makita gb602 bench grinder review

Hi All,
a first impressions review of the GB602 150mm (6") bench grinder.

where and why
I havent seen so many of these around. most stores dont carry them, and i havent really understood the position of this grinder in the market. They are obviously a more of a precision grinder than the standard type bench grinders, but the intended purpose isnt that clear to me.

I got this one at Bunnings and called them to task on their price guarantee. They had it on the shelf for $139 (not bad by all accounts) but Sydney tools were selling them for $119. i couldnt stand another drive to Sydney tools so i went to my local bunnings and asked them to price match. The guy at the tool desk made a real ass of himself by calling sydney tools and being annoying. The conversation went something like;

"hi, this is mr. blah blah calling from (location withheld) bunnings mega ultra super store. I have no intention of ever purchasing anything from your little store and would like to take some business away from you by price matching. Now be a good man and find out your list price on GB602 grinder could you please tell me the price and do you have it in stock please go check the shelf for me and be quick about it"

The guy (literally) told him to off. I could hear it from 4 feet away. He then wouldnt match the price because he couldnt verify it. We had a bit of an argument about the way he verified the price where he said he was obliged to identify himself and his reason for calling. About 15 minutes and 2 managers later, i got my price match (plus another 10% off). Sorry Sydney tools, if you were closer would have bought from you. My GB602 cost me $107.10 which seems like a good price to me. A lot of hassle though.

I bought mine to compliment a Tormek T7 for rapid re-shaping of chisels and other things that are too far gone to go wasting the precious stone of the T7 on. The reason i went with such a small grinder was the current draw - at 250W i can run this off the same 300W inverter that i run the T7 off and be able to use it everywhere out of my trailer. If i was set in the workshop i would have gone with the larger GB801 which has a stone more closely matching the T7's diameter. The slightly smaller stone diameter isnt a big deal for me though. The 801 runs at 550W which is too much for me to run without adding a larger inverter and possibly a second battery/alternator but i would have bought one for a benchtop setting. For only an extra $50 you get a bigger stone and wider (19mm vs 16mm for the 602) as well as a much more powerful motor. More likely i would have gone with one of the carbatec or similar lower speed grinders at 1450 RPM for about $250.

first impressions
even the smaller 602 feels nice and heavy in the box (always a good sign!). It was well packaged with plenty of foam. The wheels were already on the grinder (i always think this is a bad idea when shipping) but the eye guards and tool rests needed assembly.

Lifting the tool out of the box the first thing to notice was no handle of any kind. A little disappointing but no big deal. Assembling the eye guards and tool rests took a few minutes and they include some dinky pressed metal spanners for the purpose. One eye guard is magnifying, the other plain. The tool rests are non-adjustable for angle (a bit disappointing).

The stones are the real gem on this little grinder. At 150mm (6") and 16mm wide they wont be impressing any size queens and the extra few mm width vs the 19mm on the 801 would have been most welcome. What redeems the stones is what they are made of. I dont know a lot about stones, but the left one is the rougher (probably aluminum oxide?) and white. The right stone is quite a lot finer - its a pretty tight green stone. There is no information available about these grinders anywhere, only minimum specs on Makitas website and they dont appear to be offered in america. They came out of a black hole somewhere.

Both stones are far finer than what you would get on a standard grinder, but good luck in finding replacements. the 12mm arbor doesnt leave you with a lot of aftermarket options either, the 801 has a more standard 16mm arbor.

The machine has task lights built in, one above each of the stones. They are bright, and appear to be well protected. With such good lighting, and the magnifier, you can do some pretty fine work (for a bench grinder).

Firing it up is surprisingly underwhelming. The motor itself is very quiet, and well ballanced. you can easily talk at normal levels over it. There was a small amount of run out on the stones but this didnt seem to affect the ballance at all. The grinder sat dead still on the bench with no vibration or walking around.

I started off by sharpening some drill bits, skipping the white stone and going straight to the green. I learnt drill bit sharpening the old way as part of my trade, on a grinder. The lack of adjustable tool rest wasnt much of a problem as the method i use needs the fingers as a tool rest. The stone was lovely and smooth, no bouncing of the bit, just nice predictable grinding. sparking was minimal.

There is a water tray built in to the bottom but its pretty useless. the overall build and plastic covers are nice looking and seems to be typical makita quality but probably wont stand a small drop.

I moved on to some chisels and went through these very nicely too. The lack of adjustable tool rest was pretty annoying so ill probably end up getting the bench grinder mount for the tormek jigs or just making something up. I really only need 25 degrees.

conclusion
a lot of grinder for $107, and as a portable grinder for use on an inverter doing reasonably fine stuff I'd say it cant be beaten. That sort of money would barely buy the 2 stones let alone the motor, casing, lights and protective guards. If you want a grinder for bench use this one is probably too small, go with the 801 for not much more. This grinder is really only for finer use - drill bits, planer blades, chisels etc... but not fine enough for finishing work. Its too fine to be used for cleaning up bits of metal in a metal fab shop and not grunty enough anyway - you could easily bog it down with a little pressure.

It seems custom made for my purposes though!

Shaun Van Poecke