The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest 18v DeWALT Angle Grinder

I recently purchased an 18v DeWALT angle grinder. That tool with a cutting wheel or a flap sanding disk is a very handy tool to have in the shop when doing body repairs. I shopped around quite a bit to get the best deal available. I ended up buying one on eBay from Max Tools. It was a good deal and made a nice addition to my 18v tool collection. Maybe someone else will find this tool a useful addition to their arsenal.

Tony

What kind of battery life do you get with continuous use??

I am notv into many battery operated tools.However I do have an 18 volt drill driver,by DeWalt,that I just purchased.It replaced a 3 yr.old Sears Craftsman 14.4 volt drill.No comparison between the two of them.Although the DeWalt cost well over twice what I paid for the Craftsman,it is well woth the additional money.I can use the DeWalt for several days in a row without having to change batteries.Whereas the Craftsman was good for drilling 6 or 8 holes in wood on a charge.I have a Dewalt planer in my woodshop which has done a great job for about 2 yrs.So it looks to me like Dewalt tools are AOK.I learned thru the years that cheap tools are just that CHEAP.

Yep. I have a bunch of Makita 12v and 14.4v drills. Real work horses. Got myself a DeWalt 14.4 a little while ago. Real brutal. Very torqy. Better features! Good balance, too! Both brands get real good use!

For the woodshop, everything seems to be old Delta so far.

I made the mistake of thinking the higher the voltage, the longer it would work. WRONG.( It. is stronger) I have a 18V craftsman that won't work long enough for me, There is a lot of difference in the quality of batterys used by different manufacturers.

As you know, once you start building your collection of cordless tools, it becomes rather expensive to change brands or voltages. I started with the DeWALT brand about 10 years ago, with the 9v tools and graduated up to the 18v system. Now all of my cordless tools are 18v DeWALT. There are many good quality cordless tools out there, however I have never started to mix-n-match my brands or voltages. I have found the yellow tools (DeWALT) to be as good as the red ones (Milwaukee), green ones (Hitachi), blue ones (Bosch) and orange ones (Rigid), as well as others on the market.

Tony

Sears craftsman quality has been going downhill for several years now.As I said before I purchased an 18V deWalt drill and it is head and shoulders above the Craftsman that it replaced.Not cheap,but it works very well,plenty of torque and the batteries last a long time before having to recharge them.I will continue to buy Craftsman hand tools,but no more power tools from Sears,after having been stung twice by them.

I prefer Craftsman for my mechanics tools. This came from working around my father's shop over the years and he was a Craftsman user, as well as his father. That being said, I steered clear of their power tools and woodworking tools.

I have a Craftsman power miter box that my father gave to me in 1979. I graduated up to the DeWALT compound miter in '95, so I willed the ole Craftsman to a friend. I went to his house one day and the Craftsman power miter box had been sitting on his deck over night and in the rain a few times. I gracefully ask to have the tool back, realizing the sentimental value since my father gave it to me when I first started doing woodworking and carpentry. Since my friend didn't appear to appreciate it, as evidenced by not taking care of it.

Long story longer, I went to the Sears Service Center and ordered a new guard, brushes and thumb brake for the saw. I put a new carbide blade on it and it worked like a charm. To this day, that saw sits next to my high dollar, modern day DeWALT sliding compound and DeWALT compound miter saw. It works great in a pince and I will keep it until I pass on.

Like these old trucks, it doesn't have all the modern day niceties, but it gets the job done. It is officially over 25 years old and I consider it a antique survivor, like many of my trucks.

Tony

The quality of craftsman tool has gone down thru the years especially the electrics

I too have some Craftsman power tools I have purchased thru the years.A power miter saw,which has,always done a respectable job,a Craftsman drill press which is AOK.I also have a Craftsman radial arm saw that I bought used,about 8 yrs.ago.It is probably about 40 yrs.old and works good for crosscutting.Picked up an old Craftsman lathe,and jig saw,from an auctioneer friend,they were both purchased new in 1950,and are good solid working tools.On the other hand I bought a new Craftsman table saw,in 1999,it was top of the line.Bought it on sale for about $750.After about 7 yrs. of trying to get things lined up properly,I gave up I could get it lined up and about two cuts later it was out of alignment again.It sits in the corner of my shop waiting for someone to buy it,it would be a good saw for a contractor,but when you are building furniture,its just not close enough.I then bought a Delta Unisaw which does a nice job.My tool chest is filled with Craftsman hand tools which are very good.But no more power or woodworking tools for me from Sears.

For years I used a Delta contractors table saw. Never could get the fence adjusted properly. As long as I had a ruler, I could make the cuts I needed. Not too long ago I found a Rockwell Unisaw. I have since refurbed it. I haven't had a chance to set it up and cut with it yet, but I'm hoping the bigger table and the Biesemeyer fence will be a vast improvement over what I used to use. I have a whole kitchen to remodel / rebuild. So I figured I would do it right!

MNSmith,My Delta Unisaw has the Biesemeyer, fence.a very good setup.I looked all over for a used unit,but could not find one.So I bought a new one at a good price.Good luck remodeling that kitchen.