Sanders Reviews

The belt sander was returned immediately due to it's condition. It was supposed to be factory reconditioned "Like new". It was covered in heavy sawdust and the collector bag had a large hole in it. The collector tube was so out of shape it would not attach to the sander. Stick to the new products for Porter Cable. If the cost for new is too high, purchase a Makita.

I have had no problems with any reconditioned products from Amizon.com in the past. I love my drill press and nail gun. My sander came in just as the previous review. It was covered in sawdust and had some rust. Amizon sent me another one overnight and it was in better shape. I kept it and know that Amizon will take care of me. The return sticker took a while to recieve, after the new one came, but I had no problems sending it back, I guess I need to trust the customers reviews.

Mine works great and I wouldn't trade it for any other kind or brand name. As a matter of fact I put away another brand name the first day after I started using this model. It's a solid machine that simply works great, and it has been doing that for a long time now. The way I see it, Amazon makes it easy for you to purchase just about any sander on the market. I tried this one and if I have to buy another one, I'll have 2 of the same kind.

Sergio,
Canton, Mi

I have NEVER had more difficulty with any power tool in my 50 plus years of buying and using tools. I have had more problems getting this power tool up and running than anything I have ever bought. The manual of instructions for assembly is woefully incomplete. I suspect that a novice would never have been able to get the machine running. While I now have it running, it still requires more adjustment and modification. All I can say is the person who designed it either is not a woodworker or this is the first time they ever designed a power tool. Clearly that person never tried to use it after it was on the market. In conclusion I can only say I would not recommend this sander to anyone and plan to send more detailed comments with pictures to Grizzly. Allan Furman, Deerfield Beach, FL

Hi, I bought this sander because I do a lot of hobby work and I have a boat plan in the future and I will be sanding to the line a lot to fit things up. This is a pretty typical Grizzly tool, lot of bang for the buck, lots of solid cast iron which makes it accurate and smooth running. It is significantly cheaper than the comparable Delta or Jet equipment. The locking lever and tracking for the belt really works well. The only significant issue is that the cast iron table for disk sander (which can be also positioned to work with the belt) is held in place and aligned by a pair or set screws with allen heads. These screws loosen up frequently, unfortunately you need to loosen them up to change the table from the disk to the belt so locktite or equal is not a good solution. These screws should be bigger and supplied with integral handles. Otherwise the thing hogs out material and does it's job. The dust collection is OK to good but not excellent. Some users may want to purchase a second cast iron table and permenantly install it for the belt. The table itself is nice when it's square and tight. I actually picked this up at the Muncy, Pa store considering the issues assocated with weight and shipping. I didn't want my wife having to deal with such a heavy tool although shippers have been helpful in the past. I highly recommend getting to one of the Grizzly stores if you can manage it. It isn't Mecca but it's a near thing.

Set up only took about 20 minutes. Based on the other review I was expecting it to take all night! Be sure to have some turps handy to clean off the grease from the cast iron parts, thats about the most difficult part of the initial setup. I placed my grizzly on the new bench I made for my sanding center, hooked it up to my new tool triggered vac and its been working flawlessly ever since. This cast iron monster is so heavy, runs so smoothly, that I didn't even bother to bolt it down.

I use the Fein sander constantly as I build my Cozy MkIV aircraft: both the cuting blads and the sanding attachments. The velcro-attached pads suffer from problems. First, the velcro allows motion between the pad and the sandpaper so that you only get part of each vibratory strok transmitted to the paper. Second, the hooks (the fuzzy part) tend to pull off the sandpaper with moderate use causing an even less direct connection between the pad and the sandpaper.
I recommend you stay away from the velcro sandpaper and instead use the adhesive-backed sandpaper. I get long life and very efficient sanding action with that sandpaper.

These are fine Fein accessories for the one---The only---Fein detail sander. This tool has been copied, but, not equalled by anybody except Fein company. Nothing more need be said. There the original detail sander. Everybody elses detail sander just does not have Fein's action. Don't play games, just cough up the do-ray-me for the best!

First when I opened the box the three bolts that hold the rear housing on were broken off. These can be repaired with some machining. The table does need some heavier duty support. The machine does run pretty quiet for the size of the motor. For the price you could live it.

I ordered my disc sander on 3-7 and received it on 3-9. Very fast delivery! But, I did find a few things that lack in quality. The first thing I found was the table lock handle assembly for the right side was not machined properly. There is a tapped hole in the end of the barrel that accepts a spring and screw to keep the handle mated to the barrel via a series of serrations. The hole was not drilled deep enough for the screw to fully engage and the end result was it stripped out and the handle would not stay on. All the fasteners used in assembly are metric. My fix was to tap out the hole for the barrel where it screws into the dust chute cover for a 1/4-20 NC Allen head bolt. The left side was OK. Next, the directions say to set the table 1/16" from the disc. With the screws used to adjust the table, the best I could achieve was 1/8". My fix will be to change the screws to a smaller size or enlarge the slotted holes in the left and right trunnions. If this gap is not even, it will throw the mitre gauge out of square. On the plus side, the motor is the most powerful I was able to find(1hp) and once the corrections were and are made, it will be a good heavy duty unit. The rubber feet dampen the noise and vibration very well. If it were not for the items I mentioned, I would have given it a higher rating.

I bought this one to replace a $40 Ryobi model from the Home Depot, and I thought it would be an upgrade. This turns out to be not true. As another reviewer said, the orbit is truly random, and sometimes veers off of your work with no warning. It has good power, but is difficult to control.

The dust bag is useless, and doesn't do nearly as good of a job at the Ryobi did. I am going to return it and hope that Makita can make a better product...

This is my third random orbit sander in the last 3-4 years and it replaces a smooth operating but poorly made Porter Cable 333. The positive aspects of the Hitachi are that it is very agressive, has good power, and the dust collection seems to work fine. Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to control when the pad is flat on the sanding surface and tends to veer out of control in whatever direction the orbit takes it. In addition, the top of the sander is very large which makes it uncomfortable to hold and probably adds to the control issue. The Porter Cable clearly led the way in sanding quality and smoothness. All in all, the Hitachi just doesn't provide the blend of aggressiveness and finesse that I desire for my woodworking needs.

I bought this tool three years ago and using it only occasionally have spent more on repairs than the tool cost in the first place. Don't waste your money like I did.

This Rotary Hammer packs a lot of punch for the money. The 11 amp motor runs smoothly and makes easy work of drilling 1-1/8" holes in concrete. Insert a flat chisel and break through block, brick and concrete with ease. The detachable cord is a nice feature; if it gets damaged you can get a new one and plug it in, instead of having to open up the machine. The tools vibration dampening system works very well and reduces operator fatigue dramatically. After 100 hours of use a service light will come on, and you will have about 8 hours of use left before the tool shuts down, and the tool will need to be serviced by a Milwaukee service center. A rugged metal case rounds out the package on this affordable, durable, made in USA tool.

When this thing is tuned and working properly, it's a great machine. Alas, those moments are rare. I spend more time adjusting it than actually using it.

First, setting the sanding drum parallel to the table is a pain in the ass. The owner's manual says that parallelism is set at the factory and should not hafta be set by the owner. When I received mine, it was out by 3/8"! This is a huge amount. Obviously, the quality control department was at lunch when my machine was assembled.

To set the parallelism, four bolts are loosed and a knob is turned. The problem arises from the fact that there is so much play in these components, that by the time everything is re-tightened, it is out of parallel again. So, to set it is very much a hit-or-miss process.

Second, attaching the sandpaper belt to the drum is another pain in the ass. There are two clips that hold the sandpaper, one on either end. The first one is easy to set because it is on the outboard and you can see it and reach it. But the in-board clip cannot be seen. The clearance between the drum and the frame is really tight. Performax supplies a wire thingamajig to open the clip and keep the sandpaper taut. This works kinda. But if you have bear paws for hands, forget it.

Third, it's tough to keep the sandpaper taut. Pulling the sandpaper taut, working the thingamajig and pulling the tab into the clip is an exercise in frustration. Then the belts will stretch and need to be re-tightened. And the belts will always rise away from the drum by about 1 mm where they turn into clip. The clip is at 90 degrees to the drum, so, you could crease the sandpaper so it fits better but when you do that, it weakens the sandpaper and it will break. So, with this bump, you really don't have a full 22" because it doesn't sand correctly at the bump in the sandpaper. And forget trying to sand something 44" wide-I'd rather use 36 grit as toilet paper than sand a wide face frame.

Fourth, wood burns for no apparent reason. I get these areas, usually 3/8" wide where something attaches itself to the belt and boom, there is a band of pitch that is burned onto the sandpaper and will never come off. This pitch immediately starts gouging the wood. I use a dust collector rated at 1100 CFM and I clean the belt often with a crepe rubber stick. Also, whenever I sand something greater than 6" wide I increase the depth of cut only 1/8 of a revolution at a time (1/128"). So, I've come to the conclusion that this is underpowered.

The automatic feed limiter doesn't solve this problem. In fact, if the feed limiter kicks in, at least 50% of the time, I'll get a wide swath of burn marks. So, I always feed so slow the feed limiter doesn't kick in.

Fifth, the belts break long before the abrasive is gone. And given the cost of these belts, it makes using this machine too expensive.

So, unless you like fiddling with your machines more than you like working wood, stay away from this.

Oh, there are a few good points. The stand is nice and sturdy. The casters are great. And the stand has a nice shelf to store sandpaper. Nice paint job too.

UPDATE A friend reccommended that I not use the crepe rubber to clean my belts. This has helped reduce burning a lot. So, I would now give this machine 3 stars and strongly reccommend that you do not use the crepe rubber pad sold by Grizzly for cleaning drum sanders.

I purchased this drum sander a week ago.
I am rating the Performax 22x44 Plus Drum Sander with Closed Stand.
The stand is completely assembled in the box. This is the first machine that I have assembled and didn't have any extra bolts or washers. Assembly was exactly as it was supposed to be with everything lining up perfectly. All allen wrenches were provided for assembly.
I only had to tighten the brake pedal. The paint job is wonderful.
The motor assembly is extremely heavy, however, I was able to assemble the entire machine in 20 minutes.
I purchased the optional infeed/outfeed tables and think they are well worth the 100 bucks.

Performance: The motor is unbelievable quiet. No vibration at all. I sanded a 14 inch wide board and the results were amazing. Dust collection is a must and my Delta 1200 CFM pulls 99% of the dust.

I use a 30 AMP service for the drum sander.
Drum alignment was spot on. It was only off by .002 of an inch. No adjustment needed at all!

I give it 4 stars because the mobile base moves inline and does not allow you to easily steer the machine. I also wished the conveyor motor was a little beefier. No problems. I just would like the assurance. The motor adjusts from 0 to 10 fpm.

I am so happy I received this machine. It was given as an early Father's Day gift.

I bought this adapter for an older 3283dvs sander, which originally came with a flimsy bag filter. I also added a microfilter cartridge. After sanding a kitchen's worth of cabinets and 8 conference room tables, I don't think the system has collected more than a couple of tablespoons of dust. Most of it ends up on the outside of the sander or in the air. Apparently, my sander is just not set up right for the pressurization of the microfilter.

I am a big fan of Bosch tools and believe they are genuinely well-engineered. But I bought this system on their customer support agent's recommendation and wish I hadn't

No idea what the reviewer below is trying to say. If you are serious about collecting dust while sanding, this is a must have item. I've been using it for 4 years with 3725DEVS sander and all I can say is it works.

I have used about 20 of these strippers to strip off 30 year old paint on cider block. It works great taking off the paint but I've gone through 3 drills. The dust from them seem to clog up the drills and I'm still not done.

Deb

When I purchased this grinder it was $41.99 now it is selling for nearly half that. For the current price it is a fair deal. It is slightly above the Harbor Freight and other ChiCom batch of cheapo grinders but miles from Milwaukee, Metabo and other top shelf tools. This one has been abused more than used and is still functioning as it did when I opened the box. The bearings are still quiet and if it lasts another year before dying I will be happy with the purchase.
Still, I could have bought 3 of the HF units for what this one cost and it isn't 3 times as good.