Stovebolt.com Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest HF Angle grinder bites the dust

So the $20 Harbor Freight angle grinder I bought at least 5 years ago let the smoke out today. I had to break out my spare $20 HF angle grinder to finish the job.

Not bad service for a cheapskate like myself.

Here's a video [flickr.com] of the carnage.

Before the guys went to nearly all battery tools we bought the dickins out of HF air tools. With paint prices out of sight one can't oil air tools so we used them dry. Life was short. Now the walls and benches are cluttered with battery chargers but very few fish eyes in paint.

When I was teaching auto body classes at an inner-city Nashville high school, we had terrible problems with fisheyes in several paint jobs. I finally tracked down the source of the problem. At least a third of my students were using large quantities of Vaseline Intensive Care lotion on a daily basis. They called it "ash killer"! Sanding body filler and then rubbing their hands over the freshly-sanded surface feeling for ripples was putting the lotion deep under the primer and the finish paint.
Jerry

Kevin - I keep two spare HF Angle Grinders in my tool cabinet, buying them when they are on sale. A lot cheaper than the other big box store brands!! You're not a cheapskate, you're just being frugal!! More money to spend on truck parts.

Frugal! Yeah, that's the ticket.

LOL I bought a Grinder at least 25 years ago from a Truck Load Tool Sale (we didn't have HF back then). It was 5 dollars and came with 5 grinding wheels. Somewhere along the way someone gave me another one. Well the bearing in one went out and I bought a $3 bearing at the hardware store that fit perfectly. the next issue I had was the switch went bad. Tore it open and it was a double pole Switch well I made it a Single pole cause one side still worked! I have spent more money on Cut off wheels, Wire Wheels and Diamond Wheels then I have on Grinders. I bought it as a use it and Throw it away when done...... guess I ain't done with it yet! LOL

It's ALIVE AGAIN!!!
I (of course) opened it up and discovered that the rear bearing (near the brushes) had seized up and spun in the housing. So I went down to the local bearing supply and bought a replacement bearing. Used a little epoxy to reinforce the housing around the bearing and set it aside to cure. Today I plugged it in and nothing, so tore into it again and discovered that one of the brushes was hanging up. Fixed that and it roared back to life. So I still have a spare.