Die grinders and cutoff tools

[Mike F]

I was looking around at these tools, did a search on the board, and was surprised to see essentially no information about them. The birthday is approaching and I am putting together a list to give to the wife and kids. The Nitrocat 1/2" 100ac is top on the list. A little backround info- I am going to be using all the tools in my home garage, working on the car, woodworking, etc. The die grinder will no be used to port heads and things like that. More along the line of replacing the Dremel.
I was considering Astro Pneumatic since they seem reasonably priced, and I don't know if there is any major difference between brands, especially for my purposes. I do believe in buying tools that will last, but keep in mind I am a weekend warrior. Still, there are some questions that I have. Composite body or steel?, rear or front exhaust?, is a safety lever a pain in the **** to use?, are Japan bearings okay? If I plan on doing any surface prep is it better to go with a straight body or angled? I was planning on a straight body, similar to the Dremel. I was looking at this page at different models http://www.mytoolstore.com/astro/astdig01.html#200-283

Any suggestions oncutoff tools?

 

[ZRX61]

Those cut-off $10 specials at Horrible Fright are hard to beat, just buy 4 or 5 & when they wear out just toss em...

I also have IR 90deg die grinders for work other than just cutting metal
...& 4.5 & 7in DeWalt electric grinders for serious spark production

Stay away from the Matco 90deg Die Grinder.. absolute junk, they last about 2 weeks (probably made by IR tho....)

 

[bmwpower]

The only problem with the lower end tools is that they use a lot of air, more so than the better models.

I wish I could find the link (the search function is indeed not working correctly) of the kit I purchased from Lowes. It was a 90 angle grinder and a die grinder in a kit and the kit included a bunch of different abrasive pads. I believe it was under $100. The tools were composite IR models, pretty nice.

 

[SteveU]

Aircat makes both a 90* die grinder & cutoff which I'll probably get to replace mine at some point in the future. I have a St Louis pneumatic cutoff which seems to work well & a toolkit die grinder which works ok, just hooked on aircat QUIET tools.

 

[kartracer55]

I have been happy with the viking's, but they are a bit more expensive. About 125 on sale for two grinders and a 1/2 reversible air drill.

Dont worry about the bearings, its a 22$ die grinder. I have used an AP 3/8 impact which was garbage... no power and the thing was litterally falling apart after a few months of light use. I have used astro die grinders, and they are really no different than Norther or HF branded ones. If your not going to go high end, just buy them very cheap.

On Another note, Sunex Pliers are far superior to Astro, So if that is any indication of quality, I would look into some sunex products.

Jim

 

[Mike F]

I was actually thinking of Sunex impact sockets, but after the recent thread on sockets, and seeing their warranty, I will probably go with Grey Pneumatic or NAPA if I can find a store nearby.

 

[Hurricane]

i just bought the kit that bmwpower is referring to, i think it was 120ish. its nice for sanding and light duty grinding, but i was less than impressed about cutting with it. neither one of them have enough power to really do any cutting. i also have a blue point and another cheap unknown one that work way better. if i had it to do over again, i would not have bought that kit
________
Yamaha DT50