How the heck do you keep grinders looking like brand new? Mine look like they've been through a war 30 minutes after I start using them.
Haha, in this case, the Metabo is pretty new. Maybe 2 weeks old. However, the Hitachi has been grinding since 1995 or 97 maybe? My dad gave it to me a decade ago, and it was used on construction sites hanging iron for many years prior to that. Still works like a champ. I love that little grinder.
Honestly, I try really hard to not abuse my tools. I rely on them to make my living, so I try to take care of them. I don't baby them, they are tools, but I don't toss them in a gang box, let them bounce around in my truck bed, lay them down in the gravel, stuff like that.
They get hung up or put in their case when I'm done with them. I blow them out occasionally and every once in a while when I'm feeling frisky I pop the gear cover off and smear a little Molybdenum disulfide grease in there.
Good power tools are expensive, so I try to get the most life I can out of them. My Metabo Inox series tools are 7-900 a pop, and I can't just go down to lowes and get another one when the gears give up, so it pays to do a little maintenance.
That's all there is to it. 