Pawn shop treasure

[BFBOB]

I needed an angle grinder to finish repairs on my garden tractor. My 20+ year old Black&Decker decided to strip its gears just as I started the grinding (the nerve!). Grass waits for no man, so after checking GJ to see if anyone had one for sale in St. Louis (nope), I headed for Harbor Fright to get one of their $55 cheapies. Back2class has a nice Snap-On 7" at a good price, but he's in Georgia and grass waits ... you know.
The plan was to get the HF cheapie to finish fixing the tractor, buy B2C's Snappy, and when it arrived, sell the HF. Yeah, I'd lose some money, but I liked that Snap-On, and grass ...

So off to HF bright and early Saturday. On the way, I passed a pawn shop. What the heck, I'm here. They had the Milwaukee grinder you see tagged $60. I checked it out, found the gears nice and tight, no excessive sparking from the brushes, and a good strong startup. The 3-prong cord even has all three prongs! It's missing the set-down cushion on the back, and some kind of solvent has dripped on the tail end, but that's of no concern to me.

Maybe not a steal, but certainly a deal!

And here it is Sunday, and the grass is cut.

 

[jusridin]

That was a fun read, I think it was a good deal for a need it now tool. And the grass....

 

[Skysurfer]

I've been through a few of the local pawn shops and the prices for used/abused tools are usually more than what I would pay at HD or Lowes. They don't seem to be interested in actually selling anything.

 

[rlitman]

I've been through a few of the local pawn shops and the prices for used/abused tools are usually more than what I would pay at HD or Lowes. They don't seem to be interested in actually selling anything.

Perhaps, or maybe the good stuff has been picked clean already.
Unless you're really lucky, you've got to check back every once in a while. The good stuff doesn't sit around.

 

[Lump]

I'm a big fan of Milwaukee power tools. Nice grinder!

 

[Packard V8]

My 20+ year old Black&Decker decided to strip its gears just as I started the grinding (the nerve!).

Is your B&D a Wildcat? What size/model number? I've been using a 9" Wildcat for more than thirty years and it will wear me out rather than vice versa.

jack vines

 

[Busted_Knuckles]

Well done,

I always try and find quality used before buying new garbage. Most of the time, if you have time, which you didnt, you can pull it off, you got lucky, you can go back to that pawn shop for 5 years in row and not find another quality 9" grinder, or at least that his how my luck runs.

 

[BFBOB]

Is your B&D a Wildcat? What size/model number? I've been using a 9" Wildcat for more than thirty years and it will wear me out rather than vice versa.

jack vines

No, it's not a Wildcat. It's a 7", called a sander, not grinder, though it has the standard 5/8-11 spindle. 7A, 4500 rpm, model 9539. Kinda light duty compared to the Milwaukee 13A, 6000 rpm, but also lighter weight - only 7 1/2 lbs. I can't complain. I don't recall what it cost, but it wasn't much. I sure got my money's worth.
If that's any indication, the Milwaukee should last me the rest of my life!