Sanders Reviews

We use these in a professional environment, where they run several hours a day. My quick thoughts:

1. The weight and balance is good - this is a nice lightweight tool, especially compared to its competitors.

2. The dust collection works adequately, far better than its competitors

3. Durability has been spotty - we have some that have lasted several years, one only lasted 2 weeks before the brushes overheated and melted into the case.

3a. Noisy.

4. In this class of sander, there are few choices which are suitable for professional use. Since we do a lot of delicate furniture work, including veneer sanding, we don't want huge heavy sanders. We value good balance, light weight, dust collection, and durablity. It doesn't cut it in all respects, but its better than the other sanders in this size that we have tried.

When I started remodeling, I need to sand the stairs. There are 17 flights covered with varnish, paint under linolium. After stripped the linolium off, I need to sand the threads to bare wood to refinish. These are made of fir, usually they are very easy to sand. But with the varnish and glue left over, I tried all my three sanders, two random orbit sanders, one 1/4 sheet sander. They all work very slow. I got only two flights done after an hour and used many sanding discs and paper. Then I decided to try something else. I have never had or used belt sander before. It seems that's the only hand held sander available for me. So I went to store to compare various belt sanders. I own other DeWalt tools as well as Porter Cable's, so they are the first came to my mind. After comparison, I like the DeWalt one better for its weight and handling. It was a surprise that only took me two hours to finish the rest of the stairs all together and used only one sanding belt (still lot of sanding left on that one belt). Still need to use other sanders to finish off the tight spots. I used one of those "rubber" abrasive belt cleaner when the belt got clogged up with stuff, press the stick on while it's running up side down, the belt gets cleaned and became like new in seconds. It is a very powerful sander, you can gauge the wood easily if not careful, like press hard while moving side ways. But I manage to control it pretty well even with one hand since it's not heavy. It becomes hot after intensive use just like any other power tool. Avoid touching any the metal part is a good idea. The dust bag could've been made of better fabric since the dust will go through the bag and come out during heavy sanding. It catches 90% of the dust though. It would be nice to have a port like their biscuit jointer to hook up ShopVac or dust collector. Porter Cable ones have those for the dust bags. So you can have the choice. I will get the sanding frame add-on for more delicate sanding.

Over all, it's another fine tool that you would expect from DeWalt.

This blade is over priced, and while it cuts wood quite well, be careful not to hit any nails or other hard material such as concrete as this will wipe your blade out. One would think that for the price paid for this blade, it would be carbide tipped, but it is only made from high speed steel. I like the hint from another reviewer that used his dremel tool with a cutoff wheel to re-grind teeth in the blade to get a little more life out of the blade. While it does not work quite as well as the original new blade, it does work marginally well -- which saves you money. Maybe Fein will someday get a clue, and make a quality blade, or charge a more reasonable price for the inferior quality blade they produce.

THe Fein Multimaster has to be the greatest values I have ever bought. And this flush cut blade is one of the reasons. We run a millwork company which can be rough on tools but this thing is tough. When I first purchased it I didn't really believe that it would do an half the things they said it would. So we purchased it strictly as a high priced detail sander and bought a few extras just to try it out. But wow, this thing will do it all, and very well too. So MULTIMASTER is exactally what it is!

I build classical guitars, and used the sander to sand the inner curves on a jig to bend the sides. I was able to put a 9" tall by 1" diameter sanding drum on the spindle and it worked beautifully. Not kosher of course, but did the job well on the laminated plywood that was 6" thick... took my time and it had no problem. Used a machinist square on the jig and the sanding was vertical over the entire height of the form. Not a production unit but great for home use and lite shop work. Very pleased with the work. Delivery was quick from the Amazon supplier. The unit did come with a manual. The part above that states I am a home improvement enthusiast is balony.

First, a caveat: I don't own and haven't used any other spindle sanders, so I can't say how much better or worse this sander is from a Jet, Delta, whatever. However, for my limited sanding needs it works great. There is no cast iron on this product. The base is constructed of green-colored plastic, and the table is a manufactured wood covered with laminate. The fit and finish isn't bad for being plastic though, and the motor seems powerful enough. The unit arrives needing very little assembly, namely, using four screws to attach a steel plate that covers the bottom of the unit. Guessing, I'd say the thing weighs about 20 lbs or so. In my small shop thats an advantage because I can store it on a shelf out of the way and not break a sweat lugging it to the bench (unlike, say, my so-called 'portable' planer that weighs about 90 lbs.) The spindle is a shade under 1/2" diameter and takes 1/2" sanding sleeves directly. The instructions say that these small sleeves are a tight fit, and recommend using talc to put them on. Believe it. If you actually could get a 1/2" sleeve on without talc, I'm not sure you'd ever get it off again. The other 5 sizes (up to 3" sleeves) use rubber drums that fit nicely over the spindle and on which the sanding sleeves fit without such a struggle. The unit is pleasantly quiet by itself, however, when you hook up a shop vac to the 2-1/2" port on the bottom of the table the rush of air through the spindle plate creates a whine with some of the drums. There are convenient spindles on which to store the drums molded into the plastic base, along with a slot to store the 6 spindle plates and the spindle wrenches. The only thing missing is a place to put the 3 different-size washers needed to mount the spindle drums. I stick them in with the spindle plates, but a molded peg to put them on would have been nice. I'm not sure how long this sander would last in a production environment, and it doesn't have any of the table tilting of the Jet, etc., but it's worked fine for me so far. Not a 5-star fantastic product, but a good value for the money IMO.

I had always wanted a combination belt/disc sander for its versatility and convenience, yet never seemed to want to spend the money to get one. When I saw this little machine come on the market, at this price, I thought it was the perfect solution for my small home shop. Besides price, this unit has a lot going for it. It is compact yet sturdy (the base is cast iron)
and for its size, it is powerful enough to do anything I would ask of it. As an added bonus, the manual provided by Grizzly was absolutely excellent! All of the set-up instructions were clear and accurate. Now for the downside... I realize that you get what you pay for, but there are several things which bother me about this tool. First, the "miter gauge" included for use with the disc sanding table is a joke. It is cheaply made and mine is not square. Second, the motor turns the sanding surfaces at 3450 rpms. This is way too fast for a lot of the sanding you may want to do with this machine. If you research it a bit you will find that most of the better quality belt/disc combo machines have motors that turn at 1725 rpms.

All in all, this little machine is worth the price but I can't help thinking that with a little more time in the design phase, this tool could have been great. If you are on a very tight budget and find yourself in need of this type of sander then don't hesitate. Otherwise, spend a little more and get some high end features.

i've had this for about a year and would recommend it for small jobs.

I sand wood, fiberglass, and small concrete pieces with this. Its a great buy and a solid machine. as th olther reviewer said, the mitre is junk. waste of plastic. i'd never use it andway though, as a mitrer doesnt suit my needs.

blets are easy to change, and its very easy to adjust.

This is a nice piece of equipment to always have on hand. It's inexpensive compared to other dustless sanders, and still gets the job done. I use it a lot in doing repairs inside finished and lived in homes. There is no masking needed in sanding large repairs. I really like this item. It's only downside is the attachment "Y" can be a bit weak so don't press down too hard when sanding.

Having done a couple thousand square feet of drywall finishing the old fashioned way (coughing up dust as I sanded), I was hoping for something inexpensive that would maybe take half of the dust out of the air. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Dust Dog does much more, sucking away almost all of the dust created from sanding. No longer will I emerge from the work area looking like a ghost.

The unit is simple, and the female connection for the pole is sturdy. Some minor drawbacks: while not made of cast iron or anything, the unit is heavier than a plain sanding block, and you also have to dangle the vacuum hose around with you, so you will tire faster when sanding, especially on higher walls and ceilings. Additionally, the "suction control valve" does not have a tremendous amount of adjustability, but I didn't notice that sanding was any harder due to the block sticking to the sanding surface. Lastly, because the vacuum hose dangles off of the bottom of the universal joint, you can't rotate the sanding block around as easily or in as many positions as a plain pole sander. On a positive note, grasping the unit at the universal joint is a relatively comfortable grip to do close-up hand-sanding instead of using the pole.

That being said, I'm pleased with an inexpensive means of dustless drywall sanding. I have mine hooked up to a run-of-the-mill Ridgid shop vac without any special filter, and while I do need to shake the filter out relatively frequently, it does just fine keeping the dust in the vacuum.

A fantastic tool, but can't find replacement 2" x 36" belts at Lowes, Home Depot, Sears, Ace Hardware, Amazon, Grizzly, Lee Valley, Veritas, Japan Woodworker, Klingspors. I'm sure they are out there, and if you don't mind waiting on mail order, this is a reliable and well made tool.

This is a mighty might. It is small but strong and usefull
all out of proportion to size. The belt sander is TERRIFIC,
The minor quibble here is that that the shroud for the belt sander covers the back part of the disc sander and reduces the
available usefull surface of the disc sander. I can live with it.
You turn this machine on and it just goes hmmmmmmmmmmmm. The
2z36" Belts are hard to find, but 4x36" belts are easy to
find, and you can use scissors cant you? I replaced the grinding
wheel with a wire brush (who needs yet another grinding wheel,
specially a 6 incher booooring) I have had this tool for a week
and it is already replacing 2 other tools that did not do the job nearly as well as the Jet does.. Overall I gotta say that tho Jet is a bit spendy, it is well made and really does the job. It is built tighter then the Generic Harbor Freight/Grizzly/delta. THose machines are cheaper, but after
you use the Jet you wont want to go back. I have a shopfull of
Chicago Electric (Harbor Freight) largish power tools, they are
finding space under my work bench, while the Jet tools are on
top of the work bench...You get what you pay for, and if you are
going to use your power equipment more then ocassionally, then
get the Jet. If you use that drill press, or grinder three times
a year then get a Harbor Freight, or Grizzly.
Nah; Get the Jet, you will be pleasently supprized and quickly
spoiled....

Jim in GOld Bar

I'm a home/hobby woodworker and I found this sander to be a bit much for me. It seems more suitable for a larger shop. I'd rather have had a quarter sheet palm type sander for finish work of the size I do.

The dust shroud made it difficult to get up against inside corners and the sheet clips are cumbersome and poorly placed, as you have to trim about 1/8" off the half sheet to get it to sit snugly.

The dust collection worked well.

This sander will last you for a long time. It's a solid machine, well made and feels great to work with. I have one that we have been using every day in my shop for the last 2 years with no complains what so ever. We also have a similar Porter Cable unit and they both work great. I figure that if you have a large shop you probably know this, but if you're planning to buy one, consider this model if you want it to last for a long time.
Canton, Mi
Sergio,

I have an old 1990 version of this sander, and recently I used this latest version. The newer one has much less vibration and it is much quieter than the old, however it is much more difficult to clamp-in the quarter sheets of sandpaper. In the old version, the clamps opened up wider and you could easily shove the sheet well past the clamps and easily reposition it. In the newer one, the entire mechanism is way too tight and frustrating. This finishing palm sander is a decent tool, however the struggle to change out the sanding sheets is a major problem which greatly detracts from the utility of the tool. Thick sheets of coarse sandpaper are especially problematic.

My old Makita finishing sander gave great service for over 5 years, so I replaced it with the new BO4552. The new sander is even quieter, smoother, and the dust pickup works better.

Pros:
Quiet
Relatively little vibration
Rapid material removal
Excellent dust pickup
Rugged and dependable for long product life
Makita service and parts availability are excellent
Feels right for hours of use, a professional quality tool

Cons:
Difficult paper changing, not improved in five years.

The tool is fine but there was no manual included with the sander. Since quite a bit of assembly is required to mount this sander to a radial arm saw, it took a long time to set up. I think I finally got it right.

FOLKS...LET`S FACE IT....ANYTIME ONE OF OUR SHOP TOOLS CAN BE UTILIZED, WITHIN A SAFE MANOR,(OTHER THAN WHAT IT WAS ORIGINALLY DESIGNED FOR)TO PERFORM DIFFERENT OPERATIONS, WE CAN FULLY REALIZE THE TOOLS POTENTIAL....NOT TO MENTION SIMPLE ECONOMICS! ONE SUCH TOOL THAT INSTANTLY COMES TO MIND IS THE MULTIFARIOUS DRILL PRESS...."NUFF SAID!" ALBEIT, IN THE PAST, ONE WAS ABLE TO ACOMMODATE A SMALL HOST OF ACCESSORY TOOLING TO THE RADIAL ARM SAWS AUXILUARY SHAFT (A DRILL CHUCK, VERTICAL SANDING BARRELS AND/OR A ROUTER COLLET CHUCK)WE WERE STILL PRETTY MUCH LIMITED TO THE SAWS VERSATALITY. ENTER, PERFORMAX PRODUCTS CORPORATION FOUNDER, GARY GREEN`S PERFORMAX S/T DRUMSANDER, MODEL 22-44. THIS, OUTSTANDING,PIECE OF EQUIPMENT IS OFFERED AS EITHER A FULLY SELF CONTAINED FACTORY UNIT, IN KIT FORM OR AS WE ARE DISCUSSING HERE.....AN ACCESSORY ATTACHMENT FOR THE RADIAL ARM SAW. IT`S SANDING CAPABILITIES ARE A FULL 22" WIDE WITHIN A SINGLE PASS OF THE HORIZONTAL DRUM.....OR 44" WIDE WITHIN TWO PASSES. ALTHOUGH I HAVE HAD MY 22-44 (HOOKED UP TO MY OLD RYOBI MODEL 2002 RADIAL ARM SAW)FOR MEARLY GOING ON THREE WEEKS.....IT HAS ALREADY SANDED OVER 2,000 FEET OF MATERIAL, AND I MIGHT ADD.. TO EXACTING SPECIFICATIONS! I DO HOWEVER FEEL COMPELLED TO ADD AN ADDENDUM TO THE MANUFACTURER`S CLAIM INASMUCH AS "BEING ABLE TO BE USED WITH MOST ANY RADIAL ARM SAW" CASE IN POINT: THE S/T IS DESIGNED TO FIT 10" AND 12" SAWS WITH A COLUMN TUBE DIAMETER BETWEEN 2-5/8" TO 3-1/8" AND YOU MUST HAVE A 5/8" ARBOR ON YOUR SAW`S MOTOR SHAFT TO FIT THE, SUPPLIED, PULLEY FOR THE BELT DRIVE CONNECTION TO THE SANDER. ANOTHER IMPORTANT FACTOR, TO CONSIDER, PRIOR TO PURCHASING THE S/T....IS THE MEASUREMENT OF THE DISTANCE BETWEEN YOUR TABLE SURFACE AND THE SAW`S EXPOSED COLUMN....WITH THE RADIAL ARM RAISED TO IT`S HIGHEST ELEVATION. ONCE YOU HAVE THIS MEASURMENT, SUBTRACT 14-1/2" FOR THE S/T OR 15-1/5" SHOULD YOU INTEND TO UTILIZE THE POWER FEED UNIT AS WELL. THE DIFFERENCE, IN MEASURMENT, WILL DETERMINE THE MAXIMUM STOCK THICKNESS CAPACITY OF YOUR SANDING OPERATIONS. IN MY CASE.....THE RYOBI SAW NEEDED A MINOR COLUMN ALTERATION TO BE FULLY FUNCTIONAL. I DIDN`T PURCHASE THE POWER FEED TABLE AND AM TOTALLY SATISFIED WITHIN USING A PAIR OF "PUSH STICKS", THUS FAR. TO SUM IT UP...IF YOU NEED A WORTHY, LARGE CAPACITY HORIZONTAL DRUM SANDER, HAVE A RADIAL ARM SAW THAT YOU WOULDN`T MIND CONVERTING OVER TO A FULL TIME WORKHORSE ....AND, YOU DON`T WANT TO SPEND THE BIG BUCKS FOR PERFORMAX`S FLAGSHIP MODEL, THIS IS WITHOUT DOUBT....THE ONLY WAY TO GO! HAVE FUN AND WORK SAFELY!

I purchased my Performax ShopPro 25 after doing a lot of research. I even kept the box it came, in just in case I had to send it back. It performed well from the begining. The operation is smooth and with great results. You do need a good dust collector. Changing the sand papaer is quite easy and fast. With the optional set of casters, moving this heavy machine around is no problem. You need to be careful not to try to remove a lot of material at one time, otherwise, it will scoarch the wood, and you can ruin an expensive piece of sand papaer. I guess this is obviously the case with all drum sanders. The only reason I gave this otherwise wonderful machine four stars, is that the height control handle does not operate as well as I expected, you have to use two hands if you are rotating it full turns. I do believe that Performax makes some of the best drum sanders in the market. I highly recommend this product.

I wish I had enough space for a large surface sander. But, I do have enough space for the Performax 25. It really gets the job done. I can plug it into any 110 outlet in my shop and since it is on wheels it will be used then moved out of the way. It is easy to change the paper for the most part. A little tough on the fingers to clamp the ends of the paper down. Performax remedied this problem by giving me a little bent peice of metal to use instead of my finger. The thickness guage is not as accurate as I would like, but I think it is fair. In summary, for the price and with the ability to be mobile, this is a good tool.