Makita Grinders reducing quality..?

[Mr Roo]

On the back of the “is 9” too big?” thread, I thought I’d have a wee moan in here about the last half-dozen or so makita grinders I’ve had.

my last job, we pretty much only bought makitas. 4 inch for the blacksmiths, 4.5 inch for the platers, and occasional 5” for myself and another fella who got the muckier and heavier jobs.

there was also an array of ~6-7yo Bosch/Hitachi/etc grinders kicking about.

In the 12 months I worked there, I went through approximately 10 grinders. Occasionally it was something daft like dropping a 500x500x20 plate and blootering the whole unit. Sometimes it was a simple snapped cable which then got cut short and re-plugged.

but makitas? jeezo. Three makitas I got lasted less than a day. One makita never made it through it’s first disc before the “blue reek” came and that was it.

even last weekend, I’m putting together a new gate for my parents whilst i’m home for christmas. Take out a new makita (i might have liberated it before leaving previous job.. ) and I start cutting some 12mm and 14mm square.

less than an hour before it gave up!


Has anyone else noticed this serious downturn in quality for makita’s grinders? I remember the days of old when a makita was all i would use, but now? Wouldn’t look at ‘em if they were free!

 

[brightspark]

I have about 4 of them the 5 inch ones have had a fair bit of hammer cant complain .if your smoking them don't push on as hard . fast surface speed cuts better less stress on the motors ive only ever burnt one out in 45 years by doing it

 

[mike os]

Cant say I have.. you sure they are genuine?

 

[Kayos]

I have just bought an 18v, 4.5" variable speed brushless one. Quality is superb and better than the previous fixed speed one. Much less vibration when chopping hard materials

 

[brewdexta]

I've had two 9" Makita soft start grinders fail after only a few weeks of use. Seems to be the trigger mechanism containing the slow start gubbins.

 

[Mr Roo]

Cant say I have.. you sure they are genuine?

definitely genuine; i’m buying from the local place that supplies all the nearby fab shops!

 

[Mr Roo]

I have about 4 of them the 5 inch ones have had a fair bit of hammer cant complain .if your smoking them don't push on as hard . fast surface speed cuts better less stress on the motors ive only ever burnt one out in 45 years by doing it

1mm cutting disc, slicing through 12 and 14mm square bar in seconds. Can’t say I was being harsh on them! Meanwhile my ancient bosch saved the day; hours of cutting, grinding and sanding without skipping a beat (except for the plug which i really need to screw the wires back into properly..!)

 

[Welderpaul]

Don't be tempted to go blue Bosch...

We've used Bosch 4.5" grinders for 12 years and they have always lasted 12-18 months minimum with heavy every day use - the death of them was usually gears or motors or smoke-release which rendered them scrappers.

We recently killed off around 10 blue Bosch grinders within a two month period. Bosch denied a faulty batch, and the company we bought them through dragged their heels changing them and only credited after I refused to pay the account.

I bought a set of next model up blue Bosch grinders - the ones with the speed controllers - not the best but seem to be hanging on a bit longer than the previous lot.

I think its just part of the 'race to the bottom', making stuff so cheaply that it just isn't fit for purpose. We had a similar problem with Hilti ones two years ago, Hilti were exchanging them at a rate of 2 a week. They eventually admitted they had switched to a cheaper manufacturer and were 'having problems'. We called it a day after we got to 18 exchanges!

I've still got an old blue Bosch grinder at home that i bought second hand at a c/b sale 15 years ago that is still going strong.


It does feel like you're getting your leg lifted by the manufacturers with regards to quality whenever you come to buy machines/kit.
Not ideal but I prefer buying second hand quality kit rather than modern junk. At least the only problem you have to deal with is historic wear/miss use rather than a constant battle with a total pile of junk held together with blue tac.

 

[waldershelf]

I think the problem is some of the "big" name manufacturers are outsourcing manufacture to the far east to cut costs and we are buying the same component quality as cheap no name gear at massively inflated prices. The stupid thing is if the big names got the spec's right we would still be getting the same good quality gear no matter where its made. You can see the conversation:-

"Make me a grinder to this spec"
"OK 40 dollar"
"Oo I was hoping for a cheaper price"
"OK 20 dollar"
"That's more like it how can we do it for that price"
"We change spec, just a little bit"

Result! except for us punters spending our hard earned on what we think are quality tools.

 

[Mr Roo]

Don't be tempted to go blue Bosch...

We've used Bosch 4.5" grinders for 12 years and they have always lasted 12-18 months minimum with heavy every day use - the death of them was usually gears or motors or smoke-release which rendered them scrappers.

We recently killed off around 10 blue Bosch grinders within a two month period. Bosch denied a faulty batch, and the company we bought them through dragged their heels changing them and only credited after I refused to pay the account.

I bought a set of next model up blue Bosch grinders - the ones with the speed controllers - not the best but seem to be hanging on a bit longer than the previous lot.

I think its just part of the 'race to the bottom', making stuff so cheaply that it just isn't fit for purpose. We had a similar problem with Hilti ones two years ago, Hilti were exchanging them at a rate of 2 a week. They eventually admitted they had switched to a cheaper manufacturer and were 'having problems'. We called it a day after we got to 18 exchanges!

I've still got an old blue Bosch grinder at home that i bought second hand at a c/b sale 15 years ago that is still going strong.


It does feel like you're getting your leg lifted by the manufacturers with regards to quality whenever you come to buy machines/kit.
Not ideal but I prefer buying second hand quality kit rather than modern junk. At least the only problem you have to deal with is historic wear/miss use rather than a constant battle with a total pile of junk held together with blue tac.

This seems to be exactly what I’m dealing with re: makitas lately. It’s ridiculous to see how many are giving out the smoke in less than double digit hours of use.

might start copying your example and going secondhand!

 

[Mark 2]

Let us not forget that it is somewhat commercially silly to make a long lasting product.
That said, I can see the tide turning with the Chinese stuff before too long.

 

[Welderpaul]

That said, I can see the tide turning with the Chinese stuff before too long.

I hope so.

I wanted some parts for our Morgan Rushworth guillotine a while back. Ours is an original 'older/good' make from 1990's.
On the off chance I rang the company who now have the name and gave the information to the clown in the technical department. I had to ask her 3 times if she was actually in the technical department. My 4 y/o knows more about guillotines than she did.

I managed to get the parts I needed made elsewhere so never bothered chasing them. 3 weeks after the call they finally rang back and said sorry we can't help you but we can sell you a new guillotine. Cracking service there.

 

[mechman]

Slightly off topic,
Migatronic, We can't fix your P.C.B, you need a new machine. Had it fixed locally several faults found, not only P.C.B, £85 that was a good while ago.

 

[Fraserb]

Slightly off topic,
Migatronic, We can't fix your P.C.B, you need a new machine. Had it fixed locally several faults found, £85 that was a good while ago.

There's plenty stories like that with every machine, P. C. B with 6 buttons on it, 1 button gets 95% of the use and packs in after so long, supplier says its a new board at £400 or so, we get switches from rs for pennies and solder them on ourselves.