Buying an angle grinder

[tingo]

Hi all,

I don't want to start a brand war, but I would like some help choosing an angle grinder. I've worked out I need 240V rather than 110V, but I don't know what Wattage I need or whether to buy 4.5" or 9". Prices seem to range from £7 to £100.

I will mainly use it with a wire brush attachment to strip paint from tight spots and a flap disk for sanding, but I expect I will need to do a bit of cutting unless I am very lucky!

I would be grateful for any advice on sizes and how much I need to spend. Do all of the attachments have a standard fitting for all brands?

Thanks.

[alex_holden]

You want a 4.5" one for working on cars. The more expensive ones tend to be better made and will probably last longer. I have a Bosch Professional one as my main grinder (IIRC it was about £50), though just yesterday I also bought a couple of AEG ones for £25+VAT each to reduce the amount of time I spend changing between different types of disc/brush. Personally I wouldn't expect a £7 one to be much good.

BTW angle grinder wire brushes are good at quickly removing paint and rust but they aren't great at getting into tight spots.

[tingo]

Thanks Alex. I'll go for a cheaper one - £25 - and then upgrade if I need to and keep the first one for quick changeovers. I guess the only thing for very tight areas is a wire brush and elbow grease?

[bmcecosse]

Just buy a cheepy - ~£10/£15 if you search - I have two - and they have both been excellent! Only problem so far has been brushes worn out - very easy to change. Be sure to wear eye protection, good stout gloves and hearing protection! These things can rip your fingers off if you give them half a chance!

[alex_holden]

Thanks Alex. I'll go for a cheaper one - £25 - and then upgrade if I need to and keep the first one for quick changeovers. I guess the only thing for very tight areas is a wire brush and elbow grease?

For removing paint I usually use chemical paint stripper and a wire brush. For removing rust, coarse emery paper is one way of doing it.

[minor_hickup]

Good ones can be had from about £30, but the really cheap ones can fail quickly, usually motors or bearings, if you're cutting thicker steel and doing a lot of wire brushing it can be a bit much for them. Having two is a good idea, its nice to have a cutting disc on one and a flap disc on the other etc.

[wibble_puppy]

I also bought a couple of AEG ones for £25+VAT each to reduce the amount of time I spend changing between different types of disc/brush

He's clever

[rayofleamington]

Depending on how much work you're going to do, 2 angle grinders can be well worth the expense! I only ever did that when I was really working against the clock.

I had a good 4.5" which lasted 19 years of hard labour. Since then I went through a handful of cheapo ones, none of which lasted a year.
I then got a top brand one at medium price and it's much longer lasting albeit slightly heavy and with a big starting kick. At top of the price range they should be lighter and have a smooth start.
I then got another cheap one to be a spare (and for mild cutting) but that didn't last long at all - and despite having "easy change brushes" there are no spares available in Europe
With the top brands it can be difficult (but not impossible) to get spare parts but it's generally a LOT longer before you have to worry about needing any!

You have a choice also between 4.5" and 5". Disks are pretty similar in price. I had one of each which was handy as 5" cutting blades could be used on the occasions you needed to cut a few mm deeper - and partly worn 5" blades fit the 4.5"

One really useful tip - beware of CHEAP cutting disks. I've learnt my lesson on that one as well as on cheap angle grinders - a cheap pack of 5 disks lasting less than a single good one (of twice the price) therfore working out more than 3 times worse value.

The 1mm cutting disks are really worth having (I was immediately converted after buying some, despite a few years being dubious). For general cutting the 2 or 2.5mm thick ones should be fine but make more noise and are slower than a 1mm (and cut more metal away - the 1mm thick ones only leave a 1mm slot...).

Grinding disks (~6mm thick) are better for grinding and therefore worth having - using a 2.5mm cutting disk for grinding may save the time of changing disks but wont save money.

The knotted wire brush is also useful when prepping surfaces prior to MIG welding. About the only thing they won't remove properly is black ####y underseal. This just melts and spreads a thin layer around, making MIG welding very tricky.

When using a knotted wire brush, you want decent gloves, goggles and best not to wear shorts and t-shirt as any stray wires will get shot out like darts.

[plastic_orange]

You only get what you pay for, and angle grinders are no different. I had a cheapie one fail in a day, but had an old black and decker professional for years.
Current ones are Clarke, Bosch and a Halfords one (still in box as it replaced one that lasted about a week).

Pete

Pete

[rayofleamington]

I won't name names but my 'good' one is a make that was popular with Handy-Andy.

[britab1967]

You only get what you pay for, and angle grinders are no different.

That's true, but my £10 Aldi grinder has cut all of the floor, sills, front inner wings and chassis leg on Molly, plus all the grinding and wire brushing without any complaints so far...you watch it fail tonight.
It's has some VERY hard work with my initially poor welding, grinding out as much as I put on. You get a spare set of bushes with it as well.

The choice is your as they say.

[bmcecosse]

Exactly - £10 is plenty to pay! If it fails on more than brushes (and mine came with a spare set included) then just throw it away and buy another.

[jonathon]

Blimey, I can hear the squeak from here

[d_harris]

I Lurve my grinder, its a nice top brand one (Makita) that I got courtesy of B&Q when I still worked there its really easy to handle and has got through two cars worth of cutting, grinding and wire brushing. Very pleased with it....

Dad has a Wickes Professional job which again is very very nice and worth the pennies...

If I was buying one off my own back I would go down the route of cheap as chips and chuck it out when it breaks (of course they still have to have garuntees, so take it back and get it replaced!)

[alex_holden]

The AEG ones I mentioned came with a 3 year guarantee.

[Cam]

Well...

I had a black&decker that lasted me donkeys years, I was gutted when that eventually failed.

Since then I have gone through a myriad of makes. I quite liked the £15 Clarke ones because they were lightweight (for working upside down under the car) but they did not usually last 6-12 months. They were made of poor quality steel and simply wore out.

I made the mistake of buying some cheap £10 ones from rallies and a couple just fell to bits within a day. I was also given a modern black&decker but after a while it developed BAD vibration and the head disintegrated.

I now have about 3 or 4 different makes and they seem ok but the thing they have in common is they cost around £40 or more each, so you get what you pay for.

If you buy a £10 one and you are not doing much work with it then it might be fine but if you intend to do a fair bit of work then buy a decent one.

Also, I completely agree with what Ray says about discs. Had pretty much the same experience.

[wibble_puppy]

I made the mistake of buying some cheap £10 ones from rallies and a couple just fell to bits within a day. I was also given a modern black&decker but after a while it developed BAD vibration and the head disintegrated.

You, see, maybe it's just me, being girly and all, but that sounds a mite on the dangerous side to me? Think I'd rather spend a bit more and keep all my fingers. I'm weird that way

[plastic_orange]

I bought a large quantity for the Fire Brigade for reinforcing bar cutting, and for padlocks. I selected them on the basis of recommendations and power. I handed them all back after 2 lasted 1 padlock cut. Make - makita.
I then increased the budget and bought Hilti.

Pete

[Cam]

Good grief Pete, that is a surprise.

My old dad used to have a sheetmetal working company and used lots of Makitas and they seemed pretty good at the time. Mind you, for the heavy stuff (usually drilling concrete & brick - large diameter) the Hilti used to come out.

[d_harris]

My Old Man had a 12v Makita Cordless Drill which he got in the 70s, We finally killed it early 2000s.....