What's your go-to angle grinder?

[CJ5Dave]

I have 2 Craftsmans I have had maybe 25 years. One finally going out. A nice used Marita that is nice. A harbor Freight that shakes so bad you can’t hold it.

 

[Eddyde]

Corded 5" angle grinders:
I have a 30+ year old, Milwaukee that is still in good working condition. A Bosch about 20 yo and 2 Makitas purchased within the last decade. All are working fine. I had a Home Depot bought DeWalt that lasted only a couple of weeks before flaming-out (literally).
I have a 7" DeWalt that is about 16yo that still works great but it doesn't get that much use.
I Have a Makita wet grinder that is great for concrete & stone grinding.

Cordless 5" angle grinders:
I had a DeWalt that left when I liquidated my entire collection of DeWalt cordless tools, It worked okay but really went through batteries, only about 3-5 minutes of grinding per charge.
I now have a Makita that I really like but it's only a couple of years old.

I've also had and have a couple of pneumatic grinders but those are probably out of the scope of the discussion.

My current recommendations based on 40+ years of buying and using power tools professionally doing Construction and Custom Woodworking:

For corded: Milwaukee, Bosch, Metabo, Makita, Festool/Festo.

Cordless: Bosch & Makita.

 

[ChazzC]

Hello, does anyone here use a cordless grinder? If so, which one do you use and what are your thoughts on it? I’m thinking about buying one, but the DeWalt model is around £200 without batteries, and a battery plus charger is another £140. I’d really appreciate any advice, recommendations, or opinions before I decide. Thanks!

I have a Bosch 3" that is a handy size for small projects (in it's storage box with a couple of 2Ah batteries and a 3Ah one):



For major jobs I rely on my decades old Craftsman 4-1/2" plug-in model.

EDIT: I forgot about the used Craftsman C3 19V 4-1/2” that I need to clean and rebuild. I bought it last year to use with something like this for deburring:

 

[Shade Tree Welder]

I have a couple of 25 year old corded Milwaukees that are 4.5" that don't don't owe me anything, solid machines. I grease the heads every few years and run them. I also have a DeWalt 60V that I like, the cordless option is great. Also, have an older 9" Milwaukee, it is a beast. I am getting too old to run that thing.

 

[Just for fun]

I have a Milwaukee M18 Fuel 4.5" grinder. I love it! I also have a bunch of there other stuff and a few Dewalt items also. I can't say that any of them disappoint.

 

[Pevehouse]

I have two German made method that are corded. They are not the hpt branded ones. They have built in balancers and braking system. They are beasts

 

[Ultradog MN]

I posted earlier in this thread that I don't much like cordless tools.
But since we're doing show and tell here (or is it show and brag?
Here's my hoard.
A 60? yo Black&Decker 9",
A 50 yo Milwaukee 7"
7 - (count em) 4 1/2" Makitas
And and an unknown one that was on a tile saw I scrapped. I mounted it to a plate that I clamp to the bench. Sometimes it's very handy as you can much more accurately bring the piece you're grinding to the wheel instead of the bringing the wheel to the piece.

PS, I think cordless grinders have made padlocks obsolete.

 

[pontiac428]

Update... I replaced a vibey HF that had a cup brush permanently attached with a HPT Metabo brushless... It wasn't cheap but Zoro had a coupon and I want to see if it's as good as they say. Lots of wire brushing going on lately.

Cordless... I have a Bosch of course. It's powerful, it goes through batteries quickly, it vibes more than it should for a Bosch, but it's so darn handy to have a cutoff wheel whenever and wherever I need one!

 

[hotrats]

I have one each brushed and brushless from Milwaukee. I love not having the cord, but they burn through a battery pretty quickly. Perfect for my weld bench where I grind a little, weld for a while, grind a little, etc. But not good for projects with a lot of grinding all at once (unless you have a lot of batteries!).
GsT

Let me start out by saying I'm a "fantastic" welder. I have 4 grinders. I bought a DeWalt brushless at the flea mkt. Brand new, and a larger battery & charger. Like you say, "they burn through a battery pretty quickly". I got it for going where AC power not available. Appears I'll have to have a few more batteries if I actually want to use it remotely. Have a DeWalt drill, like it.
Corded, I have a Porter Cable, had for almost 20 yrs, is great. Then, I have one of the cheapest HF grinders, not much power, so takes a bit longer for doing the job, but works. Other is the 'step above' the cheapest HF. Think on sale it was $24-30, when I bought it. Size and power, it works, like it a lot.

 

[Stick-man]

I like Dewalt for 4-1/2" & 6" angle grinders. My 9"ers are Milwaukee.
Airgas had a sale on Dewalt 4-1/2", two fo $99 I think it was. They are the lesser amp motors, but they work fine for normal usage.