Customer Reviews

Milwaukee 6154-20 4-1/2-Inch 12 Amp Sander/Grinder with Lock-On and Dial Speed Feature

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have had great service from every milwaukee tool I've purchased over the years and this one is equally well thoughtout and constructed. I do have some reservations about this one. It is in no way a "mini-grinder" and if that is the size of tool you need for your application .... don't choose this one. In the world of 'bigger is better' and 'one-tool-can do all'consumerism this one fits right in. I've been in fabrication and construction for many years and it is a waste of your cash to try to make one tool do it all. what this tool is great for is metal fabrication or sculpting (stone), it is too heavy for wood and if you already own a 7" grinder/polisher why duplicate your tools? It is too heavy for intricate work and too large for tight places. I will use it in my scuplting and for foundation work and beams. If you're a carpenter I can't recommend it, try Bosch or milwaukee's smaller grinders. Better yet don't buy the tool online until you've talked with someone who has used that particular tool. I would not buy this tool again for the applications I had in mind.

The offroad club that I lead (Longhorn Offroad), has been building an RTI ramp recently out of 1/4" box steel. For the uninitiated, an RTI, or Rate of Travel Index ramp, measures how much wheel travel a particular vehicle has. We've been using a stick welder, chop saw, and two angle grinders to build this beast.

I'd been eyeing this grinder for quite awhile, and when we got sick of having to switch from grinding to polishing wheels on my friend's DeWalt, I picked one up. Milwaukee has a great tool in this little grinder. It can flatten down a weld in about half the time of the DeWalt. With the cutting wheel, I can cut through steel faster than the chop saw. It can also cut through automotive frame rails without a second thought.

My favorite thing about this grinder is the trigger action. The DeWalt's was slightly awkward and located a bit too near the wheel for my taste. The Milwaukee's is larger and easier to work with gloves. It also allowed for better balance and thus easier operation of the tool.

If you're doing woodwork or anything delicate, I'd steer clear of this machine. If you do regular automotive modification or any heavy metalwork, however, pick up one of these. It is a wonderful tool for everything from cutting off bolts, to grinding welds, to even cutting through fully boxed steel.

When I saw they increased the amperage rating to 12 , I just had to have one . I was not disappointed. This little beast screams. It does get pretty warm though ,if you dial the speed down and put a heavy load on it. Its really nice to have so much power on hand in such a compact size. It blows the other mini's away!

Very comfortable could not bog it down with pressure when grinding. have owned several other top brand grinders and really liked the Dewalt. This has much more power and can be used for longer periods of time without hand fatigue. The power is impressive. It doesn't rev as quickly as the others though.

Researched all grinders in market and specifically chose the Milwaukee for reputation and variable speed feature. Can also double as a sander. Received unit that had a very audible raspy-knocking sound especially at low speeds. Spent > 1 hr on phone with Milwaukee tech support who confirmed abnormality.
Got new unit in one day from Amazon but replacement unit still makes same sound but not as frequent. Went beyond 30 days so have to send unit to Milwaukee for examination and possibly new unit - total hassle!
Unit is very powerful and variable speed is great. Hopefully Milwaukee won't let me down with a third unit.

4/2/07 Update: Got 2nd unit back from Milwaukee in damaged box and simple check slip that it was alright - no new plastic case or written letter back stating what and how unit had been checked out. Very disappointing so am stuck with raspy, knocking grinder from what I thought was the last "real" genuine tool company - very disappointing.

Have used this grinder for specific purpose of using it as a wood chipping / log carver. A specific 4 1/2" chipping blade was used in my efforts. The variable speeds this model affords makes short and pleasurable work on wood carvings / and shaping. The grinder was easy to manipulate, and did not suffer from over heating during the shaping processes. I can safely assume that when using a metal grinding wheel the tool would perform equally as well. A good reliable grinder at a fair price. The variable speeds makes this a well rounded performer. The easily adjustable wheel guard was especially helpful. Heavy duty performance.

I like to take on projects as a reason to purchase a tool and have been wanting a grinder for a long time.

The reason I went with the Milwaukee (besides the reputation) is this had a lot of power and variable speed, not found in most grinders.

I was able to rig a hose and a table to this grinder and use it for wet polishing of granite with the harbor freight diamond wet polishing pads. worked great and did a good clean edge on our granite countertops. However since this is not designed for this task, it only worked well in the jig I had created (would not work for a regular polishing application since there is no way to deliver the water through the shaft ...)

but anyhow I got the grinder I wanted and its performed flawlessly, although with a tool like this be sure you always use hearing protection as it can be loud ...

After having learned my lessons with cheap Chinese tools sold in stores with names that make you think of the place where boats are unloaded, I decided some years ago to stick with decent brands for power tools -- Bosch routers, Skil circular saws, and Milwaukie drills and grinders. This one was a disappointment. It's always run hot and has been sounding kind of funky (like the $15 Chinese ones) for quite a while. I've had it for maybe 4 years, so it's undoubtedly out of warranty, but have not used it very hard. Today it ran slower and slower, sounding funkier and funkier, but I kept going, trying to finish grinding down one weld that was almost done. It soon quit.

On the plus side, they designed it so a person can actually take it apart with a regular screwdriver. The windings check out good, the commutator isn't visibly worn (confirming the low hours on it), and nothing is bound up mechanically. One brush is full length and still flat on the end. The other is worn all the way down. The stranded wire that goes inside the brush and is spotwelded to the brush holder is loose from the brush. I'm not sure which came first, the worn brush or the loose wire, but there was clearly a manufacturing defect in this brush assembly. The brush ought to make contact with the holder even without that wire, but perhaps not well enough, and with the high amp draw of this motor, it overheated. Perhaps initially the brush jammed in the holder and started arcing once it wore back a little, or perhaps the wire coming loose was the initial cause of the problem. The evidence now is of overheating, but it's hard to say what happened first.

If I can find a replacement brush assembly at a reasonable price, I'll try repairing it. Unfortunately they made the holder and brush as one unit so you can't just replace the brush alone with a generic part. Generally, Milwaukee tools are pretty good, but I'm thinking they may be slipping a bit these days. If nothing else, the lesson here is use it hard while it's still in warranty and if it starts sounding funky or acting up, send it back while you still can.

as a long time user of milwaukee tools, I'm not disappointed with this one. It is powerful and heavy duty in the true sense. But you now have to watch for some imported from china stuff from them. I don't know how they determine what will come from where.

I purchased a factory reconditioned 6154-20 in reasonably good shape several months ago and it has performed flawlessly on many tasks. I mainly use it for computer case modifications or to cut pipe for home and garden projects. I have yet to need to run this up to the rated maximum speed.

I'm glad I practiced using this tool on an old computer case as I did not realize it was powerful enough to melt the steel case. In mere seconds, the friction from the cutting edge had heated the cutting surface and spattered molten metal on my wooden deck... oops. It tore through that modification in about 5 minutes and accomplished in that time what would have taken hours with a Dremmel tool - having the right tool makes life much, much easier. In the end I had a very clean product that only required a bit of polishing.

I would highly recommend this tool as it is an absolute steal at under $150 and is amazingly capable with many different abrasive disks available. Other positive features include; the variable speed 12 AMP motor, detachable handle, movable guard, paddle switch with safety, and the quick lock plug. The industrial design is intuitive and quite frankly, amazingly well thought out. This is one very well engineered product and I am happy to add it to my other Milwaukee tools - they are the only brand that has consistently exceeded my expectations.

My only regret is that I wish I had purchased a new one from Amazon instead, as the reconditioned model I acquired from the Milwaukee store was about the same price!