I like the smaller industrial range bosch 4.5" ones. The gearbox is nice and small for getting into tight spots and getting the best life out of cutting discs. Have no experiance with the fein brand, always seams a it over priced but can't knock the quality from what i have seen! The bosch ones can be had for sub £50 over here and will last a good decade of hard use and several sets of brushes before the gearboxes are finally wore out.

Whilst 5" grinders all seam to be a big jump size wise, are heavier, and harder to get into tight spots.

IMHO its a wash for either size when it comes to disc availability. Equally you also really need a 9" grinder too if your doing anything large, so much faster and some real muscle. I personally don't see the need for anything in-between though. At least over here in the uk 6 & 7" options are rare and discs a lot harder to find. I have probably used about 40 differnt types, and have at least 8 on the tool cart as we speak.

It all depends what you want to use them for really. If it is grinding disc or slitting disc work, I would say 4.5 or 5 is fine.

For flap disc sanding, I would say get a 4.5, as you can easy hold it in one hand, whilst using your free hand to 'feel' to get a sweet finish.

If you do a lot of work, get 2 or 3, as swapping discs can be a pain, and also, even if you are only using one sort of disc, giving each grinder a bit of time to cool, by using the other will lengthen their life considerably.

I would say, in order of preference of ones I have used - Metabo, Bosch blue, old dewalt ( new dewalts not very good), green bosch

For some jobs, a variable speed has been very useful, especially on delicate tasks, if you do not need to tear the ass off something flimsy , it is nice to be able to rein in the speed a bit.


I bought two of these for a job once , cos they were only £12 each - I thought, well if they last a month, OK, but unbelievably for a DIY grade tool, they have done very very well, and were a bargain. Dunno if you can get them in the US though.

http://www.lidl-service.com/static//pic/main.jpeg

There are lots of cheapo ones about, and some are very bad and represent poor value, but thats life I suppose.

Just be thankful you do not need to wield the 9 inch grinders regularly, as they are the spawn of Satan, as the scars on my legs can attest ! IMHO watts is more than you need in a 4-5" sized grinder for grinding or cutting. If you are leaning on it that hard either get some better consumables or get a bigger grinder. To me you need both a small and a big one. As to wire brushes, there real torque hogs and a larger 5" grinder is a must. When you need to go for it, man up and use a 9" :-) Just remember though at 2.4Kw some of them are akin to hanging onto over 3hp and you need to be hanging on!

I too second the comment about multiple grinders. Typicaly at work we prefer to have 3 to hand at each bench, a thin cutting disc, a grinding disc and a flap wheel. Then a 9" with a grinding disc for when stuff gets serious and a 5" high wattage one with a cup brush thats kicking around the shop some were. Not changing wheels all the time saves a lot of agro. I also like a straight die grinder with both burrs and 2" rolloc discs in all flavours too, just gets the spots nothing else will!

Another thing worth stressing is try some of the Ceramic (aka seeded gel) flap discs, there awesome, can highly recommend the 3M ones :-) Really flushes weld off fast! Equally try a few different brands on grinding and cutting wheels, Some are way better than others, both in speed and endurance. Price does not always reflect that either!

I just picked up one of the fein 4.5" angle grinders from the CPO link, it is a new tool, not refurbished. Seems pretty nice so far, I got it to have a second grinder so that my metabo can stay set up with a flap disc. Both are excellent tools, a far step up from the dealt I used for 5 years before.

These were just on a crazy sale, I got mine for $43. Not sure I'd pay anything near full price for one.

Which model 4.5" Fein did you get?
Could you please measure the length and girth of the unit please? I've been trying to figure out of the 5" and the 4.5" Fein grinder are the same size but can't find the dimensions .

What is the difference between a 4 1/2” Angle Grinder & 5” Angle Grinder?

Our Metal Fabrication Supplies 5” Angle Grinder & Cutting Disc Combination promises to save you time, increase production and make your operator safer.

What are 4 1/2” Angle Grinders used for?

The most common small angle grinder purchased in the UK is the 4 1/2” Angle Grinder. 4 1/2” Angle Grinders are suitable for light duty tasks, or when access could be a problem. Due to the smaller size a 4 1/2” Angle Grinder will never be as productive as a 5” Angle Grinder. 4 1/2” Angle Grinders are also more compact which makes them easier to grip and manoeuvre for some applications. 4 1/2” grinders are purchased more often because they appear to have a lower initial cost when compared to a 5” Angle Grinder. However, when it comes to cost against performance, the 4 1/2” Angle Grinder may not prove to be the best value product when compared against the 5” Angle Grinder.

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Below is a specification comparison between a Metabo 4 1/2” Angle Grinder and Metabo 5” Angle Grinder. The only benefit that the 4 1/2” Angle Grinder seems to offer is its light weight.

Measurement Metric 4 1/2” Angle Grinder 5” Angle Grinder Grinding Wheel ø 115mm 125mm ✓ 8.6% greater depth of cut Rated Input Power 900W W ✓ 39% more input Output Power 550W 780W ✓ 41% more output No-load Speed 10,500rpm 11,000rpm ✓ 4.7% faster Revolutions at Rated Load rpm rpm ✓ 6.6% faster Torque 2.5Nm 3.4Nm ✓ 36% greater Weight 2.1kg 2.4kg ✓ 12.7% heavier

In a comparison test, we used a Metabo 4 1/2”” Angle Grinder against a Metabo 5” Angle Grinder with the same bond Speedgrit 1.6mm cutting discs. We carried out two cutting comparisons on 8mm x 150mm carbon steel plate. We recorded the number of cuts and average time taken per cut to establish what would be the difference in performance.

Measurement Metric 4 1/2” Angle Grinder 5” Angle Grinder In house cutting test results cutting 150mm x 8mm mild steel flat and 1.6mm discs 3 cuts 6 cuts ✓ 100% greater consumable life Average time per cut 67secs 55 secs ✓ 21.8% faster cutting speed

✓ Time saved = 17.91%

✓ Increased production = 21.81%

The number of cuts achieved with the 5” Angle Grinder were 100% greater than the 4 1/2” Angle Grinder. The 41% output power and 36% torque provided by the 5” Angle grinder, meant that the disc speed remained at its optimum, allowing the disc to work more efficiently. The number of cuts were doubled from only an 8.6% increase disc diameter.

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The extra output power and torque provided by the 5” Angle Grinder ensures the optimum periphery speed of the disc is maintained, this helped to reduce the average time taken per cut by 17.91%.

How much money would I save using a 5” Angle Grinder?

The average UK labour rate for a Fabricator is £10.25 per hour. This means the 5” Angle Grinders could save a possible £1.83 per every hour used. Maintaining the optimum cutting speed also helped to achieve a 21.81% increase in product (based on an average charge out rate of £25 per hour), the 5” Angle Grinders would deliver an extra £5.45 profit per every hour used.

In most industrial applications the larger and more powerful 5” Angle Grinders will quickly give a return on the extra investment made when purchasing. They could save you money, help you make money and in the case of our Metabo grinders and Speedgrit discs, they are designed to be much safer.

Will all 5” Angle Grinders and disc combinations give the same performance and safety?

To deliver a high performance, Metabo angle grinders are fitted with several features.

• New patent-pending Marathan Motors which deliver up to 50% more torque, 20% more output power and 20% more overload protection compared to most other brands.
• The S-Automatic Torque Limiting Clutch ensures no kickback arises should a disc jam or snag unexpectedly. This allows for immediate continuation of work afterwards.
• Auto-Balance ensures up to 50% less hand-arm vibration in surface grinding and stock removal applications. This allows for longer trigger times without the need for further action, it also contributes to doubling the working life when used with grinding discs.
• Side handle Vibratech handle vibration damping for convenient continuous operation.
• M-Quick System for tool-free disc change at the touch of a button by means of M-Quick flange nut.
• Restart protection prevents unintentional start-up after power supply interruption.
• Electronic soft-start for smooth start-up.

Our Maxitek Speedgrit range of cutting discs are manufactured and tested based on the European safety standards and the oSa trademark clearly signals to the user the high-quality manufacture and high stands of the safety testing.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website clean and strip disc.

The video below shows the difference between our Metabo and Speedgrit Combination compared to our competitor’s combinations. Look and see the results for yourself…

Satisfaction guaranteed… Or your money back!

If this combination fails to outperform your current combination in terms of performance or safety, we will credit you in full and you can keep the Angle Grinder and Speedgrit Cutting Discs.

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