RPeckham@COOKSONELECTRONICS.COM on mon 29 jul 02
Three years ago I bought a cheap angle grinder from Job-Lot, About $15.
Worked great for grinding drips, then the head bearing wore out. It was
just a journal bearing, but it was large, and the same shape as a double
row bearing, so I replaced it with a ball bearing. The grinder was back
in service. That was about the time Vince said not to waste your money on
a cheap grinder. I figured $15 for a grinder, and another $8 for a decent
bearing seemed like decent sense to me. I was almost going to send a
reply, but didn't.
Well, there are points of failure in machines, and as long as that point
of failure isn't dangerous, there is no problem. Well this grinder's
first point of failure was the bearing, and at that point it should have
been thrown away. No problem!
A few weeks ago I was working under my pickup truck replacing the sending
unit on the gas tank. I had to take the tank out, and couldn't remove one
bolt, so out comes my rebuilt trusty angle grinder. I am grinding away at
that bolt, and am almost through when it starts to lose power, and speed.
Then it burst into flames. I thought that that was a fairly poor mode of
failure for a hand tool, and threw it out from under the truck, still
burning away. It only stopped burning when I unplugged it.
So the moral I guess, is that Vince was right, cheap tools suck, and
sometimes shouldn't be fixed.
Craig Clark on mon 29 jul 02
I also purchased one of the cheopo grinders thinking that if I only used
it in light duty applicaitons it would work well enough. Learned the hard
way that if $30 is spent on a grinder that is precisely what the grinder is
worth......30 bucks, not much in this day.
The grinder, which is available through a well known tool supply company
that has been mentioned frequently on clay art, burst into flames while I
was using it. There are certain tools that may not be particularly dangerous
if they fail, an angle grinder is not one of them.
Craig Dunn Clark
619 East 11 1/2 st
Houston, Texas 77008
(713)861-2083
mudman@hal-pc.org
----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Monday, July 29, 2002 7:31 AM
Subject: Vince was right re: angle grinders
> Three years ago I bought a cheap angle grinder from Job-Lot, About $15.
> Worked great for grinding drips, then the head bearing wore out. It was
> just a journal bearing, but it was large, and the same shape as a double
> row bearing, so I replaced it with a ball bearing. The grinder was back
> in service. That was about the time Vince said not to waste your money on
> a cheap grinder. I figured $15 for a grinder, and another $8 for a decent
> bearing seemed like decent sense to me. I was almost going to send a
> reply, but didn't.
>
> Well, there are points of failure in machines, and as long as that point
> of failure isn't dangerous, there is no problem. Well this grinder's
> first point of failure was the bearing, and at that point it should have
> been thrown away. No problem!
>
> A few weeks ago I was working under my pickup truck replacing the sending
> unit on the gas tank. I had to take the tank out, and couldn't remove one
> bolt, so out comes my rebuilt trusty angle grinder. I am grinding away at
> that bolt, and am almost through when it starts to lose power, and speed.
> Then it burst into flames. I thought that that was a fairly poor mode of
> failure for a hand tool, and threw it out from under the truck, still
> burning away. It only stopped burning when I unplugged it.
>
> So the moral I guess, is that Vince was right, cheap tools suck, and
> sometimes shouldn't be fixed.
>
>
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Dale Cochoy on tue 30 jul 02
Some snips below:
As a retail seller of power wood carving devices I've told people over
and over not to buy Chinese power tools or chinese steel carving tools.
It NEVER sinks in, hence, their great US market. If I had a dollar for
everytime I tried to tell folks this....well heck... I could buy a lot of
$15 grinders. Two REALLY junky items I see more and more at "junk" freight
stores and flea markets are these $15-20 angle grinders and $10-20 die
grinders. Since I sell quite a few Makita and DeWalt die grinders I decided
to check out some of these Makita-look-alike ( same color/shape) chinese die
grinders one day that were on sale for about $12. I tried 4 different 1/4"
items and none would fit in the collect. Heck, I never even got a chance to
listen to the bearings by plugging in before I decided "no-way". I recently
warned some people buying some $20 Chinese die grinders ( Makita
look-alikes again) at a convention. I told them to check to see if bits fit
in it. The next day to my un-suprise I was told that they didn't and thanks
for the heads-up. I asked if they got their money back and the person said
that the seller would "fix it". I told them NOT to let the guy file out the
collet, after that I dropped it. You can only help people so much!.
As everyone always says ( but few listen) "you get what you pay for". When
buying power tools , which are VERY competitive and low profit, if one costs
1/6 what it's look-alike does...well, there's usually a good reason. If it
says "Made in China", keep walking!
As Dennis Miller says, "That's just my opinion....I could be wrong!"
Dale Cochoy, Wild Things Bonsai Studio, Hartville, Ohio
DaleCochoy@Prodigy.Net http://www.WildThingsBonsai.Com
Specializing in power wood carving tools.
Yakimono no Kokoro bonsai pottery of hand-built stoneware
----- Original Message -----
From: "Craig Clark"
Subject: Re: Vince was right re: angle grinders
> I also purchased one of the cheopo grinders thinking that if I only
used
> it in light duty applicaitons it would work well enough. Learned the hard
> way that if $30 is spent on a grinder that is precisely what the grinder
is
> worth......30 bucks, not much in this day.
> The grinder, which is available through a well known tool supply
company
> that has been mentioned frequently on clay art, burst into flames while I
> was using it. There are certain tools that may not be particularly
dangerous
> > Three years ago I bought a cheap angle grinder from Job-Lot, About $15.
> > Worked great for grinding drips, then the head bearing wore out. It was
> > just a journal bearing, but it was large, and the same shape as a double
> > row bearing, so I replaced it with a ball bearing. The grinder was back
> > in service. That was about the time Vince said not to waste your money
on
> > a cheap grinder. I figured $15 for a grinder, and another $8 for a
decent
> > bearing seemed like decent sense to me. I was almost going to send a
> > reply, but didn't.
> >
> > A few weeks ago I was working under my pickup truck replacing the
sending
> > unit on the gas tank. I had to take the tank out, and couldn't remove
one
> > bolt, so out comes my rebuilt trusty angle grinder. I am grinding away
at
> > that bolt, and am almost through when it starts to lose power, and
speed.
> > Then it burst into flames. I thought that that was a fairly poor mode
of
> > failure for a hand tool, and threw it out from under the truck, still
> > burning away. It only stopped burning when I unplugged it.
> >
> > So the moral I guess, is that Vince was right, cheap tools suck, and
> > sometimes shouldn't be fixed.
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