Just bought this bad boy at lowes: http://www.toolbarn.com/product/dewalt/D28402/

Used it once when I got home with it and it had excellent power. How well do they last??

I have one at work and one at home. Been beating the crap out of both of them for 2+ yrs. Never had a problem. $52.00 from Grainger "IF" you know someone that works there.

I have a buddy that has a Dewalt and other Dewalt tools. he has had his for 3 or 4 years now and loves his... I stay true to the blue...

JOSH

I've gone through 2, my 3rd seems to be lasting.
1st one was 5+ years old.
2nd one lasted a day.
3rd one going on a couple years now.

If I buy anymore they will be the more powerful Milwaukee ones.

I have had a couple of them, under hard regular use they last a couple years for me. I have been happy with that.

Mine lasted about 6 mo's and just quit. I'm hoping it just needs new brushes.

well I used it some more tonight and I am thoroughly impressed. I did some pretty heavy grinding and it had plenty of power, and didnt seem to get hot. Lowes offers a warranty...maybe I should check it out.

well I used it some more tonight and I am thoroughly impressed. I did some pretty heavy grinding and it had plenty of power, and didnt seem to get hot. Lowes offers a warranty...maybe I should check it out.

It should have came with a 3 year warranty from Dewalt, Lowes only offers a year IIRC. It's a joke.

I have an older dewalt that has the same style paddle switch. I really dislike the switch and seldom use that grinder as a result.

If I buy anymore they will be the more powerful Milwaukee ones.

Two of the three I run are Milwaukee's, one is a Hitachi.

I love the HD 4 1/2 Milwaukee the best. Very durable (so are my other two) but I love the trigger the most.

In the last three years I've bought a kobalt, makita, and two dewalts. Only the dewalts are still working and they got the most use because I liked them the best. I have made them smoke but they are still going.

i have two of the older style dewalt paddle switch grinders in the garage and a cheaper style one for work. the paddle switch ones are 4 years and 3 years old, the cheapy is 2 years and seldom used (about 1 day every 3 months or so)

I have used alot of grinders, Milwakee, Bosh, Metabo, Ryobi, ect. The Milwakee is nice, good power, smooth, but the size makes it very hard to use with one hand.
The Metabo i used the most when building my buggy. i loved it. smooth cutting, powerfull, ect.

the bosh was powerful, but not smooth at all. it sucked, and i think Zach ended up thorwing it away.

the hitatchi wasnt terrible, but it was a long way from being nice. the handle was not easy to hold. it was hard to gring stuff in tight places.
the milwakee had the same problem, way too big of a body on the grinder.

just my experience, but it hope it helps a little.

I prefer the paddle switch. I looked hard at the milwaukee but picked it.

I prefer the paddle switch. I looked hard at the milwaukee but picked it.

I have paddle switch dewault. Def. the best safety feature.

Mine lasted about 6 mo's and just quit. I'm hoping it just needs new brushes.

Thats more than likely it, they EAT brushes! I go through brushes at least once a year on my DW's. the brushes seem to last 2 plus years on my milwaukee, but in all fareness, the milwaukee brushes are WAY longer than the DW's.

I currently use a older 5" DW (thumb switch), 4 1/2 DW (paddle) and a 4 1/2 Milwaukee (paddle).

I dig the lower profile head, shorter body and the lighter weight on the 4 1/2 DW compared to the milwaukee, but they are all good little grinders.

the only bad trips I have had on grinders where with makita and ryobi.

:beer:

I have gone throught 3 Dewalts, must just be bad luck. Either that or the fact that I am fairly accident prone.

The Metabo i used the most when building my buggy. i loved it. smooth cutting, powerfull, ect.

.


I used a buddys Matabo a few months ago,...... WOW!,.. what a nice unit!
top notch stuff:smokin:

Home depot warrantied my dewault as it was kinda new :flipoff2:

They gave me hell though said the serial # was to old to return :mad3: told them/showed them I got it the day before and they refunded.

I have gone throught 3 Dewalts, must just be bad luck. Either that or the fact that I am fairly accident prone.

I will give the milwauke that! its a brick shithouse! mine is about 6 years old, been through 3 sets of brushes and 100's and 100's of discs, been dropped, ran over, left in the rain
and just got the shit kicked out of it and the damn thing is like the energizer bunny! :D

Mine lasted 6-8 months of daily abuse. Local tool supply had a blowout sale on Makita 4 1/2's, so I picked one up for ~$70. Should have bought 2, I like it a lot more than the DW.

Mines been going well for 4 years. I think I'm going to demote it to a wire brush, and get a 12 amp metabo for grinding duties soon.

where do you buy extra brushes?

where do you buy extra brushes?

Any good home town hardware store will have brushes. You can get them at radio shack or if there is a alternator-starter rebuilder they will have them too.

I have never had any problems with my Makitas with anything. I have had to replace the brushes on a buddies HF chop saw and went to the Alternotor-starter shop and they gave me heavy duty brushes and it has been better. maybe somewhere like that can hook you up with some better brushes...

JOSH

Any good home town hardware store will have brushes. You can get them at radio shack or if there is a alternator-starter rebuilder they will have them too.

I have never had any problems with my Makitas with anything. I have had to replace the brushes on a buddies HF chop saw and went to the Alternotor-starter shop and they gave me heavy duty brushes and it has been better. maybe somewhere like that can hook you up with some better brushes...

JOSH

thanks for the info. I am gonna replace the brushes in my cheap-ass chinese grinder and relegate it to wire brush duty.

I'm not looking to hijack this guys thread but if anyone is looking for a 7" grinder try the Dewalt D28499. It's the one that has the twisting handle. The only grinder I've used with this sort of longevity and power is a Metabo. The DW doesn't have quite as much punch but it only costs about half what the M does it's got great bang for the buck. DW also has special pricing if you buy a six pack so it might make a good group buy if anyone needs one.

we have an older version and i use the piss out of it. seems to still be going strong. itll never replace our 10+ year old milwalkee though. that thing has outlasted 2 cords already. :smokin:

At the company I used to work for each welder would go thru a grinder a month on average. We found the best bang-for-the-buck were the dewalt paddle switch ones. They didn't last as long as some of the 200-300$ grinders they tried but cost so much less they are worth it.

We never bothered rebuilding any. The shop forman would just save the good halfs (eather motor or gearbox) and throw together some used ones at the end of the year.

my makita won't quit. going on 7 years now.

next one will be a milwaukee. the new makitas dont seem as well built as my older one.

Any one ever had the paddle switch go bad on the Milwaukees? I'm fairly certain thats what went wrong with mine. Ended up buying a DeWalt but I want to get the Milwaukee fixed as a spare.

I have had my 4.5" Dewalt for over two years. No problems.

I'm on my second one... first one was thoroughly abused though for 4 years. It finally gave out cutting flagstone for a rear patio project.

I've been beating the shit out of mine for 6 years.

PDC_RNR even plugged it into my 220V air compressor circuit once, and it smoked and blew sparks. After it cooled off, it was spinning away again and happy on 110V.

I did grab a $16 orange HF grinder for wire wheel duty.

I have two different Milwaukee grinders. The smaller 4 1/2" one I've had the longest and it's been punished pretty good - I should look at the brushes on it though. It fits in tighter areas pretty well and I doubt anything else on the market would fit any better. I use a flap wheel on it the most, cut off wheel on the larger one and a grinding wheel on the Hitachi. I want to get another Milwaukee for a wire wheel.

343068
343069

I had a dewalt 4.5" as my only grinder about 9 years ago, the thing was junk, specifically the spindle lock. I bought a Metabo 6" about the time they switched to the round body style. About 6 years ago. The metabo has been rebuilt every year I have had it. The first few times under warranty, then by me. It eats bearings and toasted on motor. I bought a Bosch 4.5" about 3 years ago, the industrial one, not the lowes version. It has been excellent and trouble free. It blows the Metabo away, and it is smaller and more comfortable. I picked up a dewalt for $50 at HD to use for light duty to minimize tool changes and it has lasted over a year now, has a fair amount of power, but only sees very light use. I got a 4th dewalt free on a rebate deal, and it also gets light duty use, but is surviving fine.

Later,
Jason

I'm lucky enough to work for the Govt, so I dont have to pay for grinders in the shop at work. I've used Dewalt, Bosch, Metabo, and Milwakee in the shops. Anyone who gets over 2 years out of a grinder isn't using it much. Most grinder deaths aren't due to the motor, but the bearings on the spindle getting worn from side loading. I usually have the newest grinder on grinding wheel duty, a worn one on cutoff wheel duty, and the barely hanging on stuck with a wire wheel, rotate as they die. So far Dewalt has served well, and with the cost difference between them and the Metabo, DW gets the nod for bang for the buck. I've probably thrown away a dozen grinders in the last decade, at least one or two from each brand and currently will only buy the Dewalts.

Ya aint livin till ya throw the grinder because its too hot to hold onto and it lands in a flaming heep on the floor.:flipoff2:

Thats more than likely it, they EAT brushes! I go through brushes at least once a year on my DW's. the brushes seem to last 2 plus years on my milwaukee, but in all fareness, the milwaukee brushes are WAY longer than the DW's.

I currently use a older 5" DW (thumb switch), 4 1/2 DW (paddle) and a 4 1/2 Milwaukee (paddle).

I dig the lower profile head, shorter body and the lighter weight on the 4 1/2 DW compared to the milwaukee, but they are all good little grinders.

the only bad trips I have had on grinders where with makita and ryobi.

:beer:

I need brushes for my 5" DW. Where are you getting brushes?

The only grinder I've ever owned is a 4 1/2" DeWalt with the locking thumb-switch-of-death. I've used and abused it heavily for about 6 or 7 years and had no problems whatsoever with it. It is a little noisier that when it was new and it looks like it's been soaked in a vat of used motor oil but it keeps doing the job.

I'm convinced that an angle grinder is the handiest tool in any arsenal. They can do just about anything.

right now homedepot (my local one any way not sure of nationaly) has a 2-pack of dewalt grinders for 99 bucks. they are the 9.0 amp ones model number dw818-2 (didnt show up on dewalts or home depost sites). prolly save 10-20 bucks buying the 2 pack maybe more. just a heads up. you might be able to find a ryobi 2 pack for 40 bucks but its only a 4 amp motor and the same style is 20 bucks individualy.

I'm convinced that an angle grinder is the handiest tool in any arsenal. They can do just about anything.


that they are. I am using the dewalt to cut the lid for the smoker I am making for my brother:



http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w8/gotmuddy/fab%20stuff/12-28-07_1408.jpg

the torch is out of oxy. It is taking a while but its workin good. I am using the thicker wheels and it just powers through. it gets hot after about 5 minutes of cutting and I have to let it cool.

I've had mine about 12 years. Not full-time fab, but I've used the piss out of it. Still going strong. My only complaint is that the spindle stop pin fell out somewhere around year 4 or 5. I have to stick a screwdriver down the hole now to change the wheel is all.

I still use it for heavy grinding and have a couple cheapie H.F. jobs for sanding & wire wheel.

--Dan