white90 Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Hitachi or Makita? I have a Black and decker which is on its last legs now. the above can be had for £35 ish each el cheapos are low on my list unless anyone knows of any that are good opinions anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Bosch PWS600 from B&Q - £30 and a long guarantee, pay cash, keep the receipt. They last reasonably well with severe abuse at the lab and B&Q's returns desk drones seem to replace them without question. I walked into my local B&Q with TWO dead ones under my arm and walked out 10 mins later with two brand new ones, result! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
white90 Posted February 21, 2007 Author Share Posted February 21, 2007 Cheers John I was using the Bosch version at James place the on off was a PITA I found similar to the Makita the Hitachi one is better placed similar to the Black/Decker one I have but the returns policy of B&Q sounds ideal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 The side-mounted on/off is something I've grown to like, got 3 Bosch and 2 Wickes ones on the go in the lab at the mo and the Bosch ones are definitely nicer to use - the Wickes ones are 860W Vs the Bosch's 600W but the Wickes are a bit loud and vibrate quite a bit more. Wire brushes seem to kill them as they put a prolonged heavy load on the motor as opposed to the low duty cycle of grinding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 I would say Makita is better than Hitachi. Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troddenmasses Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Bosch PWS600 from B&Q - £30 and a long guarantee, pay cash, keep the receipt. They last reasonably well with severe abuse at the lab and B&Q's returns desk drones seem to replace them without question. I walked into my local B&Q with TWO dead ones under my arm and walked out 10 mins later with two brand new ones, result! I help to run the local B&Q at the weekend, and whilst we know exactly what is going on we simply have to follow the very lax rules. Since last week, you don't even have to have to any packaging. If you decide that you don't want something, just bring it back in a saleable condition. If you have a receipt, you will get it back in the way that you paid for it (bear in mind that if you paid part credit note, part cash you will get the credit note back first). Without a receipt you will get a credit note to the current selling value - this could be more or less than you paid. Everything is covered by a 1 year guarantee, during which if it breaks you will get as above - the only difference is that it doesn't have to be saleable. For the extended warranty part (usually 3 years) - during years 2 and 3, they will ask you to contact the manufacturer, who will try to repair the item. However, if you 'lose' your receipt, and bring it back - they will ask you when you bought it. If the answer is less than 12 months, they will automatically give you a credit note. There is no part of the computer system that says when items stopped being sold - it could have been last week, it could have been 5 years ago. Quite a large number of people have cottoned on to this, and now use B&Q as a free hire shop. We sell electric concrete breakers (reasonable ones for a couple of hundred quid), and I know that somebody bought one to do a job - then returned it for a full refund a few weeks later when he had finished the job. Just think how much it would have cost to borrow at HSS. He just brought it back saying that it stopped working after about 20 minutes hard use - there is no way that the staff are going to test it out for that long. In actual fact, the staff (and particularly management) are much more worried about stopping theft through there. People nick loads of stuff (particularly showers, for some reason), then bring it back without a receipt. They are given a credit note, which is then put onto ebay - for example: credit notes on the 'Bay' If you look at this guy's history, you can see that he has sold thousands of pounds worth of credit notes on there. Oi - What's with the 'drones' comment, anyway - you got what you wanted - why complain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 I bought TWO grinders from wickes on special offer at £25 the PAIR and they have been given "Some abuse" and are frankly unreal value for money Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Les Henson Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Tesco now have their own range of high quality budget electric tools. £14.97 gets you an angle grinder. Considering their grovelling attitude towards customer service, you could buy one, and replace it ad-nauseum for the rest of your life. They even do a BOGOFF on jigsaws/orbital sanders (for those of you that don't have a spin drier ) Les. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Aldi also have grinders on offer this week at £9, they have a no questions asked replacement policy too Link Lewis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Oi - What's with the 'drones' comment, anyway - you got what you wanted - why complain? Well if you've been to my local B&Q you'd understand I think they employ a couple of people who know their elbow from their arse and put them on the trade counter, the rest they seem to recruit from the McDonalds rejects One of the Wickes ones died recently (fan broke up) and they did replace it (grudgingly) even though I had the receipt and the box clearly states "2 Year Warranty". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biasbilt Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 B&Q's high quality own brand - Performance Power Plus - good value and powerful (higher wattage than the equivalent Bosch Makita etc), plus these guys come with a 3 year guarantee. I've had no trouble getting replacements, one drill and one angle grinder so far, and even got money back last time as the current model was cheaper than the original one. My grinder's got a sticky switch and if it gets worse, I'll take it back and get a new one. That said, I don't believe in taking the tiddle, and using B&Q as a free hire shop or stealing and returning to get credit notes is just wrong. Bad karma to the vermin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 I had a B&Q own brand sander, it lasted less than two minutes that's just inconvenient, at least the Bosch ones last a fair while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickm Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 Bosch PWS600 from B&Q - £30 and a long guarantee, pay cash, keep the receipt. They last reasonably well with severe abuse at the lab and B&Q's returns desk drones seem to replace them without question. I walked into my local B&Q with TWO dead ones under my arm and walked out 10 mins later with two brand new ones, result! i got this 1 more or less built my car from the chassis up and still going well still got the box so will take it back when it gives up n get a nuvva 1 for free Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddy Posted February 21, 2007 Share Posted February 21, 2007 I use a hitachi seems very good got some kick. seems fairly industrial so should last better than the last 3 ryobi's the last one did about 5 mins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Hiatt Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Aldi also have grinders on offer this week at £9, they have a no questions asked replacement policy tooLink Lewis I've had some of these in the past and find that the bearings allow significant vibration after a little use. The grinding discs don't grind very well either, but haven't tried the thin cutting ones. However the paint, at £4 a litre, is great. Safari testing shows it sticks and lasts far better than Hammerite, good for chassis painting and welded items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freeagent Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 if I was buying one myself, I'd look at Hitachi, Bosch (blue not green) DeWalt or Makita... But... many of the DIY stores are doing good powertools now with 2 or 3 year warranties... and as they seam to just replace them over the counter it seams hardly worth spending £60ish on a premium brand... something like a grinder, that will only get thrashed, dropped, abused, left out in the rain... buy whatever B&Q are doing with a big motor.... and keep the receipt.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustyrangie Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 I've had a B&D "professional" one for years, still going strong after 2 minis, a BMW 2002, and various jobs for friends/neighbours/family. Recently I bought 2 cheapies from Screwfix for about £12 each as I was fed up with constantly changing between grinding wheel, cutting wheel and wire brush. Best thing I ever did. Now I have the right tool with the right disc to hand immediately, saves loads of time and the aggravation of looking for the !@%**^$ spanner every 2 minutes or so! Other new toys....full face vizor, again from Screwfix much better than goggles, doesn't steam up and I can wear a dust mask too. Very thin "universal" cutting discs, 5 for around a fiver from Wickes, a joy to use..much more precise than the normal 3mm ones plus quieter and much less dust. Only downside is they wear out quite quickly. Bob 3.9V8 RRC (still in bits...but not quite as rusty now) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OilIT Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 I've had some of these in the past and find that the bearings allow significant vibration after a little use. The grinding discs don't grind very well either, but haven't tried the thin cutting ones. the cutting ones ....hmmm it took one disc per chassis rail when i cut the disco chassis into half / trailer sized pieces - certainly not as long lasting as the ones you get from B&D or Bosch Ive got a 'B&D professional' grinder - and it has served me on 2 LR rebuilds, numerous welding and rewelding/grinding projects, and a stag rebuild (loads of floor to weld and cut out) Generally its lasted very well i would say (must be nearly 10 years !) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashtrans Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Best thing I ever did. Now I have the right tool with the right disc to hand immediately, saves loads of time and the aggravation of looking for the !@%**^$ spanner every 2 minutes or so! tip of the day, as soon as you open the box of a new grinder (we get through loads of them) take a tie wrap and fasten the chuck spanner 2 foot down the cable, never loose it again, Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbocharger Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 Excellent tip. I put them at the plug end though - if I've got up & walked over there, it encourages me to unplug it first. We don't need a roll call of everyone who's started the grinder while gripping it to undo the centre nut... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark green 90 Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 B&Q are ok Dungarees worry me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshlaner2 Posted February 22, 2007 Share Posted February 22, 2007 have a couple of cheapo grinders as mentioned before saves changing the dics all the time have an old bosch one must be 20 years now badly misused yet still going strong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustyrangie Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 tip of the day, as soon as you open the box of a new grinder (we get through loads of them) take a tie wrap and fasten the chuck spanner 2 foot down the cable, never loose it again, Dave Great tip! It's so bleedin obvious I need my @rse kicking for not thinking of it myself! I do it with drill chuck keys too, so I've no excuse....must be a "senior moment" Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 There's thin cutting wheels and thin cutting wheels - the extol ones seem to dissolve into dust rather than cut stuff, but the Bibielle(sp?) ones are excellent, and the current batch (I forgot the name) are also good, if you buy lots they are significantly less than £1/disc too, from this place: Fisher Tools Last time I bought 100 (tells you how many we get through at the lab!) and they were around 65p/disc inc. vat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corrode Finger Posted February 23, 2007 Share Posted February 23, 2007 Last time I bought 100 (tells you how many we get through at the lab!) . Also tells us how many mistakes you must be making on that 109!!!! Hat, coat, trainers...................... gone!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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