Chicago Pneumatic CP872 - Air Die Grinder Tool, Welder, Woodworking, Automotive Car Detailing, Stainless Steel Polisher, Heavy Duty, Straight, (6.4mm) - 1/4 Inch (6 mm), 0.63 HP / 470 W - 27000 RPM

This little die grinder is amazingly powerful and smooth. I run it at around 110 psi. from a small 20-gallon 110V compressor and it works beautifully but since the tool consumes between 20 and 34 SCFM I cannot run it continuously for a long period. I have to give the compressor time to catch up every so often. The small size helps it fit into tight spaces and make maneuvering it around a complex work piece much easier.It comes with two collets, the American standard 1/4" size and the metric 6mm (which is slightly smaller that 1/4" by .35mm) so that if you buy the imported burrs and bits they can be securely fastened into the chuck. Other tools I have that are only 1/4" often can't tighten down sufficiently on a 6mm rotary burr shaft. This one works great.The two chuck wrenches that come with it include one that has the smaller jaw at a right angle that allows you to lay it parallel to the tool in use and hold it and the tool in one hand while you tighten the chuck with the other wrench. A genius design.The owner's manual makes no mention of the "built-in regulator" that is part of the tool description. I have included a picture of it. If you turn the inner screw, the tool adjusts its speed accordingly, which is really handy when driving something like a wire brush so it doesn't overspeed and throw wires around. The control is VERY touchy, but effective. I can slow it down to a crawl or up to its maximum 27K RPM with just a little turn of the regulator.The rear air discharge is diffused and out of the way so it doesn't blow chips around but, like every rotary air tool, quite loud, so I strongly suggest some hearing protection for long-term use.A few drops of air tool oil before use and a good supply of clean shop air and it will work for you all day. It is well made, hefty for its little size and quite powerful. The fit and finish are top notch at a very reasonable price.

What a steal of a deal for a solid die grinder. Came with a smaller collet and the wrenches. Works great. A little loud, but not horrible

Writing the review after having this tool for 6 years. Bought this because I wanted a compact grinder to get into tight locations. Over the past 6 years I have used it every once in awhile with good results. During the last 6 months I have used this grinder almost daily. I have used it with both carbide burrs, cut off wheels as well as Roloc abrasive discs. At 90 psi and a fair amount of cfm it doesn’t bog down. Great little grinder!I own several pneumatic tools made by Chicago Pneumatic. All of them have given me good service. For the past 35 years I’ve been a loyal customer. This little tool has proved its durability in my opinion and this is the reason why I am writing a review. I paid $54 for it and if it blew up tomorrow I would think that it was worth it!The only negative thing I have to say about it is that the safety trigger is hard to engage at times. That being said it is a minor inconvenience.

I use this product from anywhere to 5-10 hours a day. I use the absolute hell out of this thing. The air straight they make is very strong and powerful. !!!! BUT !!!! THIS IS THE PART TO READ.Remember I use the hell out of this product. After about 2-3 months of use, the air straight die grinder head has started to become a little crooked and not as straight as when I had it at first. ALSO the rear exhaust is nice BUT with the air going in the rear instead of the front, it causes the quick release on an air hose to lose its lubrication. So often times you’ll have to lubrication your air hoses quick release a lot because it becomes harder to take the grinder off and puttin it back on. Anyways this was my honest review, great product, but if you want/need this tool for tough work just know the expectations of it ahead of time with this review! I’ll still give it a 5 star review for the price you pay for it.

I read many great reviews on this product but it feels extremely underpowered each time I use it. It doesn't matter what pressure I run it at, it can barely turn a 3" cutoff wheel. About the only thing I can cut with it is air, because the minute it hits any metal, even small M6 bolts or very thin sheet metal, it just slows down and stops then I have to let off and let it accelerate again and let it do a tiny bit more. I understand that this is a smaller than average die grinder but it's pathetic how weak it is and short of cutting plastic with it there's not much else I can throw at it. It's about the same strength as a Dremmel, and there's a reason I don't own one.Update:So it's been a few years and I'm not sure what changed but I just realized I rely on this thing almost every day. I think maybe the problem was something with the safety mechanism in the trigger. Because once it got mangled and bent it allowed me to press it down harder and make it truly do the work it's supposed to. It doesn't jam up or slow down on anything. I don't use it with cutoff wheels any more (could have been part of the problem, those things suck in general) but mainly with a wire brush to clean everything from bolts to engine blocks.I got so sick of the safety mechanism I took my angle grinder and just carefully trimmed off the bits that hold the hinge mechanism for it, leaving a clean lever. Much happier now.Oh and I pretty much never oil it like I'm supposed to, because when I used to hate it before I thought I'd just hurry up and let it die to replace it. Not to say it runs completely dry, but it seems to keep surviving on whatever moisture and oil is found in the air from the compressor itself (18 cfm gas powered 30 gallon tank).And another reason I really hated this unit before is the insert close to the head that's designed to unscrew to allow disassembly for maintenance kept undoing itself almost every hour or two. Maybe I should have just threadlocked it or something but since like I said before I was sick of this unit so I kind of tapped the aluminum in place of the notch to keep it locked and unable to spin. I can't imagine ever having to take this unit apart to service it, when it dies I'll likely get rid of it and experiment with some newer air tools.Summed up: The tool I hated that just won't die, neglected and unoiled, will wirebrush the world as long as you don't try using cutoff wheels.