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Pro tip: comparing a cheap angle grinder to a mid range one taught me more than I bargained for
Bought a $30 grinder from the flea market and it died after cutting 12 feet of rebar, then grabbed a $90 Makita and it handled 3 full jobs without even blinking, has anyone else learned the hard way that saving $60 upfront means losing way more in downtime?
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the_hayden6d ago
Honestly I read somewhere that the cheap ones use plastic gears instead of metal and now I know why mine sounded like a blender full of rocks. I picked up a used Dewalt for $50 after my Harbor Freight special caught fire mid cut and it still runs like new two years later. Ngl that $60 you save upfront gets eaten up real fast when you gotta buy a new tool every other project.
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hernandez.gavin6d ago
So did the motor actually catch fire or was it just the plastic housing melting? I've heard stories but never seen one go up mid-cut like that lmao.
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sullivan.quinn6d ago
Bet the real hidden cost nobody talks about is the time you lose. Had a cheap miter saw bind up on me and I spent the next 45 minutes trying to get the blade unstuck and figuring out if I broke the arbor. That time adds up project after project. Plus you start second guessing every cut you make with cheap gear, measuring three times because you don't trust the tool to hold its setup. Your Dewalt probably paid for itself in saved frustration alone within the first month.
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