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hello all i am calling upon the gods of the garage for assistance

i was just outside doing a little cutting on the old gal with a dewalt angle grinder when something strange happened......up to this point in its short life (1 year) its had a pretty easy life cutting holes in sheet metal for patch panels and the like
today i went and put a fresh disc on this tool and proceeded until all of a suden the magic smoke presented itself and the spinning parts stopped spinning

can anyone reccomend a good heavy duty grinder???

What diameter?
How many amps of power draw?

Milwaukee: always good

pitbeast - got a CDN Tire in CR? if so get their house brand 12A model, it'll hold up - if there's not one there, get down to Courtenay, they've got a good selection

Bill

An undersized extension cord will shorten the life of power tools. I recommend a good 12 gage cord in the shop.

The more amps the tool draws, and the longer the cord is, will determine how much heavier of gage wire is needed.

I have had good luck with my Dewalt, I suppose you could have also bought a defective one. I would recommend any good brand that feels good in your hands. (Dewalt, Milwaukee, Makita, etc.)

John

I will chime in with my .02. I prefer to use Milwaukee, I think that they are the best electric tools out there. With that said For most stuff on my truck and at work I use and air die grinder. They are generally a good bit cheaper or at least equally priced, and they are a He%% of a lot lighter. I use the little grinder/cut off dics to grind or cut.

Kenny B.

I'll throw in a vote for Milwaukee! I've had my 4 1/2" for 15 years. I beat the heck out of it and it just won't die!

I cant deny that Milwaukee is about the best.I have a Sears Craftsman 4 1/2 inch angle grinder that I have used and abused for several yrs.Guess I just happened to get hold of a good one.The posts about using undersized extension cords are right on.

thanks folks

the extension cord i have is 14 ga. and about 20 feet long and i believe il be going in search of a shiney new milwaukee 5" on my next day off )

thanks all
inst it great to live in a democracy

buy middle of the line and throw when dies..doc

makita then milwaukee

Makita is my fiorst choice then milwaukee , it all depends on available funds for the purchase ?

If you have a big enough compressor get a angle air grinder, not the sander but a regular air grinder. Mine is a Porter Cable 4" and cost about $80. No smoke, no cords, just plenty of grinding power, a little oil once in a while and your good to go. I was shop forman for a construction co. and my welder had arms the size of 5 gal buckets, so 4 1/2" grinders only lasted about a month, finally broke down and paid $175 for a Ingersoll Rand angle grinder and 4+ yrs later it still run's great.

First grinder I grab in the shop is the 8" air grinder. Little body, looks like a UFO. Don't know who made it but I'm sure my company bought it back in the 70's?

We have Makita's and Milwaukee's for when we are mobile. I've been abusing my Milwaukee daily for three months straight on a project I'm doing and it is still going strong. And it is already quite a few years old. My mechanic / employee prefers the smaller, lighter Makita to get into tight spots. I have nothing but good things to say about both brands.

I smoked both my milwaukee and craftsman, I bought a cheap one from harbor freight and the instant vibration made me return it. guess I will see if the Milwaukee can be repaired. it lasted 3 yrs.

I went for the Makita for the simple fact that way back when I was in a high school welding class that is what we used in there. I figured as much grinding as they were put through in that class they had to be able to hold up OK. I took that class for three years and don't recall any of them going bad. I have used mine now for about a year and as of yet have not been disappointed.

Milwaukee's great but air anything will last longer. (better have a 10+ cfm compressor.