I had one and it burnt up on me yesterday. I was cutting ceramic tile only. Didn't force it at all. I think the ceramic dust clogged it up somehow but I had used it for my scrap metal art work and had owned it for more than 10 years. Bought a new one for $13 at Harbor Freights and will keep buying them. Let it do its job.

İf you are a torturer like this, then not even expensive tool can last longer in your hand. You must know the limits and capabilities of your tool and use it respectively, not push it beyond its limits

Big whoop. Lets compare a BMW and a China motor scooter next. A $10 tool would never compare all that well with a $100+ tool.

@Tool Teardowns I re-watched the video and it does give some good info. But still, the HF is a $10 grinder. Even a $40 grinder should be a lot better built.

Neither of the ones I compared it to were that expensive. The Hercules is $40 or less. The other is around $60.

Looks like you used a different cutting disc for each grinder.. Kind of pointless

Nope. Always use the same kind.

I own Milwaukee Makita Black & Decker Harbor Freight HDC and others. My big Harbor Freight 9" grinder is 18 years old . I paid $29 for it. But I don't abuse my tools. I have. HDC 4" I paid $5.95 for it. Now its a pos but its still working as a belt sander.

What was the sku for this grinder? The cheap ones have two skus with the one ending in 25 being better made.

I assume you're referencing this video of mine? ruvideos.org/1keZFiKQhPc-video.html I'm almost sure it was the 60625.

I have one haven't had a problem done worse things you did still nothing don't bog down either

I have several of these grinders as well as 2 paddle switch models each with a different wheel for different task . I use them a lot on several projects in my back yard shop building things and repairs . The first thing I did after purchasing them from HF was to change the grease in the gear box with a generous amount of high pressure grease , they run quieter and smoother and none of them have failed to operate using them within their limits . Some of them are several years old and still performing well .
You can purposely cause any tool to fail if you abuse it or purposely try to destroy it ! Clamp any normally operating tool in a vice and you will get the same burn out results , What was your point ?
I watch a lot of your tear downs and have learned a lot and respect what you do , but this was not necessary , dangerous , and down right stupid , tools are dangerous enough by design and demand our respect without purposely trying to destroy them or cause yourself harm no matter your preparations for not burning down your shop , garage , or house or where ever you are doing this ! Stick to the tear downs and educational tutorials please , no more sacrifices where you put your own safety at obvious risk of harm to yourself or others !

Tool Teardowns There is nothing funny about destroying a useful tool knowing it will be trashed by any tool subjected to being clamped to a vice , any windings would burn up under this kind of treatment and you know it ! Any tool used within its limits of manufacture will hold up over time . I have several hand tools , grinders , drill press , sanders , welders , power saws , air compressors and air tools , generators and devices and tools from harbor freight some several years old used often ! They are all working fine and the ones that were defective were replaced without question by HR'S return policy within the warranted times . Like I said , I have and continue to watch your informative videos to gain info on tools and their construction , I don't see any benefit or find it funny in purposely destroying a tool knowing it will be destroyed in a no brainier stunt !

We learned something useful by pushing the tool. The field windings are the weak link. Burning it up was just for fun.

Yeah, but for the cost of my metabo I can have like 22 of these things. .

I've used the heavy duty DeWalt units quite often for heavy steel work, but also have one of these HF units. It's a great light duty surface cleaner or thin metal cutter. Don't have to feel bad if I murder it, because it costs less than a hamburger.

I own three of these. Bought them almost 10 years ago and they still work. Reason? Let the grinder do the work. Don't force it. Might take a few seconds more, but the few seconds are well worth it. Actually, works with all power tools.

I just bought one of these. It actually says in the instructions that it should NOT be used for cutting, only for grinding. I guess they realize the limitations and try to protect themselves that way.

I am getting these for around the house and hobby work. Cut through bolts, rust removal, light sanding of cut metal angle bars. The type of stuff ACE hardware sells.

make video on impact wrench

Does the warranty cover it if it overheats while working with it (not stalling it like in this video)?

That is an interesting question. I just looked in the manual at the 90-day warranty and it covers defects in "materials and workmanship." It specifically says the warranty does not cover "misuse, abuse, negligence." My guess is using it to cut something heavy duty would be considered misuse. But if it broke and you tried to return it within the 90 days my guess is they'd probably just replace it.

I cut through 3/4 inch steel the other day with this griner along with their warrior discs. Still works and my cut was about 20 inches long..

Mine gave up cutting fiberglass wtf not even a month old p.o.s worse $10 i ever spent!

Oooh man that grinder never stood a chance, kinda makes me feel bad for the tool, but we did learn something. I have one just like it, and I only use it with a wire cup brush for cleaning rust off of metal. It has held up for a few years now and for my application seems to work fine.

Have you ever looked at the red $20 HF grinders? I've heard they are a better tool. Maybe the sweet spot of price vs. quality for an infrequent user.

I picked one up for giggles. Swapped out the lard for some actual grease and will use it for bait when nephew needs to "borrow" a grinder. The blue Hercules is an even better decoy. Quick! Hide the good tools! Cheap relatives are visiting with sticky fingers!

That's funny AND and good idea! BTW So the Hercules sux too? I just fried my Ryobi and looking for a replacement

Andy Freeman you'll learn son

lol, don't be stingy man. With family that is, everyone else can piss off.

Was the same things done with the DeWalt and Hercules grinders? What happened with those grinders during the locked wheel test? Did they have an internal circuit breaker that opened up to protect the windings, or did they smoke in similar fashion?

Tool Teardowns Just wondered if they may have incorporated fusing for protection as mentioned. Of course, even this one wouldn't have flamed out since the initial smoking would be a general clue that it's time to quit and pull the plug.

+DTR RTD Locking this one up was just for laughs. None of the grinders I’ve ever torn apart would have survived that. The main bit of relevant info is the cutting test. Check out this video to see how the others performed: ruvideos.org/FYcXdjdvcC8-video.html

Grinders should have thermal breakers in them, or really anything AC powered and good grade cordless.

It's about saving the tool, instead of it running till it self destructs, especially Harbor Freight grade "tools".

don't b a sissy

It is only $10 what do you expect? That is a big steel bar and you used that $10 grinder to cut that steel is out of my mind.

Well it probably would not be a problem if he was a little more gentle with it it was like he was trying to destroy it on purpose

Tired of comparing Apples with Potatoes ! ! ! ! ! do something worthy! ! ! ! ! ! what are you expect from 10$ shit?

Did he say he had any expectations?

She chooched her last and let the smoke out.

Not too bad for $10 if you aren’t going to use it often. If you are spend the extra $$

You murderer. You killed it.
In all seriousness I've had a few of these and if you allow for the fact that they are $10 HF grinders they work pretty well. As another commenter said use the with a flap disk to clean up welds you'd be hard pressed to find a better deal especially if your on a budget.

I have 4 of the HF grinders for $5 each with a coupon ad they have lasted me 6 like months. I don't do much heavy cutting or grinding. They've worked for me... For now.

duronboy2 a coupon came in the mail. Limit 4. Also on the coupon was $5 for a cheap drill and an IR thermometer. So I have 4 of each for no reason. Lol.

How do you get them for $5? They're $15 "normally", $10 or sometimes $12 with a coupon. Haven't seen a $5 coupon.

It’s a $10.00 grinder, it is what it is.

I've never had a problem with mine. Then again I've only used it to clean up a few welds and not to shove it through a piece of metal as fast as I can while doing my best to stall it...

you were stalling it though, i have one and it cuts steel that thick just fine even with the guard removed and a 7 inch cutoff wheel on it (which is illadvised) but none the less if you let the tool do the work with only light pressure you will cut alot more metal and burn up alot less disks, you only really need the power for grinding, shouldnt be that hard to cut unless the wheel isnt square in the cut, and even then i have used it for heavy grinding like the kind you would use a 7 inch grinder for, just lighter feed pressure and takes longer, can still do the same amount of work just not as fast

+Mister Hat Eh...I wasn’t doing my best to stall it. I was putting it through the same cutting test I put the other grinders through to see how it performed.

If you have some good gloves these grinders for what you pay do a pretty damn good. I have a couple that help save me time from having to switch wheels.

As you said how much the $10 Harbor Freight grinder is used makes a good buy or not. For me I would use it one or two a year. That is why buy the lower price tools at Harbor Freight. For when I need the tool I have it. however Harbor Freight tools A lot over the years keep on working!!

Perfect comment I liked it. Harbor Freight tools are designed for the people who do not use them everyday. If I am a mechanic, I will not use Harbor Freight tool at all.

Every time I convince myself I'm only going to use a HarborFreight tool for a year or two, I just end up using it until it breaks. I've still got some early HF tools almost 15 years old.

I have had one for 2 years almost. I only use it for rust exhaust removal and some trimming of thin stainless. I actually have used it with a surface prep wheel to remove paint from some body panels. Worth the 10 bucks for easy jobs.

I have 2 of them and use them with sanding flap discs on them

I thought you let the fog out until the fiery end.😅

Would be much safer when cutting with the grinder to have the wheel facing your left instead of your right, much less likely to get kickback that way.

I assumed that was why you did it. I don't try to be a safety sally or anything, but sometimes people just simply don't know that what they are doing is unsafe, angle grinders, especially with cut off discs can be extremely dangerous.

That's a valid point, but it had to be set up this way for video shooting reasons.

Love your videos, thanks

Thanks for the kind words.