4" Angle Grinder
 

I'm looking to purchase a new angle grinder and found a sweet little 4" Makita for 50 bucks. Has anyone any experience with this tool? What do you think?

Have one, good tool...

I have yet found a bad tool from "Makita"... that is why they are expensive...

Depending on how often you plan on using it....I have a Ryobi grinder and have no complaints....It's considerably less expensive than a Makita, although I'm sure the Makita would last longer.

$50 in my neck of the woods is pretty cheap for a Mak.

I recommend ryobi, ask a lot from the jobsite it better n inexpensive
but makita also not bad...depanding what kind the job...

My guess is you are talking about the Makita N9514B. It's not a bad little grinder if you aren't using it hard everyday. It uses the clamshell housing design which is a sign of an inferior tool. The clamshell design does not contain moving parts very well because the housing can flex and cause motor parts to rub against each other.

All in all for 50 bucks its not a bad little grinder.

Probably a fine tool for home use. Funny thing about tools though, I have a B&D Industrial grinder that has lasted for almost 15 years of hard jobs. This tool was not expensive. I had a brand new Bosch grinder that didn't last two minutes and the replacement they gave me wasn't much better. Guess sometimes you get lucky and sometimes not.

Buy It.

I have several Makita small angle grinders that range in age from 21-5 years old all are still going strong and get almost daily use. All the ones I have are the Japanese made models.
The company I work for has been buying the $10 copies from Harbor Freight for the last couple of years do to the fact they live in job boxes and get abused constantly. I was surprised to see that they all work ok, yeah some make bearing noise and have shaft wobble but for being dropped and thrown as much as they do as well as having pipe cuts droped on them, it is crazy that they run. The last time I was in the store my boss said buy five more as long as they aren't more than $19 a piece. We have a lot of cheap tools from there that still keep running. Funny that a $14 18v drill holds up to union pipefitters. My boss said when he used to buy Milwaukee they tools would disappear constantly, now they make it back to the shop.