Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[buzzy bee]

So What 9" 240v Grinders do people Recomend?

Cheers

Dave

[Bitumen Boy]

Call me an old cynic if you like, but with modern handheld power tools I reckon you might as well buy a cheapy one, because it's probably going to break anyway. I despair of the quality of manufactured goods these days, everything seems to made of the lowest grade ticky-tacky available and appears designed to no other brief than to go wrong and cost you money

[ukdave2002]

Dave you have given great advice in the past, buy cheap, and when it breaks buy a good un !

So my experience of good un's is; The Dewalt stuff has gone on what ever the circumstances, The Makita stuff I have had to replace switches (quite cheap), but the main product has been ok

Dave

PS I have a Makita 9" grinder if you want to borrow it Dave

[buzzy bee]

Hi

I have always had Makita grinders, but have seen Hitatchi and Bosch, so am unsure at the moment, other option is to buy a £30 silver line one, but will it stop when trying to cut something?

Dave, thanks for the offer, but if you saw the job, you might retract the offer.... lol

Cheers

Dave

[bob2]

I have been one to always swear to but the best brands etc, but a couple of years ago have bought a jigsaw and a grinder and did not want to spend too much, so I bought the Skill models and found them to be quite good value for what they cost!!
However like Dave I think Makita are a very good brand, infact I have a Makita driller and in the 9/10 years I've had I have only changed the chuck through carelesness rather than anything else!!!

[Uncle Alec]

Bought an Axminster one. ****. Died soon after (the grinder, not me).
Bought a Makita one. Brilliant.

(Edited to add) For the benefit of the tape: the asterisks used to be a word that rhymed with "height".

[Richard H]

I've got a Black and Decker one. Had it for years and it's great.
_________________
Richard Hughes

[buzzy bee]

Hi

Bought a Hitatchi one for £60 on offer from £90, and discs;- 10 thin cutting, 10 normal cutting, 5 grinding and 10 4.5" grinding for £25, recon that is a bargain all in!

Got some grinding to do now! (Well tomorow as it is late now!) lol

Cheers

Dave

[baconsdozen]

Don't buy cheap grinding discs or wheels.
I had a cheap Chinese grinding wheel fly to bits.During the enforced rest after major surgery to my leg (had it have broken a couple of seconds earlier the results would have been much more serious) I did some investigating as to the hazards of using inferior discs,grinders and other tools.
There are a lot of people who've saved a few bob on these tools and had ample time off work or in a hospital bed as a result to reconsider.
_________________
Thirty years selling imperial hand tools for old machinery(Now happily retired).

[buzzy bee]

Good Point, have had many wheels break up on me in the past.

Also Caught my lip on a wheel once... Not very nice!

I can trust the brand I got, Dronco, they are by far the best from what I have found over the years. They were only a good deal as I got them as part of the deal!

[Churchill Johnson]

Just priced up a new switch second one in two year's for a B/D processional 9" angle grinder and one half of the handle, it's not used that much, with vat,p&p i am looking at a third of the price a Makita.

[colwyn500]

Mine was a Christmas present about 5 years ago from Wickes; their own brand. It's clumsy and heavy but gives no indication that it will ever break down and has cut concrete slabs, steel and blocks.

Incidentally, I have a cheapo Argos 4" grinder. the first one lasted about 4 weeks of tearing apart a Fiat 500. So with the next one I took the extra warranty which seemed good value at £1.50. I had decided this deal meant effectively, a new grinder for life.

Sod's Law; the grinder is nearly 4 years old now and still going strong.

[clan chieftain]

Same here. I have had an Argos one for ages. I dont use it that often so I will have it for a while yet.I also have an orbital sander and a jig saw from Argos.
_________________
The Clan Chieftain

[Bitumen Boy]

The first grinder I bought was a 4 1/2" Bosch. It didn't see a lot of use, not being a tool I use regularly, and so when it failed after what seemed a short time was out of guarantee. I stripped it to find out what had happened and found that the brushes - rather undersized - had worn completely away allowing one of the springs to catch on and destroy the commutator. The brush holders were fiddly and inaccessible to the point that I very much doubt that DIY brush replacement would be viable. Not impressed.

Present one is the Site brand from Screwfix (though I think made by Makita). The brushes on this one are a decent size and immediately accessible under a screwed plug on either side of the body so are easy to keep an eye on - a worthwhile feature I reckon.

I'm also not impressed by DeWalt, I haven't had one of their grinders but I did have one of those heat guns which failed recently, again well out of guarantee but not having had an awful lot of use. Nothing to see when I opened it up - currently on fleabay as a "spares or repair" - but I was amazed to find a complex looking (to me, anyway) printed circuit board with a bunch of electronic gubbins. Most likely it was this that failed but why electronics should be necessary on such a simple tool I have no idea. Anyhoo I won't be buying DeWalt again unless the price comes way down, I figured it wasn't worth spending much on a replacement so just had a cheapy one from Screwfix this time. Time will tell how it does but at least it comes with a proper case rather than a flimsy cardboard box

[Churchill Johnson]

If we are talking of small grinder's as well i purchased a brand new 4" grinder worx from a local diy centre about 6yr's for £8 and guaranteed for 3yr's with 3 grinding wheels, and a bit longer than most other make's but at that price||||