Which angle grinder

[eltax91]

Hey folks

My trusty old Bosch corded grinder has died today. The lock mechanism collapsed and locked up the shaft. (Fnarr)

So, time for a replacement. I’ve been doing lots more metalwork recently and so don’t mind getting a decent one. All my diy kit is DeWalt XR stuff.

So, are the cordless ones up to it? Or should I go out and buy a 240v one again? If so, any recommended brands?

[ChampionRabbit]

I have a cordless Keilder grinder that is great, and super, super handy for cut off and quick work, but cordless grinder battery life isn't at all comparable with drill/impact/ratchet etc. A cordless grinder with brushless motor might give say 15 minutes, and thus isn't much use for welding work etc.

I can go all week in the workshop without charging most of my tools (Kielder and Milwaukee) but the grinder needs a charge every day if I'm doing any amount of welding.

Cordless grinder sort of has it's own place place in the tool box; you wouldn't want to go back to not having one, but it isn't a replacement for a corded grinder IF you do a good amount of metal work/welding etc.

The best corded grinders we use are Milwaukee and Wurth. Any decent brand of grinder will be ok IMO. One of ours is PerformancePro (B and Q?) and even that one is OK.

Edited by ChampionRabbit on Thursday 30th July 21:00

[paintman]

Corded.
If you were happy with the Bosch then get another one.
I've got two, a B&Q cheapie & a Bosch. The Bosch gets used most of the time.

[eltax91]

paintman said:

Corded.
If you were happy with the Bosch then get another one.
I've got two, a B&Q cheapie & a Bosch. The Bosch gets used most of the time.

I was thinking of having a couple with a cutting and grinding disk on respectively. Changing discs is somewhat of a faff

[paintman]

I did intend to do that but the on/off switch on the Bosch is much nicer to use - esp with heavy gloves - so it tends to be the 'go to'.
I do use both if I'm doing a lot of cutting & welding - the cheapie with a wire cup brush.
FWIW when I bought the Bosch it came with a quantity of grinding & cutting discs plus two diamond cutting discs. I'd guess around £25 worth of discs so actually a good deal.
I did buy a Homebase cheapie but that lasted halfway through a piece of 2" angle iron before it started to produce huge clouds of smoke

[finishing touch]

I have a Bosch and a Makita. One with a cutting disc and the other with a flap disc on. Both corded, both used most days.

My go to drill is a 2 geared Bosch. My go to sheet metal cutting tool is a Makita shear. I have a Bosch orbital sander and a Makita polisher.


Sorry to sit on the fence but I'm indecisive, just don't know what to recommend.


I will say this though. I view anyone that owns a cordless cutting disc with suspicion, having had the padlocks cut and my trailer stolen.
Should be classed alongside flick knives and sawn off shotguns IMHO.


Paul G

[Belle427]

Cordless is ok for the smaller jobs such as dressing with the flap wheel but mains definitely for harder use.
Bosch, Makita are 2 of my faves but any of the big players would be fine.

[E-bmw]

Have used one of these for the last 10 years, still going strong, reasonably quiet & vibration free for an angle grinder.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Grinder-Black-Decker-Kg...

[Spurry]

For corded use, I prefer the small Bosch ones. Very easy to use one-handed, because of the small diameter body. The main advantage of the battery Makita is that it runs slower, so useful for smaller trimming-type jobs, where not a lot of power is required. The larger Ah batteries will give a longer run-time, at the disadvantage of more weight to wield.

[Evoluzione]

I bought 3 from Screwfix at circa £18 ea, one different disc/fitting in each so less arsing around and the jobs are shared between 3 so obviously they last longer. Bosh, job done. Beats having one £120 grinder and 3yrs of occasional varied workshop use later they still work fine.

Edited by Evoluzione on Friday 31st July 22:47

[eltax91]

Evoluzione said:

I bought 3 from Screwfix at circa £18 ea, one different disc/fitting in each so less arsing around and the jobs are shared between 3 obvs so they last longer. Bosh, job done. Beats having one £120 grinder and 3yrs of occasional use on they still work fine.

I decided to do similar in the end. A DeWalt corded is £75 give or take, so I bought a £50 makita and a £25 Mac-allister on my way past Screwfix this morning

[VanDiesel99]

My two cheap angle Grinders have done hundreds of hours of Service over the years and never failed me.

'Challenge' (Argos) and Wickes brands, about £20 new

Its damn handy having two: one for Cutting, one for Grinding; sometimes wish I had three... coz while you can faff about swapping discs every 5mins, its a PITA in practice

I never really looked into Battery Tools as I just feel that I only want one set of Tools, with no faffing with different fitting sizes or Batteries to charge, etc; etc, but I did invest in a little 2 stroke, 240v Generator for those odd occasions when there's no power available

If you like a particular brand, then there's summat to be said for sticking with it; but there's also summat to be said for getting two cheap Grinders for less than the price of one expensive one

Don't overlook the usefulness of a really fine blade in your Jigsaw too

[Scrump]

Spurry said:

For corded use, I prefer the small Bosch ones. Very easy to use one-handed, because of the small diameter body. The main advantage of the battery Makita is that it runs slower, so useful for smaller trimming-type jobs, where not a lot of power is required. The larger Ah batteries will give a longer run-time, at the disadvantage of more weight to wield.

This is my view too.
I have a battery makita one which is really handy but I have just replaced my old corded Bosch one with a new corded Bosch one for the reasons Spurry states.

[markcoznottz]

I bought two Aldi ones last year, been really good, not the quietest, but 3 year warranty. Let’s be honest it’s only a motor and gears. The cordless li ion ones are better, but a big jump in price.

[dhutch]

I've got a 5" Makita I've had now for about 15years and I can't fault it. On special from Screwfix making it at the time half the cost of the otherwise identical 4.5" unit.

Only nominally 'DIY' use but I've put hours and hours on it including three 1 week dry docking stints with the narrowboat, a lot of time with a wire brush fitted to it, and various other proper work much or which alongside welding or painting.

Keep meaning to clean and regrease the bevel box but it appears as it was when it was bought mechanically.

Daniel

[InitialDave]

I've used a 4.5" Bosch for years after my cheap ones died, been perfectly happy with it.