My Black Friday Adventures, And a New Grinder

[Lanse]

Morning everyone!!

Okay, so its technically just now Black Friday, but this is what I
went and got the day before thanksgiving.

Its a 10 amp DeWalt 4.5" grinder, and I like it so far. I got it for
$69 from Tractor Supply and it came with 5 grinding wheels....

I'll admit, Im partial to my Milwaukee and Makita grinders, I really
do love those things, but everyone on YouTube was like "You
should get a Dewalt" and its not like one can ever really have too
many grinders... So, when I saw it on sale, I bought it. Im sure to
need it sooner or later :)

What do I think?

Compared to my Milwaukee, it vibrates MUCH more, and is
almost as powerful. Said 11 amp Milwaukee cost $100 and came
with 1 wheel.

Compared to me Makita, it is MORE powerful, but shakes 3 times
as much. That grinder was $80 and came with 2 wheels.

So, for the money, its a lot of grinder. Except it does get hot
under normal usage, just like the 4.5" DeWalts my high school
used. All that being said, those things took huge amounts of
abuse from probably 50 students using them 5 days a week. We
had maybe 6 or 8 of the 4.5" units there, they held up VERY well.
My teacher told me that the school had tried 3-4 brands before
they stuck with the DeWalts, as they were the best blend of
"cost-effectiveness" and durability. They could care less about
comfort or performance. That was the best review of DeWalt
tools I've ever heard...

Overall, Im happy with it, I'm sure I'll get a lot of use out of it,
and sometime here, I'll make a 4-way grinder comparison video.
That being said, if my shop burned down and I could only get
one grinder, I'd spend ~$120 on a 4.5" Milwaukee and a few
wheels for it...

The only thing I DONT like about this grinder is how the trigger
is setup, seems like if a guy dropped it just right, it might sheer
off.

IDK, these are just first impressions which usually change once
you've used a tool some. What do y'all think of DeWalt grinders?
Except for beveling a few coupons at school, I have little experience with them.

I made a video about the new grinder, hope y'all like it. Happy
Black Friday


video1


 

[Leroy]

It should not shake at all. take the grinding wheel off and make sure all parts are as supposed to be and try anouther wheel, Sounds to me like a bad grinding wheel. You can run the grinder with all wheel attachments off and see if it still shakes, if so the grinder is bad and they should replace it.
 

[Puddles]

He11 with the grinders, I wanna see the video of that new welder!
 

[scotc]

I think I saw that same grinder on sale for $45 bucks for this morning.
 

[JD Seller]

Lanse I bet that the vibration is the grinding wheels. Some of the wheels are too hard and they will hold up better but they suck at cutting smooth.

If you have a wheel dressing stick try shaping the wheel. IF you do not, then can use a concrete block. Take the grinder and grind on the block to shape/smooth/open up the wheel.

Remember that trick if you have to grind aluminum or some other material that will plug the grinding wheel. I have just used a rough piece of concrete. Quartz rocks will work too.
 

[Russ from MN]

You did OK, I did a little searching, and that was a good price, But if it vibrates without a wheel, take it back. They are all made in the land of almost right, so one in every three is junk!
 

[greygoat]

4 years ago I bought 3, 4-1/2 inch grinders from
Menards for $16.95 each. I figured that as each one wore out, i'd replace it with another !
I'm still using the first one !
 

[Welding man]

Really tough to find a good 4 1/2 in grinder. No body in the world is as tough on grinders as I am. Milwaukee used to last me a year to 18 months, now they are Chinese Junk. Last one I bought made it 3 months, sent it back and they repaired it lasted 3 months. Threw it in the trash. Bought a Makita,it died yesterday,lasted 6 months. The last Dewalt I bought didn't make it 30 Days.No luck with Bosch-Metabo-Black and Decker-or Ryobi either. Anyone else got any suggestions. Oh by the way, I buy grinding wheels 100 at a time and they last me about 3 months. I do a lot of grinding.
 

[Russ from MN]

The place I retired from used Metabo, bought them from our welding supply, they might be the best available. That"s the 4 1/2", the bigger ones had a temperature sensor or something that would shut them down just when you need them! the 4 1/2 s just kept on going!
 

[Stick welding]

Have you tried a Fein? They're supposed to be very good power tools. A lot of people like Hitachi too but I'm not sure about a 4 1/2". Surprised about Metabo as they usually have a slip clutch.

Lanse's new grinder should be OK as long as he doesn't lean on it too much. I had an old B&D 4 1/2" that I really liked but used it on something a little too big. I like the paddle switch better than a trigger.
 

[sheiserman]

My only suggestion would be a bigger grinder. If you're having trouble with Metabo grinders, there may be no help available.

I've had nothing but good out of the old 5" Makita and a 6" Metabo grinder, if you have any use for a bigger grinder. We've gone to using 3M grinding pads with the plastic backing disc. The quality of a grinder will become apparent pretty quick with those. Can't grind a groove with one, but they will remove a mountain of metal in a hurry.

Now, if you're looking for a good electric pencil-type die grinder, Pferd is where it's at. Metabo is as bad as the rest with that particular tool.
 

[Welding man]

I haven't tried a Metabo in quiet some time. Checked them out again a while ago. Looks like they might have improved them since I last owned one. Might order one tomarrow.Thanks for the input.
 

[Harvey9]

I have that same grinder at work, works well and has NO vibration.
 

[guido]

Hello Lance,
I'm glade you posted this setup!
I posted one time about using a 5" wheel for a 4.5" grinder, and boy was I wrong!
By the way, ones you wittle the grinding wheel to 4.5" you will notice that most of the vibration will be gone. Good unit and a good price.
Guido