29 replies to this topic

[Shifty]

Draper ones are ok as well, I usually get 2 or 3 years out of them, at £30 a pop they are cheap enough as well.

[dklawson]

Like Cooperman, I have a Bosch unit that I have used for over a decade.  It is very tough and I like it.  I have other Makita tools and would expect their angle grinder is of equal quality.  Recently I picked up a cheap angle grinder only because it was on sale for $10 (6.25 GBP in today's money).  At that price I decided I would set one grinder up with a flap wheel and the other with a cup brush.  At $10 I don't care how long it lasts.

[nicklouse]

I have a pair of Black and decker Pro grinders that I got early 90s. They have biuilt a few race cars and will build a few more.

Also have a couple of cheap ones as well.

Edited by nicklouse, 15 October 2014 - 11:42 PM.

[Icey]

Don't knock the B&Q cheapie ones. I have their large one which I have now had for 4 years and goes well. I also have three of the smaller ones. Different discs on them and again work well. I have killed two in four years but at £18 each im not complaining. I have also had other makes like Makita, Bosche etc and have killed them as well.

Each to their own I know but £36 over four very hard years cannot be bad.

 

I'll knock them. When my Bosch died (it had a hard life) I didn't want to spend that much so bought a cheap one.

 

It lasted a week.

 

It was really poorly built, I knew it wouldn't last long the moment I took it out of the box. I took it back and got a refund then went and bought a Clarke. ~5 years and it's still going, not even used the spare brushes they give you.

[Rob Gavin]

Don't knock the B&Q cheapie ones. I have their large one which I have now had for 4 years and goes well. I also have three of the smaller ones. Different discs on them and again work well. I have killed two in four years but at £18 each im not complaining. I have also had other makes like Makita, Bosche etc and have killed them as well.
Each to their own I know but £36 over four very hard years cannot be bad.

 
I'll knock them. When my Bosch died (it had a hard life) I didn't want to spend that much so bought a cheap one.
 
It lasted a week.
 
It was really poorly built, I knew it wouldn't last long the moment I took it out of the box. I took it back and got a refund then went and bought a Clarke. ~5 years and it's still going, not even used the spare brushes they give you.

I'd second that. Used to buy b&q ones which would invariably last about 6 months or so. The reason i stopped getting them was because the last one seized and threw the disc, closely missing my face. Had a bosch one for the last 8 years or so now without a day of issue

[sonikk4]

Well all I can say there then you boys were unlucky. Never had any issues apart from me abusing them.

Each to their own but will keep using mine till they die.

On a footnote I had a Bosch one that went boom in six months and a Black and Decker one that lasted less than a year. So it shows even the more expensive ones fail.

[MIGLIACARS]

And avoid the super cheap ones as the bearings don't last long. I got a makita from Amazon for about £45 and it's brilliant. At work they refuse to get a decnt one and we have spent more than that on cheap ones that keep wearing out.

i have a makita cannot fault it 2 years on

 

 

i give it some right hammer 2

[finch661]

i have a dewalt and it is fantastic! was £70 but 4 years on it is still going strong!

[Jordie]

Hitachi industrial one for me. 2 years and still going as good as new.

[ibrooks]

I go for the cheapies too. The current batch are from Aldi (I think - bright green things). They are a few years old and were definitely sub £15. I've just put a set of brushes in one so it's done some work and they don't have an easy life. The biggest thing I can say is keep an eye on the brushes - when they wear down far enough they can be dragged out of their guides and that usually knackers the commutator and kills the grinder. I've had far more expensive ones in the past from "better" brands and in my experience they don't last any longer. The ones I've got come with a 2 year guarantee so they can't be too bad as these outfits don't offer a warranty that they are actually expecting to have to make good on - if they guarantee it for 2 years then they are expecting the vast majority of them to last at least that long with a safety margin to make sure they don't actually have to refund or replace them.

 

Iain

[Carlos W]

I've got an old black and Decker one (actually my dad's) and a silver line one from tool station. The black and Decker has far more torque so it has a grinding disc, and the silver line has a cutting disc.

They've both been with me through a couple of years of restoration after destroying a couple of old ones and a cheapy from eBay.

I had a twisted knot wire wheel on the silver line the other day and it got a bit hot

[andyteethyea]

I got a b&q one its lasted ages and used it for everythink it wasent ment to be used for the only think ive used it properly for was to cut a motorbike engine out of the bike

[Tamworthbay]

I go for the cheapies too. The current batch are from Aldi (I think - bright green things). They are a few years old and were definitely sub £15. I've just put a set of brushes in one so it's done some work and they don't have an easy life. The biggest thing I can say is keep an eye on the brushes - when they wear down far enough they can be dragged out of their guides and that usually knackers the commutator and kills the grinder. I've had far more expensive ones in the past from "better" brands and in my experience they don't last any longer. The ones I've got come with a 2 year guarantee so they can't be too bad as these outfits don't offer a warranty that they are actually expecting to have to make good on - if they guarantee it for 2 years then they are expecting the vast majority of them to last at least that long with a safety margin to make sure they don't actually have to refund or replace them.
 
Iain

more likely that they expect the majority to be bought on impulse and rarely/ never used.

[MrBounce]

I've got a Clarke one, think it was £30 and it is very good

 

I had one of the Budget Clarke ones and mainly used it with a knotted wire brush to strip paint off subframes and suspension parts. It worked fine for 13 months then made a very strange noise and spat its internals out. I replaced it with one of the Clarke Pro ones (a big yellow thing which cost about £45) and that thing is bigger, heavier and more powerful. I explained my predicament to the guy in the shop and he recommended this one, saying they've never had one back.

 

Hell of a kick on it too!

[SA MINI]

I bought an orange black and decker one for about £35 in 2008.

It's been used and abused & still works well. !
Although the worn power lead may need replacing soon