Several years ago Makita launched their first cordless 18V LXT grinder and was disappointing to most to say the least. Even as a strictly cutting tool this first cordless grinder (like most other cordless grinders) was way under powered and a spot of much frustration to those who purchased them thinking they could get any serious work done.
We can unequivocally say the new Makta brushless grinders XAG03Z ($199, bare tool) / XAG03M ($409, kit 2 battery) are able to do the real work in both cutting and grinding applications. We were pretty skeptical (as we are sure many of you still are) having had much disappointment in the past with cordless grinders so we did this very quick and dirty video below just to show it in action.
What looks to be some very basic grinding tasks are really pretty impressive for a cordless grinder, at least if you’ve used other cordless grinders before. We were able to engage the overload protection on the unit but only by applying pretty heavy force. Certainly you could get almost any surface prep work done with this tool.
The only other cordless grinder we would put in the same category would be the Milwaukee M18 FUEL 2780-21 ($299, paddle 1 battery) & 2781-21 ($299, switch 1 battery) which are also brushless. The Milwaukee units are 5″ which as a power indicator would be a bit unrealistic to compare to their 5″ corded units. Adding the extra 1/2″ clearance does give this tool a little more cut capacity which is handy but we would say from a power output for these cordless units would still be closer to other base level 4.5″ grinders. That being said the cordless Milwaukee grinders have been without question hugely successful and helped many people believe that cordless grinders could actually grind pretty close to their corded counterparts.
Unfortunately we didn’t have a whole lot of time with the Makita unit and were running a 3.0Ah so were not able to do any full blown testing, certainly not comparing the Milwaukee vs Makita in terms of power, runtime and other features. Our gut read with the limited exposure is the Milwaukee still has an advantage in power, at a minimum the overload protection on the Makita kicks in soon (you can stall both units if you really try Milwaukee is able to handle a little more force). The option of paddle or switch on the Milwaukee is pretty big as well, Makita is only available with a switch. We are hoping to do a real cordless grinder head to head at some point soon.
For those already in the Makita 18V cordless system there is no question this tool is going to be on your wishlist. Adding the ability to really cut with abrasive wheels and grind in cordless is huge. For any questions on any Makita cordless tools give the pros at Ohio Power Tool a call 800-242-4424, they are also the areas Makita authorized service/warranty center so they literally know the tools inside and out.
