Sanders Reviews

I owned a 10 year old Black and Decker 1/4 sheet palm sander that was very loud, very dusty, and very prone to vibration. I mainly only use my belt sander and random orbital sander anyway, but there are those times when a 1/4 sheet sander is still the best tool for the job. So, I bought the B&D FS600G (which is the same as this unit, except it has a gel grip and no case) as a replacement. First I will start with the good stuff:

1. This sander is a bit quieter than my old one, but not much.

2. The vibration on this unit is minimal, but I like the model FS600G with the gel grip better!

3. The dust collection works decently, and is of course a vast improvement for me since my old sander had no dust collection.

4. It is very affordable!

5. A case is always nice to have!

I guess what I am saying is that for what it is, this is not a bad sander at all.

Now for the few drawbacks...

1. This sander came with a separate plastic jig to use for punching the dust collecting holes into your sandpaper. I really wish there were another way to accomplish this since the jig never seems to be handy and/or where the sander is.

2. Although it IS quieter than my last palm sander, this thing is still uncomfortably loud.

3. The on/off switch is located in a perfect spot, but I wish it were not so recessed. Sometimes I have to fiddle around trying to get the thing on or off.

Overall, I am pleased with the quality of this tool. There are of course nicer sanders on the market but for the price this one cannot be beat!

I received one of these as a Christmas present and liked it so much I bought one for a friend as a gift. Runs smooth, is easy to use and just all around excellent. Great value for the money.

I received this sander as a gift (it is replacing an older B&D random orbital sander). After putting it through the paces for over a week now I can say without a doubt that this falls into my "good tool" category. The best features include:

1. Power - though this sander undoubtedly doesn't have as much power as a top of the line Bosch or Porter-Cable model, I have been very pleased with the performance of this tool. I suspect that for a home woodworker like me, the difference in power is negligible since I rarely run my sander for more than 10-15 minutes at a time. Also, I am only finish sanding with this tool, not hogging off large amounts of wood with it.

Dust Control - I always thought my old sander did well in this department but I have to say that so far I have been utterly pleased with the lack of dust coming from this sander while in use. I would have to say the efficiency must be over 95%...

Comfort - I wasn't sure if I would like the jug grip or not, but as it turns out I love it. There are a lot of instances where I am sanding a large panel and with this grip I can now (safely) guide the sander one handed if need be. Believe me once you have tried it you will agree.

As for downsides, I really wish B&D had designed this sander so I could remove the dust canister and connect directly to my vacuum without having to buy an adapter piece...

Overall, this is a great sander at a great price. I highly recommend it!

I've owned (and own) several sanders, and most of them have been (are) B&D, but this is the best they have ever produced. Comfortable fit, nice design, the sanding time really reduces, and is very easy to have a professional finish with one of this...

Give yourself a try with this, you won't be deissaponited! Great tool!

I bought the factory reconditioned version of this tool and haven't had any regrets. It's a great companion for my Bosch planer when I'm doing edge work. I've used it with my Bosch Finecut saw to true up studs when installing drywall. And I used it to do surface prep work when painting wooden house siding. The variable speed adjustment helps to match the speed to the work. I am pleased, but it gets 4 stars since I had difficulty with the front roller when adjusting the tracking on a new sanding belt. Being unfamiliar with the adjustment mechanism, I got it too loose, and the front roller came off. You must look carefully at the shape of the roller pin ends to reinsert them into the right hole in the bracket. It takes a bit of studying, but once you know the particulars, using this helpful tool is a breeze. Go Bosch!!

The Bosch compact belt sander is a very well engineered and manufactured tool. I have used it on many occasions for home repair and/or remodeling with great success. The size and weight of the tool are substantial enough to ensure durability and long life. The shape and variable speed assist in keeping the tool under control. If you have the need to remove stock via sanding and it is in an oddball location, or a full-blown belt sander is a bit too much, take this puppy out for a ride!

Solid and stable. Easy to assemble. Too short for my liking. Would have liked it to be ~4" taller. Bolting the grinder with a 2X under helped.

Excellent heavy duty grinder stand. Very sturdy with handy center tray adding very good support. Easy to assemble with only one socket wrench. Took only about 15 minutes to assemble. Delta had the foresight to even include the necessary bolts, nuts and lockwashers for mounting a grinder to the stand. A nice touch. The included rubber leg caps keep the stand from slidiing around on tile workshop floors. This is a must have item for anyone who wants to save space on their workbench. This stand makes your grinder totally portable making it a far better choice then the pedestal type stands that must be permanently bolted to the floor. Highly recommended!

I bought one from the lumber yard so I never used the one from amazon

FYI, just found out that the Dewalt 421 can use the Makita replacement pad (Makita 743051-7 5" Rubber Pad). The opposite isn't true-- Makita has a bearing that prevents the use of the Dewalt pad. Handy news if this product is out of stock.

After trying several belt sanders on the market, I was extremely happy to come across this one. For starters, it never bogs down. No matter how much pressure is put on the platen or how long it runs, the motor never bogs. That was the main problem with other belt sanders I have used.

The sander also has some heft to it. It is not a light weight machine. This is good because it doesn't need a lot of extra force to remove a lot of stock, and the weight helps to keep it on track. If weight is a concern for you, you need to look elsewhere. Although the "elsewhere" sanders won't work as well!

This sander is tough. I was sanding a faceframe one day when my partner accidentally unplugged the machine. I set the machine down (this part is embarrassing) forgetting to turn the trigger off. When I plugged it back in, it pulled itself across the bench and onto the floor before I realized what was happening. It bounced a couple of times and continued across the floor before pulling the plug from the outlet. It purrs like a lion to this day. There has been other times when it has been dropped or stepped on and has never had any problems.

The only drawback, and the reason I gave it only 4 stars, is the dust bag. It gets in the way sometimes when working on other than horizontal surfaces. It can be swung around, though, to the left or right out of the way. Also, the dust bag forms a rub hole, right at the top where the aluminum tube ends inside the bag. I've sealed it with clear silicone which works fine.

Plenty of power- doesn't bog down. Long lived ....... in shops I've worked in PC was the sander of choice.Belt tracks very well. The variable speed is handy and is a separate wheel control as it should be. At this price and the full warranty it's a no brainer. You could pay more and get a lot less sander.

I bought this kit, because it had the popular blades, and at a substantial savings over buying the pieces individually. Then I saw the Super Professional Kit, which had everything this kit has, plus a popular e-cut blade for the same money. Get that one instead. I did.
The Fein Mulitmaster is tops. Now it is even made better because of the bargain of buying the Super Professional kit. Look that one up here at Amazon, and buy it. Highly Recommended.

To buy these blades seperately would cost at least twice as much... its one way to recover the exorbitant cost of the tool itself (ha!) In terms of versatility, functionality, and just plain 'right tool for the right job', the fein system of blades, paper,and rasps is without peer. Jump in!

I see no reason why Fein cannot simply attach a dust bag to the sander just like is commonly done by manufacturers of all the various palm sanders! But no, that would be too easy! Fein's dust extraction adapter requires a hose, and attachment to a separate vacuum. This makes the sander more cumbersome and complicated to use (although it arguably improves the efficiency of dust removal). On the plus side, the adapter itself is well engineered.

Another problem is that neither of the 2 supplied vacuum hose adapters in the kit seem to fit any common vacuum hoses! ...

I have the large metal case kit that came with the dust extractor. I use it with a "Sand and Kleen" system designed for sanding drywall. This precipitates the dust under water and is lightweight--making it a delight to use. The only real concern is adapting into non-typical vacuum hoses like that system to the extractor. I have used it everywhere--plaster patches/wood work, shutters with the adapter and find the extraction on this device to be far more effective than most other sanders.

I've used this sander to finish a project consisting of lots of veneered panels. In general its not bad for the price, the dust collection is good (a bag is supplied -- you'll need to purchase an adapter to connect a regular dust extractor hose) and the lever clamps make it easy to change the sanding sheet. The only problem is that the powerful motor can make it difficult to control and a lot of vibration is transmitted back into your hands. This makes it uncomfortable to use for long periods. Might be worth looking into the variable speed model (SV12V).

This is a great sander! This sander semi-replaced my 20 year old Craftsmen dual action sander (which is still being used for it's inline sanding ability). Dust collection is good, vibrations are low, it is very quiet, paper changes are a breeze, and best of all, the 20,000 OPM smooth's out my projects quickly with no swirls. I love woodwork, but hate sanding, and this tool definately cut's my sanding time in half.

A pleasure to use. Relatively quiet. Belt tracks flawlessly. Adequate power. Can clamp upside down in a wood worker's bench vice to use as a stationary sander. Dust collector works well and is usually not in the way. Wish it came with it's own case. All in all I am very happy with the purchase.

I have replace a 20 year old Craftsman belt sander with the 9903 Makita. I always fought with the Craftsman's tracking. I could only go 5 minutes before I needed to adjust the tracking. The Makita is not like this at all. It has perfect tracking! I pulled the 9903 out of the box and it tracked OK with the stock belt. But when I put a 3M belt on it and tweeked the tracking a bit I have not touched the tracking, even when I changed the belt to a different grit.

I highly recomment this belt sander and 3M (purple) sanding belts. You can turn 9903 over and clamp it to the bench, great feature. It has a very nice trigger lock button, easy to set when you want to set it - but not so easy to lock when you don't want it locked (with either hand). An added benefit is that this belt sander is that it is very quiet (as belt sanders go).

My only complaint is with the availability of accessories. I can't find a sanding frame or a vacuum attachment. When I went to an authorized dealer for Makita and asked for a quote on a sanding frame they quoted the housing of the 9903.

Buy this one, you won't be disapointed.