Accessories

Great grinder for concrete countertops
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.

Great tool for many applications
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.

Great value with many features
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.

Good tool, good luck
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.