Van's Air Force
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Air-powered die grinder recommendations
- Thread starter YME
- Start date
cvairwerks
Well Known Member
Used, older Dotco from fleabay. Easy to rebuild if needed and will last your lifetime easily. I added a straight and a right angle to my box for under 200 bucks. Added the other sized collet for another 15 bucks or so. Now I can run both 1/4 and 1/8” shank tools.
My cheap HF unit provided pretty good service for a fairly long time. However they are hit and miss on the quality and many won't last. Recently got an Ingersoll that was only 60-70 on Ama... Quite happy with the performance and quality. Has a good amount of torque. I do a lot of metal work and use them a lot.
I know that many will be horrified to hear this, but I have two or three from Harbor Freight that cost less than ten bucks each (in addition to a better one from from a Big Box Store) that just keep going and going and going…. They get abused pretty heavily, as I use them a lot for carving and shaping fiberglass and aluminum, and they make some awful noises sometimes, but they keep working,. I tell myself that one of these days, when they fail, I’ll throw them away and research a really good one - but I’ve been saying that for about ten years….
YMMV !!
Paul
YMMV !!
Paul
MacCool
Well Known Member
Like Paul, I've had a couple of Harbor Freight pneumatic die grinders for years...one straight and one angled. I do try to diligently keep them oiled, and they've been just fine. Normally I'm much more of a Milwaukee guy than Harbor Freight, but in retrospect, based on the way these HFs have held up, a more expensive grinder would have been money wasted IMHO.
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David Paule
Well Known Member
As far as I know, and maybe some RV-12iS builders will reply, there's not a lot of need for one on the -12iS. You won't even need to cut the canopy - and they do work nicely for that. For the limited usage, get the Harbor Freight one. Or even skip it.
What is handy, though, is a cut-off disk for a Dremel. Those are considerably thinner than die grinder discs, and do an excellent job of separating parts. The Dremel and die grinder disk, along with the sanding drums, are highly recommended. There's a bit of technique to the sanding drums. Use a relatively high speed and very light pressure, taking care to not hold the part against the same spot on the drum. Move the drum axially back and forth just a bit.
Dave
What is handy, though, is a cut-off disk for a Dremel. Those are considerably thinner than die grinder discs, and do an excellent job of separating parts. The Dremel and die grinder disk, along with the sanding drums, are highly recommended. There's a bit of technique to the sanding drums. Use a relatively high speed and very light pressure, taking care to not hold the part against the same spot on the drum. Move the drum axially back and forth just a bit.
Dave
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cvairwerks
Well Known Member
My luck with the HF ones was very miss.... Bought 4 straights and 4 right angles to use while I was working for another company. Within a week, 3 of the straights and all 4 right angles were dead. Warranty replacements didn't fair much better and by the end of a month of having the replacements, all 8 were dead. By the time you add up the fuel and drive time to get them and the replacements, I could have bought a new Dotco straight unit and a right angle unit at retail and been out less money. Granted, this was in 2002, so HF quality may have changed in the ensuing years.
Flyhud
Well Known Member
HF carries the “professional” Chief branded air tools, they are more expensive than the economy Central pneumatic tools they carry. I have a mini straight and an angle version of the Chief die grinders. They are impressive both in control and power. I’ve been buying a new one each time I visit to replace all of my crappy worn out ones.
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Ditto here. HF straight shaft. Been working great for around 30 years. Keep it oiled. As others have said, HF is hit & miss. On the whole, I've had very good luck with them.
JonJay
Well Known Member
I buy tools with intent to keep them for life. If that fits your profile, and you have the funds, Sioux makes the best air tools I have used. Top quality, price, and ergonomics. They are also Made in America if that’s important to you and they won’t end up in the landfill.
Brown Tool is an excellent dealer.
They will set you back $$$ though. You could probably buy a dozen or more HF for one Sioux.
Do you need them? Not really. Will you love them? Absolutely.
Brown Tool is an excellent dealer.
They will set you back $$$ though. You could probably buy a dozen or more HF for one Sioux.
Do you need them? Not really. Will you love them? Absolutely.
hgerhardt
Well Known Member
I second the Dotco brand. They are excellent. And fleabay is a good source.
They have a specific oil injector tool for the fitting on the angle gear head that you should get too.
cvairwerks
Well Known Member
An aside on Dotcos....The ones I had when I was on the production floor, had been bought by the company in the early 1960's for the F-111 program. We bought thousands of of Dotcos in various sizes, styles and rpm's. As of today, they are still the predominant die grinder and air router used in the plant. My particular ones had all been purchased in the early '60's and were still going strong when I moved out of production in 2003. We still keep quite a stock of overhaul and replacement parts for them in stock. A little care and they last forever.
I agree that you can probably build a 12iS without a die grinder, but since I have one from a previous build, I find it's a nice tool to have. I mostly use it for deburring edges using Scotch-Brite Roloc surface conditioning discs.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LQLHPK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
DanNiendorff
Well Known Member
Check out Pan American. I have several of their air tools and couldn’t be happier with them. Fairly priced and great quality. They are not throw aways that you will need to replace - which has been my experience with HF air tools. They are much closer to Sioux, but at a much better price.
Draker
Well Known Member
I got my angle die grinder for $5 on Craigslist and a bench top grinder for $15. 12 inch Craftsman (from back when they made good stuff) bandsaw for $20. I got almost all my RV building tools this way, and they are all going strong.
I look for estate sales now, for piles of old, reliable tools. The older the better. New tools from big box stores tend to be total junk and will disintegrate if you so much as look at them the wrong way.
hgerhardt
Well Known Member
This thread is (became) a quality-of-life issue. It's much nicer to use a Dotco grinder with its beautifully linear throttle which you can start at 10 RPM if you like, if you just want to kiss an edge, than a cheapie HF which is typically either ON or OFF.
DanNiendorff
Well Known Member
For some the experience of the building journey is itself the goal. And if that is how you see things, then the way a tool fits in your hand and responds to your commands matters more. Certain tools get used a lot, and others less so. I think the OP was interested in opinions for a frequently used tool. For some others the idea of getting a job completed as thriftily as possible is very satisfying. That is why this thread is in the “never ending debate” section.
Got a chuckle from your post - as I used my HF pipe wrench just yesterday, and then put it away for when it might be needed next - when I don’t know.
DanNiendorff, Tommy123, hgerhardt, Draker, rv9builder, cvairwerks, wirejock,
I want to thank everyone for replying. After reading all your replies and some suggestions about probably not needing one for an Rv-12 build, I will probably wait and if I need one buy it from HF.
Thanks, Tom
I want to thank everyone for replying. After reading all your replies and some suggestions about probably not needing one for an Rv-12 build, I will probably wait and if I need one buy it from HF.
Thanks, Tom
