Sanders Reviews

I upgraded from a B&D belt sander so this was quite a jump up in quality. It is sturdy, solid, well made, and has lots of power. The sanding belt tracked perfectly when in use and I was glad to not have to contantly mess with the tracking adjustment as I did on my old B&D BS. The spring loaded lever to change belts worked as designed and was easy to use. The dust collector bag and how it connected to the sander didn't work very well. A little tweaking of the bag is required to get it to fit proprerly and then the bag lock clip seemed kind of flimsy. The bag also didn't seem to collect a lot of dust. After extensive sanding, I had more dust in my lungs, face, hair, and shirt; then I did in the DC bag. I wasn't concerned about the lack of variable speed since I would rather vary MY sanding speed (and technique) instead of the sanders speed. IMHO I think variable speed in a belt sander causes more problems than it solves. All in all, I am really happy with this sander and would have given it 5 stars except for the ill fitting and ill operating dust collection system.

Make sure that when you order the grinder and its guard, that you order the flange and nut (sold in the guard kit). I've been told by telephone sales that they are not included.

I purchased this sander locally. Took it home and had it up and operational within 10 minutes. You don't need a mount or special base for this. I set it up on a sheet of plywood without securing it and it's pleanty heavy to stay put. The only issue I see is that you have to pretty much disassemble it to change the disk paper (hence the one star off). I can live with it. Well worth your $$$$$.

Like all Fein products this is a quality product. That said, it is none the less expensive (like all Fein products). It does a great job while it lasts but for what it costs it should last longer.

I've found nothing better for removing tile grout. We can clean at least 10 standard tile tub surrounds with each blade - more or less. About $10 a surround. I'd like to know if something better (faster and longer lasting) exists.

Pricey...way to pricey, but a very good tool and in the right hands a real time saver.
C.
General Contractor 40 years

Great tool but why doesn't it have the veriable speed function? Not a very costly item to add. would be nice if you could add the VS componuts as an add on kit.

I'm slowly going through and replacing many of my cutting tools with Freud products. Every Freud saw blade and router bit has held its edge better than other maker's products. Freud tools cost more, but since I get to leave them on the saw longer, it's worth it to me. I wish they made drill bits!

I have not used this as a sanding disk yet, but it has been a great help in keeping my Delta table saw and Unifence in fine alignment -- much easier than trying to align your table saw with a saw blade installed.

I also compared this to my Black & Decker Mouse, and I'm disenchanted. I miss all the neat attachments that come with the mouse for detail fininshing. I have a higher powered 1/4 sheet sander for my more agressive work and reserve my Mouse for all the fine details. the GMC just doesn't get in all those tight places. If you're using this sander as your primary sanding tool, you'll be there a long time. Try stepping up to a 1/4 sheet or a Ros (with a little more muscle) and buy a new mouse to get into those impossible spots.

My B&D mouse gave up in a puff of blue smoke even though it hadnt done a lot of work so I decided to change brands. Hadnt heard anything about GMC so I looked on their website, Australian company who look lke they have some pretty good looking tools. Bought this sandkat as it takes the mouse paper and am wrapt I did, its got more power than the mouse & is comfortable to handle. Will be giving GMC another look when I need some more tools.