So, what kinda grinder should I buy?

In the course of stripping the floors in the Olds, I've burned up two harbor freight grinders and I'm tired of em. What kind should I buy and where's the least expensive place to buy it?

i got a companion Kmart sears product and seems to work pretty good.

I bought a Makita 4 1/2 inch from mac and i have yet to even hurt it. It's only $60 at Home Depot.

I think I want something in the 10amp range. Spinning that big, heavy knotted wire wheel is hard on a grinder. I never managed to phase either of my HF grinders with regular grinder disks or cutoff wheels either, but the knotted wire wheel is a whole different animal...

See if you can find an old Yellow Jacket. I have 2 friends that own them and they're at least 25yrs old and have been through Hell.

eBay shows NADA. Does Mac make a grinder? I told Ann I'm done buying disposable tools...

Does Mac make a grinder?

Not and electric one. I have a Milwaukee 4.5" I've had good luck with. You need a 6" though for what you're doing. If you can't find a Yellow Jacket I'd look at Milwaukee, Makita and DeWalt. They all have good warranties.

I've had good luck with all my DeWalt stuff

Any tool you buy from Home Depot they will take back..Or they did..I have returned 2 Ryobi Grinders and a drill press...I have had great luck with the Craftsman brand, i've had my 41/2 incher for 5 years and my 6 incher for 10 plus....The Milwakee's are nice as well because they have the capabilities to change the brushes with out taking the whole body apart....

I've been kinda going back and forth between the Milwaukee ($100) and the Dewalt ($60) 4-1/2". The Milwaukee is $40 more, but weighs about 10lbs more. Buying a BIG compressor is in the near future as well, so the thought of not spending a fortune on an electric grinder is kinda playing into this, although quite honestly, having used both at other people's shops a lot, most of the time I'd prefer an electric. I really kinda threw the Craftsman stuff out of the running since I've repeatedly heard that all they sell is junk anymore. The Craftsman Pro grinder is $60, but I'd have to buy it from Sears. I'd really like to buy whatever I buy from my neghborhood hardware store since I like the owner, I think we're lucky to have his store, and we're really trying to support locals - he sells both Milwaukee and Dewalt. He even sells the upline $85 Dewalt (10a vs 7.5a) that Home Depot/Lowes doesn't. I'll prolly end up just getting $100 out of the ATM and heading over to the Do-It-Best Store and buying the one that looks right to me...

You can't go wrong with either one of those brand's my Buffer is a Dewalt as is all my portable tool's(18 volt) and I love them....As far as trying to rotate a knotted wire wheel with an air grinder I personnally would say forget it you can bog them down with the quickness! So how is the knotted wire wheel working for you other than toasting you HF Grinders????Oh yhea and dont let that wheel grab your skin thats a rash you soon won't forget...

I heard Glenn had one you could buy cheap for $250.00 that is 2 man operated.

LRS30 wrote:You can't go wrong with either one of those brand's my Buffer is a Dewalt as is all my portable tool's(18 volt) and I love them....As far as trying to rotate a knotted wire wheel with an air grinder I personnally would say forget it you can bog them down with the quickness! So how is the knotted wire wheel working for you other than toasting you HF Grinders????Oh yhea and dont let that wheel grab your skin thats a rash you soon won't forget...

Hot knife through butter. I was so discouraged after using the Clean N Strip wheels, it was depressing. But, the new ones are only limited by how long I can grind before the grinder starts smoking and smelling like burned plastic. Unfortunately, they both stopped turning altogether, so it's back to a one-man operation when I get my new expensive grinder - I had Ben helping me. I'd say we have 25% of the floor stripped. After that, it's just the jigsaw puzzle of putting it back together, then the same thing in the trunk, then onto external bodywork. I might have quarters hung by christmas. Holy shit! It's awesome to actually be fixing something instead of just chasing. I gotta drop that trans at some point and get it in the shop, too...

So, the local guy only had the crappy $20 4amp grinders I've been burning up, so I hit the Depot. I got a 10amp Dewalt 4-1/2" for $90 and it rocks. I only managed to grind for about 5 minutes before dinner was ready, but in 5 minutes I realized I'm gonna need a Darth Vader suit or something. The entire garage was a rust-colored cloud and I made about 15 minutes worth of progress with the cheap grinder, maybe more. Now, I just need to figure out how to breathe while I'm at it. I also managed to give myself 4 cuts on my fingers from ricocheting debris...

Gloves, face shield, respirator.

Respirators are for pussies. And dudes who wanna live to see 40...

Respirators are for pussies.

You are what you eat, DICK.

So, $27 later, I have a respirator. I'm gonna use my Lincoln motorcycle gloves for hand protection...

tim wrote:Respirators are for pussies. And dudes who wanna live to see 40...

Tim I think you should go back to your old name "Redneck Smooth"

That was my HAMB name when I was posting on the DL...