Curious about any brushless, corded tools.

[david3921]

I was thinking about this other day. Are there any brushless, corded tools? And if so, are they intrinsically safe? That is, can they be used in areas where something flammable might be? Also, are there any benefits to going brushless on a corded tool besides not having to replace the brushes?

 

[mike93lx]

Yes, a couple companies make angle grinders. Dewalt and Metabo come to mind. I believe the main reasons are electronic brakes, kickback control and bind up control. Not sure if it's done for any other tools. Bind up control could be nice on bigger drills

 

[neophyte]

I think one of the first brushless tools I was ever aware of was a random orbit sander made by Porter Cable, possibly back before Black & Decker bought the brand.
The main reason a brushless motor design was used was to reduce size, or at least that was routinely mentioned.
The sander was the Porter Cable 390.
It was sort of an obscure blip that is mostly forgotten.

https://www.jlconline.com/tools/fastening-tools/power-tools/first-test-porter-cables-high-tech-sander_o

Nowadays, the only tools I can think of are the Metabo HPT angle grinders, with skinny motors for better ergonomics.

Otherwise, there are “high frequency” power tools, which are designed for industrial use, and which are mostly angle and die grinders.
There are no brushes.
The cost is very high, and special power adapters are needed.
Bosch, and Fein, and a few other specialty manufacturers make the tools.
Stanley Power Tools also did decades ago back before Bosch bought the division, and that might be were the Bosch high frequency tool line originated.

 

[Outahere]

4-1/2" 12 Amp AC Brushless Variable Speed Angle Grinder | Metabo HPT G12VE2

.

www.metabo-hpt.com

...The brushless motor is ultra efficient and permits the use of extra long extension cords with reduced power loss, extends product life and eliminates maintenance of armatures or carbon brushes. Provided safety features are kickback protection, zero voltage restart and soft start...

 

[david3921]

4-1/2" 12 Amp AC Brushless Variable Speed Angle Grinder | Metabo HPT G12VE2

.

www.metabo-hpt.com

Thanks for the link. It makes sense that you can use a longer extension cord.

 

[Citation]

To be clear, many AC powered tools are "brushless". Any AC induction motor is brushless thus my air compressor is brushless. However, I think the OP means brushless DC motors. In general this wouldn't be as common since it adds a lot of cost. Yes, they are more power efficient than brushed AC motors (universal motors) but when connected to a 1800W power source people often don't care as much.

I would never presume a tool that isn't listed as intrinsically safe is just because it doesn't have an brushed motor. I dealt with those rules related to battery powered devices and even though our devices wouldn't spark as any part of their operation we had special versions for environments where IS was an issues.

 

[Citation]

If you have the air to drive it, pneumatic angle grinders aren't too expensive

https://www.northerntool.com/products/ironton-5in-air-angle-grinder-11-000-rpm-107257

 

[david3921]

I think one of the first brushless tools I was ever aware of was a random orbit sander made by Porter Cable, possibly back before Black & Decker bought the brand.
The main reason a brushless motor design was used was to reduce size, or at least that was routinely mentioned.
The sander was the Porter Cable 390.
It was sort of an obscure blip that is mostly forgotten.

https://www.jlconline.com/tools/fastening-tools/power-tools/first-test-porter-cables-high-tech-sander_o

Nowadays, the only tools I can think of are the Metabo HPT angle grinders, with skinny motors for better ergonomics.

Otherwise, there are “high frequency” power tools, which are designed for industrial use, and which are mostly angle and die grinders.
There are no brushes.
The cost is very high, and special power adapters are needed.
Bosch, and Fein, and a few other specialty manufacturers make the tools.
Stanley Power Tools also did decades ago back before Bosch bought the division, and that might be were the Bosch high frequency tool line originated.

I remember looking at this sander when I was ready to buy. I ended up going with a Dewalt. Maybe it was because the PC cost more at the time.

 

[tarbellb]

I have (several) of those Hitachi HPT brushless grinders.

They are my favorite grinder, I reach for them first, over my German Metabo and Fein

I've stated many times in here how much I like it and why

 

[Outahere]

AC Brushless Motor - HiKOKI

Introducing HiKOKI AC Brushless Motor

www.hikoki-powertools.com

 

[dnschmidt]

I think one of the first brushless tools I was ever aware of was a random orbit sander made by Porter Cable, possibly back before Black & Decker bought the brand.
The main reason a brushless motor design was used was to reduce size, or at least that was routinely mentioned.
The sander was the Porter Cable 390.
It was sort of an obscure blip that is mostly forgotten.

https://www.jlconline.com/tools/fastening-tools/power-tools/first-test-porter-cables-high-tech-sander_o

Nowadays, the only tools I can think of are the Metabo HPT angle grinders, with skinny motors for better ergonomics.

Otherwise, there are “high frequency” power tools, which are designed for industrial use, and which are mostly angle and die grinders.
There are no brushes.
The cost is very high, and special power adapters are needed.
Bosch, and Fein, and a few other specialty manufacturers make the tools.
Stanley Power Tools also did decades ago back before Bosch bought the division, and that might be were the Bosch high frequency tool line originated.

I have one of these sanders. I've never used it as I have about 25 AirVantage and Dynabrade air sanders but I bought it because I figured it would handle Bondo dust better than your typical electric sander. AirVantage, Festool and Mirka now all make brushless corded sanders.

 

[F-22]

Some old high power tools in Europe used brushless motors because they used three phase power.

I think with a single phase it gets more pricey to make a brushless motor with little to no benefits. Probably even more so in the US with the split phase where they can only get half as much power at the same current.

 

[Monte]

The new Fein grinders come with brushless motors too

 

[david3921]

Question for the ones here that have these brushless grinders; are they substantially quieter?

 

[F-22]

Question for the ones here that have these brushless grinders; are they substantially quieter?

Sadly don't have one but I assume it's more to do with the noise of the gears and the fan. Electric motors with brushes are very silent, I think you always hear the cooling fan or the loud gears.

 

[Outahere]

Amazon has the brushless 120V Metabo-HPT G12VE2 grinder on sale for $143.65 (15% off).

Grinder

 

[Voi]

Festool has track saws and sanders that are brushless and corded. Not sure of the models off the top of my head. They may have others as well.