angle grinder

[badgolferman]

What good value angle grinder would you recommend for occassional use by a home owner?

What type of general use grinding discs would you recommend?

[Snag]

For occasional home owner use you'd probably be OK with one of the Horrible Fright units . I suggest you get a couple of grinding discs - coarse and medium , a couple of flap wheel sanding discs - medium and fine , and a cutoff disc or 5 - they break easily if you get them in a bind . That should cover anything you should be using an angle grinder for .

[Hawk]

Harbor Freight's Bauer or Hercules line. They are becoming a stronger competitor and their grinders have great reviews, especially if only used occasionally. The same applies to their grinding discs/wheels.

[Ralph Mowery]

It seems that HF tools are getting better as time goes on. They seem to be doing what Japan did many years ago. Japan put out a lot of inexpensive items that did not last very long. They improved over the years and is now very desirable. I have a few things sold by HF and for a home owner that may only use them a few times they get the job done.

The Chraftsman tools used to be very good , but over the last few years they seem to be going backwards and not as good as they used to be.

I remember around 1970 I took a tour of a local TV station stuido. They were telling that they had 2 new color cameras from Japan and how much better they were than the ones made in the US and they were going to get more as the money allowed.

[Clare Snyder]

And here I thought this was going to be another political post - something like every politician has ann angle and somehow we were going to adjust the angle with some new political tool - - - -

[gfretwell]

If you skip the cheapest tools at Harbor Fright and get something mid tier, they are usually all the average homeowner needs. The cheap ones are usually junk. A guy who makes a living using a tool every day might want a name brand but it seems the gap is closing ... from both directions.

As for wheels, I use a cut off wheel in my small grinder most of the time, either the composition type or diamond. My larger grinder with the 5/8" threaded arbor gets a wider assortment of attachments. Usually some kind of cup wheel. (wire, flap or diamond)

[badgolferman]

Thank you for the answers. It seems angle grinders are mostly rated by amperage This 6 amp one seems to be the minimum size to consider. Would you agree?

What other features do you like or hate that I should beware of?

[Hawk]

Depends on your usage. Cutting? Grinding? Sharpening? Polishing? One of the heaviest use is cutting such as concrete or granite which will require more power. A 6 amp is sufficient if not doing a lot of that heavy cutting but for me, I'd up the amps to a min of 8.

I wouldn't go less than a 4" disc size and the larger the size the faster a disc will spin on the circumference.

Also an adjustable guard. One where you can set it at varying positions for different cutting angles.

Some also have an adjustable side handle. That's a matter of preference as it offers stability on heavier jobs.

[gfretwell]

The only issue I have with my 4" Makita is finding compatible wheels. The ones at the big boxes don't really work but I was able to find what I need online. That will not be an issue at HF. The one you are looking at should work for the occasional user but once you see what a cut off wheel can do, you might be using more than occasionally ;-)

[gfretwell]

My little 4" Makita is good for detail stuff and you can make pretty precise cuts but when I get mad at something I can put a 7" wheel in my big Hitachi. Also don't underestimate the value of a diamond blade in a circular saw or table saw.