I purchased this polisher to finish concrete countertops I poured for my kitchen. I had never used a wet grinder, and the Makita was surprisingly easy to handle. The hose adapter doesn't come with the polisher, but a tool store in town supplied me with that no problem ($2.00 if I remember correctly).
I've used the Flex polisher since I completed my countertop, and I must say that I prefer the Makita. The speed and water supply controls are on the body of the grinder, making it easy to change water pressure and speed as you polish - very important for getting concrete polished right. I've also used this polisher to finish stainless steel and aluminum to a mirror and/or scratch finish. Since these grinders work in a RPM range below the 11-13k of a standard angle grinder, they work great for certain metal polishing pads that require lower RPMs. Makita PW5001C 4-Inch Hook and Loop Electronic Wet Stone Polisher
I bought this grinder and used it to grind and polish a concrete countertop. The grinder works really well. I had no experience at all in grinding and polishing, but this grinder made it easy. The countertop turned out better than I could have hoped.
I used six diamond pads with the grinder (50 grit up to 1500 grit). The grinder comes with a flexible backer pad which works well for grinding and smoothing the concrete (50 grit to 400 grit). But I found a ridid pad (which you have to buy separately) worked better for polishing (800 and 1500 grit).
Based on other reviews, I was a bit worried about the water connection. I did have to spend some time figuring out what kind of connection was needed, but it turned out to be fairly simple. A "quick connect" hose end connector is all that is needed. You can find them in the lawn and garden section of almost any hardware store (I bought one at Home Depot), and it only costs $2 to $5. (Now, why Makita just doesn't include one of these I do not know!) This will connect the grinder to a standard garden hose. You can also get one of these off of Amazon. I put a product link to the connector needed. Quick Connect Hose Outlet End Connector (36918-12)
Other than that, my only complaint about the grinder is that the power on/off switch is a bit tough to use at times. A better trigger mechanism would be nice.
There are several features that I liked on this. The variable speed dial is great. Being able to set it for specific RPMs is mandatory. It's quality is great and so far has held up to my abuse. It has a flexible rubber splash guard on the back that keeps you from getting too wet. Also the water valve is variable which is useful for the lower speed RPM work. It has GFCI built into the power cord which is a must when working with electricity and water. The only downside was having to buy the special adapter for the water hose. I had read where others had made a make-shift solution but I found that the one designed for it is worth the money. It can be bought for about $8 and it has a quick release feature which is key during cleanup. Having nothing to compare this to, as I have only owned this one wet grinder, I like it alot. I have compared it to several others and found that it was the best value out there.
The wet grinder performs great. It maintains its RPM's well even under a heavy load, but unless you have a specialty hardware hardware store in your town, good luck finding a water line quick connect to hook up to it. I was unable to find any place in Nashville that carried a compatible fitting.
Plan on using a scrap piece of garden hose and hose clamp to rig the water feeder.
The polisher came brand new and worked well. There is no water hook up to attach the supply line to the polisher. I checked at several local stores that specalize in either industrial fittings or irrigation and water supplies and none of them could find the odd quick coupler with an external O- ring. So like some of the other reviewers , I cut the end of an old garden hose off, shoved it on the fitting with a hose clamp and got to work. Polisher is simple to use and did a fine job. Discs do wear down fairly quickly. Makita should send the female side of the water quick coupler if they want to supply a good product.
I looked at the other polishers sold for half the price of the PW5001C but it was a mixed bag on the reviews and my current assignment demanded a time constraint. I couldn't afford gear that fell apart or have other mech problems. My tools are Makita for the most part, mostly the engineering, reliability and durability of the tools ... so, it was an easy choice for me.
I used the fastest delivery possible to get the polisher to the site, once it got there, it was outfitted with a quick connector and in the spur of the moment a washing machine line in order to not drag a garden hose around. The polisher was used for creating bull nosing on stone, which it did, easily. One hand operation is possible, for me anyway. I use earplugs, water repellent gear as water does spray around and eye wear. The unit didn't seem loud and it didn't need to be pushed, it worked very nicely on a constant load.
Very pleased with the polisher except for the quick connector part which I still don't understand why is not included at that price and I'm sure, not the only one to note this but easy fix.
I'm doing concrete counter tops next, would love to see how this unit performs.
Note: Quick connectors are easily found at a hardware store and I would advice adding a light weight line to the connector and then, hook to the garden hose to minimize drag.
Works really well and of course makita quality is always pretty good. The soft start is a plus also. If you havent used any soft start tools you won't know what i mean. If you have you know how nice it is.
This is a great tool. You can get something cheaper - but I'd rather buy quality once than junk twice.
Just an FYI - if you plan to use wheels other than hook & loop pads you will need to buy the mounting hardware separately. I use a cupped diamond wheel and had to rob the mounting nuts off of another makita grinder. - Grinders - Polisher'
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