Sanders Reviews

When I first got this sander a year ago,
1. first thing the conveyer belt fell off and tore itself to pieces.
2. 220 grit sand paper just doesn't stay in place on this sander's drum. Just today, 2 wraps of new 220 grit paper self destructed. The clamps just don't hold.
3. I can never get hold of performax (WMH? tool group) for any technical assistance. It's one of those "I am either on the phone with another customer or away from my desk" but they never seem to come back.
4. The sand paper is expensive especially in precut rolls so I am going to get bulk rolls so losing a wrap is not so painful.
5. The alignment of the drum to the coveyer doesn't stay put very well.
6. You can't use just any dust collector to collect the rather fine dust. It plugged up my first one but now I have a cyclone and it is satisfactory.

BUT, NOW I am addicted to the wonderful concept of wide sanding (no tear out anymore), so I will keep on trying to get around these problems.

I have had this sander for over 2 months and have used it a lot! The only real problem i have had with it is the feed belt tracking but I am pretty sure that has cleared up by itself now. Could be the feed belt just needed to losen up some. If your machines feed bel is alway riding to one side put both of the belt guides on that side then losen the other sides tracking adjument. I also sugjest you remove the feed belt to check the drum for alginment, it makes a big diffrance plus its esier to make the adjustment if needed. The machine is REALLY GOOD when used with 36 grit. It takes a few passes and the board is ready for the thickness planer. Using the sander first removes all the dust and dirt thus saving your planers knives to work on the wood not the junk on top. This machine can never equal a hand sanded job but it will help you get to the final sanding Fast! The one thing you WILL NEED is the in and out feed tables if you are going to sand boards over 3 feet even 3 footers can be tuff to handle with out getting snipe. So far I have sanded many feet of wood with no motor problems at all and have been impressed with the overall performance. This has become one of my favorite machines.

From what I can see, this is a nice unit for the mony. I will know more when I can turn it on as it was dammaged in the shipping. The factory has sent the parts from stock. The packaging was poor for a unit of this weight, an I have told them as much. You may want to keep this in mind if you order with shipping.

After realizing that this sander makes the nicest little "r" shaped swirls, I relegated it to the light sanding of paints and primers, between coats. The problem now is that the paint dust clogs inside sander, never making it into the attached dust canister. Even with the dust canister completely removed, paint dust still collects inside and is not properly expelled. Obviously, this requires constant cleaning with an air hose coupled with a heavy "tapping" on the exhaust port with my hammer handle to help dislodge the caked dust. Hopefully, it will die soon from my endless tapping so that I can buy another, this time from a different manufacturer.

If you've read my other reviews, you know I own a lot of sanders, and this is one of them.

This sander has been around for years and does a great job. Because it leaves a better finish than the Bosch I prefer to use it, although I with it had the same features as the Bosch. At least this one comes with the dust hose adapter.

The sander is light, pretty quiet, and relatively vibration free. It's the best sander you can buy in its class.

If you want a better 1/4 sheet sander yet, look at the Porter-Cable 330 SpeedBlock. I gave P-C a hard time in my review, but it produces even better results than this sander by a narrow margin. The real draw of the 330 is it's quiet and almost vibration free, although it does not have dust collection and is not light.

Unless you're buying the SpeedBlock, buy this sander--you'll love the results.

It's a decent sander, but since I got the Porter Cable 333VS, this thing rarely comes off the shelf. Great for square corners, but the 333VS is much better as a general use sander.

I was working on finishing out a new front porch for a Historical Register house, and when I got down to making corbels I finally decided to order one of these tools. Setup was easy and the machine worked very well sanding the 3" thick three layer pieces. After running the machine 6 to 8 hours (not continuosly) it quit oscillating. The nylon gear that drives the up and down motion had stripped. My father got home from wintering in Florida and took on the repairs. He got it all apart and discovered (we think) the reason(s) for the failure. First, the horizontal drive shaft has a groove for the set screws, they weren't in it. They had torqued them into the shaft, damaging it and making the bearings too tight so it would hardly turn. Also the up and down guide shaft with the adjustable bolt on each side had the bolts set way to tight. There was no way that gear could handle all the force required to push that mechanisim the way they had assembled it. Also there was no lubrication on the bearings, he said. He machined the shaft so it would turn in the bearings, adjusted everything, put a drop of Marvel Mystery Oil on the bearings, and we are waiting for the new gear to arrive. It was hard to locate one, everyone seems to be out of them for obvious reason. Delta needs to get after whoever they have assembling this machine, as it is it's a blemish on a veneralbe line of tools. I hope this thing works when the gear comes, it was great for as long as it lasted. I've got a lot of drums for it too!

I had one of these sanders at my old shop and it stayed there when I moved. I ordered a new one which I had to send back because the spindle was NOT square to the table. This is THE most important function of the tool. Amazon was fantastic even through some confusion in shipping and I got the replacement sent to me.
It is just fine, square, and runs beautifully. The three stars are for the lack of quality control.
I like the tool so far. Good for what you pay for it.

The tool is well made and for the price, it is really great. It is built very sturdy, and has a great work surface which is rock solid. The fact that it comes with all the spindles is a real plus.

Have only one complaint. The spindle seems to be off center when it oscillates, just a tiny bit. By that I mean it backs away from the work on the up stroke and towards the work on the down stroke. It may be something I can adjust.

First motor was under warranty and it was replaced, but I had to carry it to the repair shop which was 30 miles from my shop. Next motor lasted 13 months and it burned out, plus the capacitor burned up and 2 bearings were worn to the point of needing replacing. I think it was good that Black & Decker bought Delta Tools maybe they will improve the quality of the tools.

I have not yet been able to use it extensivly I found it easy to assemble and the intial use showed it to be of very good quality.

I am pleasantly surprised with power and ease of operation of this sander. After receiving this tool in a flimsy box without an instruction manual I was ready for the worst. After downloading the manual from Amazon, the sander went together pretty easy. Some of the parts are mislabeled on the assembly sheet but it's pretty easy to look at the picture of the completed sander and get the base built correctly. Make sure you check the alignment of the drive belt sprockets before you turn the sander on. If I had not, it probably would have chewed up my drive belt. Even if I had paid the list price without free shipping I would purchase this tool.

The dust colecter does not work at all. Will not pick any dust. I will not use it again. Own other DeWalt tools that are good, but this one is JUNK.

I am an occasional user. I've used my sander for approx 10 times. The motor burned up today. I was sanding 3 sheets of plywood with 60 grit paper, when all of a sudden it siezed up. Of couse I've had it longer than the warranty, but it should last under the conditions I use it. Will consider before buying Dewalt again. Also, the dust bag is a joke. It collects maybe 20% of your dust.

I purchased this belt sander about 5 months ago and found that it lives up to the product claims and design with one basic flaw, the dust bag. As you can imagine, a belt sander removes material aggressively and wood dust is the obviously byproduct.

It didn�t take me long to realize that none of the dust was being directed into the bag and perhaps this is due to a design flaw if in fact the designers gave this feature any thought. On the good side, you never have to empty the dust bag because it has no function since all dust is left on the work piece or shot into the air for potential breathing.

If dust collection is a concern of yours, perhaps a different model or manufacturer would better suit your need.

There are 3 grits of narrow extender paper that I have found:
SDNR060, SDNR080 and SDNR120. Try www.toolsforless.com and
search on any of these 3 SKU numbers.

All the best.

this little unit is really a gem. The only down side was finding sanding pads ...found the b&d mouse pads fit it though...haha..so i have been using those for the triangle and then cutting the scap to make profile pads...they work great and HD sells them for about 4.50 a box.....enjoy...oh and no issues with unit that others had noted...I used it for stairs, a wood ceiling and a couple pieces of old funiture i wanted to prep for refinish and even using it for 6-7 hours no problems...though i will say i wish it had a dust bag...the hose option is a bit clumsy...

We are building a sailboat and had avoided buying a detail sander for three years, because the ones we'd seen had little power and were flimsy. When we needed to get into corners, we used a Dremel tool with a sanding drum. We burned out one Dremel tool, and then went through five of the (returnable) hardware-store brand. One day, a friend brought over her Bosch detail sander and we were astonished. We went out and bought one right away, and several months of hard use later we're still very happy with it. We've worn out the triangle sanding pad (esp. its corners) so we'll be replacing that, but we've been extremely happy with the tool itself. We should have bought one when we started the boat! It's as good as our Porter-Cable random-orbital, and that's saying something!

Can't remember why I thought I needed this sander sitter. You have to set the sander down in it perfectly or it spins off the bench. If using a variable speed on highest setting the whole thing will "walk" off the bench if you leave it running more than a few seconds. First time my sander hit the floor I was a little more than upset. The whole mech is too light. As for the cleaning aspect, with the new stearite disks you can get, here on Amazon and from suppliers like Klingspor, you are hard pressed to ever load em up anyway. It's another one of those "good ideas" that just doesn't transfer from concept to actual use very well. If you just really have to have one, let me know, I'll send ya mine for the cost of postage. Can't recommend this one.

It seems odd that you need to 'break in' this simple device but you need to. After following the directions, it works like a charm.

I make a lot of small stuff and I continually need to stop and rotate the part in the vise. I was doing these small spindles for a bookcase. 4 spindles x 4 rows x 2 sides x 4 sides per spindle = a helluva lot of time waiting for the sander to wind down. This thingamajiggie probably cut down the time needed by half. Really. No kidding.

If time is money, this investment started making profits for me the first day I owned it. Still, it seems awfully expensive for what it is. So, it only gets 4 stars.

UPDATE: I paid $24 for mine. I see that these are now selling for about $15. So, I'd give it a five.

This is truly a good product.I had a little trouble at first,it wanted just to shake in the carousel. I called the manufacturer (Baxter Creek Tools) to inquire about it. They were a great help. It seems that I didn't fan the paper disc upward with the palm of my hand enough, as per the instructions. Apparently paper comes in all different sizes, some a little smaller than 5" and some a little larger than 5", The Sander Sitter will actually roll the paper automatically but it has to have some room in the carousel to start with in order for it to work properly,according to the guys at Baxter Creek. After that it did spin like it was suppose to.This is great because it allows me to set my sander down while running for a momment, to move my project around.My sander is a little older and the braking mechanism is worn, and it seems like forever when I shut it off to come to a stop.Now with the Sander Sitter, it allows me to shut off my sander and set it down and go on to the next job without waiting. My sander winds down safely to a stop in the carousel.All this does save me time. And remarkably it does clean my paper extending the life of the disc. If you have a ROS. this is a good purchase.

This sander touts itself to be ready for the toughest job, but after replacing the pad and having the main center bolt break after slightly over a year of use in a sign shop this sander comes up very short. I was dissapointed in this being a Bosch product and have recently purchased the Rigid 5" sander which is superior in every way, less vibration, smoother & quicker results, a carrying case, extra pad, sanding discs and other extras.

I am a fan of the better Bosch tools. I love the jig saw. But after buying three of their sanders (a belt sander, and two ROS including this one) I will not buy another. All three were plagued by reliabilty problems and the belt sander had tracking problems. (I have used sanders from Fein, Makita, and DeWalt and have never had a problem with any of them.)The 3725 had a series of problems: repeated sudden inexplicable power losses not fixed by Bosch service, sudden loss of parts etc. It does sand quite well when working. It is smooth, gives good results, and easy to use. The dust removal with supplied bag is mediocre. I have not tried with vacuum.

I was pleased to make this purchase at a very good price. I use one at work every day and wanted one for my home use.

Don't throw away your money! I purchased this as a backup sander to my makita ros. Any pressure placed on this sander other than its own weight will greatly decline the rpm's. After just a few hours, this sander lost all of what power it had and it now resides in the trash. It's loud and it has a terrible vibration. Take it from me, spend a few more dollars and get a makita! B & D's are nothing by throwaway tools.

I bought this sander a while back and it's OK, but I probably wouldn't buy it again. The dust collection bag leaks dust visibly: you can see fine dust draining through the filter cloth. It sands OK and has adequate power for most of my work, but the one I bought had a warped plastic housing. This lifted the gasket between the pad and the sander body resulting in a spray of dust back at me. Although that problem is fixed, it still sprays dust if you don't apply uniform pressure to the pad. If you hook the dust port to a shop vac, it's OK, but the built-in dust collection is anemic.

I would recommend this tool to any handyman, I have used the sander and am very well pleased with it.

I was disapointed with the product. After 15 minutes of use, the orbital head slowed down. It stopped within 20 minutes and I was unable to clear the head to continue the job.

I bought this sander and start using it next day, like other reviewers write you probably can do the job faster by hand sanding but this sander is almost dust free and you don't get tired as you would do the hand sanding. You have to try the tool in some small place before you start working with it specially if you are use this sander first time, you have to feel the tool and find the good way to work and how to control it, also it should be flat to the wall.
I'am remodeler and I have to work with drywall a lot so when you do some patching at your customers house with furniture this sander is probably the best to use. Also ones in few hours you have to lubricate the tool and after you finish work with the tool you stil have to check the walls and finish sanding with hand, some corners and tight places but it wont be too much.
When I bought this sander I finish with this tool two bedrooms single famaly house painting and drywall repair and I can say this tool help me a lot and save me a lot of time for cleaning the floors.
So in one word I like the tool and would recomend it to you.

I bought the loveless drywall sander and vacuum about 4 years ago. I used the vacuum for all my dry vac needs in the house. It is great for not spreading the dust back out via the vent in the vac like a regular wet/dry vac does.

I have had a few problems with the drywall sander, however, I rate their products so good because of the customer service from the company.

After about 2 years, I tried the drywall sander on a larger project. It was not working good and the vibrating that powers the head stopped with very little preasure. I called loveless. He asked me a few questions, then determined that the was a screw missing on the sanding head. I still was on my first sheet of sandpaper that came with the unit. It may have been lose or not assembled correct. They sent me a brand new sanding head :) Great service.

Today, I went to use it again on a larger sanding project since last time I finished up with my other sanding techniques because I did not want to wait a few days for the sanding head. Well after about 20 minutes, I was getting several shocks. These were from Static electricity. But they did not feel good. I called them up to find out if workaround like wear rubber gloves. They asked if I had the yellow pole? I did, he said about a year ago they replaced with an alluminum pole to solve the issue. He said he will ship me out a new pole. This free replacement is after I have owned the product for over 4 years.

I liked the product and company I also bought the ashless fireplace vac :)

This product does not sand overly fast, but this sander does a great job with collecting the dust. If you are doing remodel work where dust is a concern, this is a great product, and the customer service is outstanding.