Thread: 4' or 5' angle grinder

Gidday

This is the next 5inch I'll be getting:

SYDNEY TOOLS - Bosch 125mm 1500W Angle Grinder

Has all the bells n whistles heaps of grunt n @ a great price!!!

I use both standard and flap disks on a constant basis and they both gouge if your not careful........Nailing a great grind without gouging into the parent metal is a bit of an art!
@ work any removal of the parent metal is considered a gouge...............

Regards Lou

If you are making a mess with a flap disk.....you gota be trying too hard.

40 grit is great for shaping wood & if you have a worn ish 60 or 80, you can do quite delicate work on wood.

so if you are having problems with steel

cheers

Originally Posted by BenM78

5" Cutting, 4" Grinding

I have a 5" Makita and a 4" Bosch. The $85 blue Bosch kits are great, can't kill em, plenty of power.

I agree with above as i have them both for a few years now and they have been great and reliable For a tool for just under a $100 you can't go wrong There are better quality and higher priced 4-5 inch grinder like Metabo or Hitatchi that are twice the price. If you were using them day in day out and working them hard go these but otherwise the other 2 mention brands will hold up really. Up till now I can not fault the Bosch and Makita and they will give about 700 odd watts which is enough for general metal work use.

Don't overlook the Hitachi in the lower price range, they are a damn good grinder.

I've heard stories about the budget grinders from Bunnings etc. One guy drives them into the ground and takes them back before the warranty expires. He might have had something like ten grinders in five years all for the once-only original purchase price. He takes the dead on in and they give him a new one without charge, and the cycle repeats.

Perhaps I'm old fashioned, but I reckon if you spend a bit more you should get a better tool.

Having a never ending supply of grinders might float your boat but personally I would get incredibly pizzed off having to go to Bunnings and swap the thing over time and time again. Not to mention all the fuel and time wasted.

Maybe I am pressing too hard with the flap discs. However my experience with them has been on the 'communal' grinder at work where relative novices have created new and interesting shaped faces to the flap discs which may help create the gouges when I try to use them. Perhaps if I had one from new, and looked after it, I might have more luck.

Okay then, I will get back on the horse and try them on the Metabo

Originally Posted by Dobre

I agree with above as i have them both for a few years now and they have been great and reliable For a tool for just under a $100 you can't go wrong There are better quality and higher priced 4-5 inch grinder like Metabo or Hitatchi that are twice the price. If you were using them day in day out and working them hard go these but otherwise the other 2 mention brands will hold up really. Up till now I can not fault the Bosch and Makita and they will give about 700 odd watts which is enough for general metal work use.

I bought my bosch as we have one on the tool wall at work. I nearly always pick up the bosch over the metabo or hitachi grinders there. It is so light and the body is small despite the decent power. Very easy to use for lots of weld cleaning.

I am still going to get one of the variable speed ones though, I need to strip some paint off a tinny and the flap discs are a little too aggressive

Sorry to say, but 700 watts is laughable in a 5 inch grinder.
In a 4 inch it is ok - would not like any less though.
NOT a fan of 5 inch grinders with a 4 inch body style ie cylindrical intended to be used single handed. DANGER DANGER DANGER.

Originally Posted by Karl Robbers

NOT a fan of 5 inch grinders with a 4 inch body style ie cylindrical intended to be used single handed. DANGER DANGER DANGER.

Rubbish. It's not intended to be used single handed. I'm not sure what a round body has to do whether you use it single or not. It's more dependent on the operator chosing to or not. Every grinder comes with a handle and assumes you will use it two handed whether it be 4 or 5 inch.
I used my round body hitachi with both hands no problem. Infact I prefer it over a longer style body with handle at the back simple because a shorter body means you don't need as much space. The handle at the back of the 5'' is ok but really when it comes down to it I prefer the small cylindrical body that lets me work in tighter spaces with both hands.

You're welcome to your opinion mate, however I challenge anyone to have the same control over a grinder with decent power with a cylindrical body, even using the front handle as provided, that they would using the rear handle grinder styles.
I admit that using the word intended was a mistake on my part.
If space is so important, maybe a smaller 4" grinder could be a consideration?

Originally Posted by Karl Robbers

You're welcome to your opinion mate, however I challenge anyone to have the same control over a grinder with decent power with a cylindrical body, even using the front handle as provided, that they would using the rear handle grinder styles.

I have absolutely no problem controlling my 5'' grinder with a cylindrical body. Infact I've carried out some very intricate cuts and you couldn't tell it was done with an angle grinder it was so perfect and that was my first time using one. Now if you were to go to a 9'' grinder then you may have a point. Seriously saying you don't have an issue controlling a 4'' grinder with a cylindrical body but you do a 5'' is a little strange. They aren't huge beasts like a 9'' is and there is very little in it between a 4'' and 5''. I guess with the "extended" body of the bosche with the handle you might actually find it a bit difficult to use grasping it on the round body area but that is only because it's stupidly oversized and hence unbalanced in the first place when u try to grip it like that.

Like I said. Being compact is more important for a 5'' grinder. When size doesn't matter go for a 9'' ... 5'' grinders with long handles at the rear are a bit of a wank quite frankly. Defeats the purpose of buying a 5'' in the first place imho and you start cursing as it gets hard to fit into places.

As I said, you are welcome to your opinion.
At the end of the day I guess it all depends what you are doing with said grinder.
I did not actually compare 4" and 5" as regards control, I said that "if space is so important then perhaps a 4" would be a consideration"
I have seen some nasty accidents and near misses caused by improper grinder usage.
After all, I do swing them most days of the week as part of my job.
If you like your cylindrical body grinder then I am very happy for you.

Originally Posted by Karl Robbers

I said that "if space is so important then perhaps a 4" would be a consideration".

My point is you dont need to make that compromise wrt space if you get a simple round body grinder. 4'' the consumables just go too quick and it costs $. 5'' in the most compact body is where the value is at.

Yes it's my opinion but I'd rather someone not assume that because no one contested your opinoin that everyone must be in agreement with it. Nothing personal. Just letting future readers know the pitfals of a long handled 5'' grinder. At least one person has stood up and said that he doesn't like them and why .

At the end of the day having a handle at the end of your grinder is not going to stop one handed use if the person choses to do so so that part of the argument is moot and certainly there is not that much added control anyway that it's worth sacrificing compactness for.

Gidday

Interesting discussion! I also wield a variety of grinders on a daily basis using all sorts of makes n models in a variety of configurations and frankly for the intended purpose of a 5inch grinder theres no difference amoungst the 'big brand names'

A skilled operator quickly adapts to any subtle difference in ergonomics and weight. The most important considerations for a good 5inch is durability and power.

Yes all the latest 'bells and whistles' are nice to have and can improve safety and comfort ability for long demanding production runs BUT generally for 90% of the jobs you'll face their much of a muchness..................

For 'tight' work where theres accessibility issues and particularly the weight of the ginder becomes an issue your much better off using a 4inch or specialist air or power tooling.

Regards Lou

Originally Posted by Gerbilsquasher

Don't overlook the Hitachi in the lower price range, they are a damn good grinder.

I've heard stories about the budget grinders from Bunnings etc. One guy drives them into the ground and takes them back before the warranty expires. He might have had something like ten grinders in five years all for the once-only original purchase price. He takes the dead on in and they give him a new one without charge, and the cycle repeats.

I'm not sure if that is correct because the warranty only applies on the original purchase date and the time of its warranty ( eg 1 year ). In other words you dont receive a full new warranty on every replaced grinder. This is the way it was explained to me at bunnings one day.

Nobody has mentioned a 4 1/2" grinder, (115mm) which is my preference. Not as heavy as a 5, but the consumables last heaps longer than the 4". they also tend to be built as well as the 5 ". They also have the benefit, along with the 5" of generally using the same center boss and spanner as the biggies. This means you dont need more than one spanner on the bench or in the toolbox.

People also used to like the 5" as you could put your worn down 9" discs in them, However, I was told this was very dangerous as the larger discs arent designed to spin as fast as the smaller, and can disintegrate with disastrous results.