I was just downstairs in the kitchen (coffee time!) and my rotary grater was in the dish drainer so I looked at it closely to see how it might possibly "grate plastic." Unless someone's has weird defect I don't see how that could happen. If you look at the metal cylinders, they have a wide plastic "collar" on the wide end, plus there is a gap between the walls of the tube and the metal cylinder. So even if it came unscrewed (unlikely), the collar would keep the metal from scraping the plastic side. Hmmmm.
Could it shave the chute? Some HSN Reviews: But disappointed because one of the graters hits the plastic edge when the handle is turned chipping plastic into the food. The graters hit the plastic ridge inside the housing and either the blades won"t turn or pieces of plastic fall into the food. The graters don't align correctly, so they hit the plastic when the handle is turned. There is a lip inside the shredder and drum with largest holes keeps hitting That lip. So, basically I was shaving off plastic in my food. The funny thing is that I read similar reviews on nearly every similar grater on Amazon.
I saw those reviews but I still don't see how that's happening unless some of the units have manufacturing defects. Anyhow, mine works great.
I may try one of those small hand-held ones. I could swear I already have one around here somewhere..
I just Searched and found it...must have posted while I was typing. Yeh, my KA stays stored away. That's a reasonable price for that set.
I was just looking at the hand-held graters on Amazon. They are too small for what I use the grater for, like grating a bunch of carrots or cabbage for slaw, etc. They will be great for cheese garnish and small jobs, though.