contractor was called in. The boilermaker used a cheapo angle grinder and when I asked him about it he stated their shop had determined that they "lost" more grinders from them falling on the floor than from wearing out and therefore it was actually less expensive to buy the cheap grinders.
 
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Old 04-15-15, 01:51 PM
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LOL That's pretty funny about the employees dropping the grinders before they had a chance to go bad. With my luck, it could go either way & right away. As a side note, JB Weld works great on cracks like you had in your boiler.
 
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Old 04-15-15, 02:21 PM
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Well home from work. This grinder is 6 years old. Very heavy use. Been dropped many times from ladders and such..

The only thing that broke from dropping it all these years is the button that stops the disk so it can be removed. ( The button is gone but the rod and spring are still in there..)

This is the 6 amp with the paddle handle I linked too in a previous post...

Oh and all other HF grinders that my boss bought? He said they lasted a matter of hours his case..

Note: We use this to grind the welds smooth of any fabrication work we do, as well as cut off wheel use. Its used daily.

I used it all this week...

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Old 04-15-15, 02:28 PM
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I'm going to go to HF tomorrow. I'll take a chance on whatever they have that's under 30 dollars. Right now, I have 2 stoops to repair. It's a crap shoot.

PS Lawrosa, That machine looks solid.
 
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Old 04-15-15, 02:40 PM
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As I said this is it.. 29.99 on sale..

4-1/2" Angle Grinder with Paddle Switch
 
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Old 04-15-15, 06:07 PM
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As a side note, JB Weld works great on cracks like you had in your boiler.
I'm quite certain that the boiler inspector would not have allowed the use of JB Weld. Remember, this was not a residential heating boiler but an ASME section I power boiler operating at 250 psi steam pressure and output of 125,000 pounds per hour. That's over 100 million BTUs per hour, just the pilot burner was rated at about 30,000 BTUs/hour. The gas line was four inch and maximum gas burner pressure was about 5 psi.
 
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Old 04-15-15, 06:17 PM
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Remember, this was not a residential heating boiler but an ASME section I power boiler operating at 250 psi steam pressure and output of 125,000 pounds per hour. That's over 100 million BTUs per hour, just the pilot burner was rated at about 30,000 BTUs/hour. The gas line was four inch and maximum gas burner pressure was about 5 psi.
To put it in perspective for Joel, he is talking about something like the twins I have been servicing here and there..


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Notice the 4" gas line coming in the back/upper of pic. Although these are low pressure @ 12 psi..

Infact today they had a leak from the condensate return tank on the right today.. Pissing from a weld...

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Old 04-16-15, 03:25 AM
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I'm going to go to HF tomorrow. I'll take a chance on whatever they have that's under 30 dollars
As mentioned earlier, look at the amps for each one they sell and buy the one with the highest amps.
 
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Old 04-16-15, 04:57 AM
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That was my original plan. I have to stop at Home Depot first so I'll see what they have as well. Also, a hoarder friend of mine might have one for sale. I might as well call him too. His claim is that the older tools were built better. Of course, he doesn't give a warranty.
 
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Old 04-20-15, 07:31 AM
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I bought the heavy duty grinder from HF last year for $20. I have used it to cut through metal poles that hold chain link fence. When we hack saw the first one, it took almost 15-20 minutes. When we used the grinder for the remaining poles, it took less than 45 seconds each. We cut a total of 11 poles. Heavy duty or not, it did the job.

I was in the same shoe, thinking that I need something that good grade. This is good enough for a weekend warrior, not a professional contractor.
 
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Old 04-20-15, 07:42 AM
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I never made it to Harbor Freight. I did the first stoop without the tool. It was so loose, I could remove the broken pieces by hand. I used a type S mortar with a bonding agent to reset the slate. So far, all is well. The next stoop is blue stone slabs, with joints about 1/2 to 3/4". I'll do that job, in a couple of days. The angle grinder from HF should do the trick.
 
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Old 04-23-15, 01:36 PM
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I finally went to Harbor Freight & bought one of the low priced angle grinders. I didn't see a blade for it so I went to Home Depot. The cement blades are displayed in a different section. I wonder if that's the reason that I didn't see a blade in Harbor Freight. The blade cost half the price of the tool.

In any event, the angle grinder worked really well except for the mortar dust everywhere. What's the best way to clean it? Water doesn't do the trick. I read something about Muriatic acid which does nothing. I cleaned some wet mortar stains with 409 the other day. That worked well. I still haven't found anything for fry mortar dust.
 
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Old 04-23-15, 02:18 PM
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Generally compressed air is best for cleaning away the dust.
Right or wrong, I've used the metal cutting disc on my 9" grinder to cut block/brick before - mostly to grind out a straight line partly thru and then use a wide brick chisel to finish.
 
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Old 04-23-15, 02:44 PM
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Make sure to wear a mask and not breathe those dust in. I know what you mean when I was cutting a thousand pavers a few years ago.
 
 

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