Cheap angle grinders and SDS drills

Post by **MikeNash** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 5:13 pm

Focus (at least in Andover) have the above reduced to £9.99. If you haven't got 'em now's your chance! MikeN.

Post by **chickenjohn** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 6:32 pm

Is that the Focus own brand grinders??

Post by **bigginger** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 6:42 pm

That's good. I'd add an aside that with angle grinders in particular, you get what you pay for. I've got half a shed full of broken cheap ones.

Post by **chickenjohn** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 6:59 pm

Yes, but the focus own brand now come with a 3 year guarantee!

Post by **bigginger** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 7:05 pm

Blimey! Double check that then, if it covers mechanical (bearing) AND electrical breakages, go for it

Post by **rayofleamington** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 9:08 pm

Rumour has it that the £10 to £15 angle grinders that seem to crop up everywhere are so cheap that they can't even afford to put grease in the bearings.
I'm not sure if that is true or not but after having a £15 angle grinder for only a year, I've now bought a decent brand instead.
My first angle grinder was not cheap and lasted me 18 years before the gear teeth wore out. (it was used far more than most people would expect one to last).

with angle grinders in particular, you get what you pay for. I've got half a shed full of broken cheap ones.

One cheapo was enough for me. Can't afford to have a shed full of broken ones!

Post by **bigginger** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 9:14 pm

A conclusion I came to as well, guarantee or not

Post by **d_harris** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 9:56 pm

I love my Makita Grinder! It feels really smooth compared to the old wickes one we have (which admittedly has lasted YONKS! but then thats old school build quality!) and in reality at £56 it wasn't bank breaking either (admittedly, I got staff discount on top of that, and B&Q ended up paying for it themselves in vouchers they gave me!)

Post by **chickenjohn** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 10:11 pm

Yes, I've got a nice Bosch one and I'm going to get another good one- either DeWalt or Makita or another Bosch. Its good to have a few grinders around with different attachments on them, saves time.

Post by **alex_holden** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 10:30 pm

My Bosch grinder has been used and abused for over a decade and it still works perfectly. I always prefer to spend a bit more to get decent quality tools.

Post by **MikeNash** » Fri Feb 09, 2007 11:01 pm

Well folks, high quality is a great investment provided you've got the money to put up front. And its clear that many of our readers haven't got much. Most of us start off by going where our money fits - and then go up market! MikeN.

Post by **bigginger** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 12:01 am

No argument from me over that, just a warning to expect the cheapies not to last long. The Bosch ones are pretty good, the DeWalt are in a different league. Like John, I have several grinders with different discs/brushes on them, and once upon a time when I had money invested in good quality

Post by **paulk** » Sat Feb 10, 2007 7:58 pm

If I may add my 9 pence

If all you want is something to use with doing a little grinding or a cup wire brush to remove a bit of rust go for a cheapy. The difference with that and a named brand one will hardly notice as you won't be using it a huge amount.

If on the other hand you are about to start a ground up restoration and will be grinding lots of panels out and then cleaning all sorts of rusty components off get a named one. It won't cost much more (£35-£50 instead £15-£20) and will last a lot longer.

We've had Bosch, Makita and de walt. And personnally I'm not a fan of De Walt, but thats only through personal experiance. The other 2 are fine and seem to last 3-4 years for us in an industrial environment working 15hrs a week on average.

Another suggestion would be get a 4.5" grinder rather than 4". The discs seem to last much longer and the grinders tend to be more powerful.