Sanders Reviews

This is a Ryobi Drum sander they have discontinued manufacture of this item & the parts may be hard to get. The dust port is to small if you sand anything more than narrow boards. At best it is worth about $275-$300

As a timber framer, I bought it to fill in between my Dewalt 8 1/4" and Makita 16". The thing that came in my shiny red box is all but useless as a tool. Some part of me hopes to read that Milwaukee never made a 10 1/4" saw and that what I bought was a backstreet knock-off. As others have said, the saw cannot be used for accurate deep cuts. If accuracy is not important, and your just looking for greater depth of cut, save some money and buy a cheap chainsaw. You will be happier with the results. I wish I had ponied up the money (about $465) for the Makita 10 1/4 the first time around, but here I go now. If after reading this you are still interested in this saw, I've got one for sale!

No offense to Taiwainese folks, I'm just big on domestic tools. Hey Amazon! Your Technical Data link says USA for Coutry of Manufacture. (I've noted in several instances of tools I know to be imported that the listing says they were made here.) The box, maybe but the saw was made in Taiwan. Maybe that was just the couple of these I've seen and used and the rest are made here (doubt it). Gave it two stars because even though it's junk, it's a Milwaukee and it's powerful. Not accurate like everyone else has said. Buy a Big Foot!

Complaints are overblown. I've used this for framing, fencing and decking without significant problems -- just a bit of fettling prior to each use.

Depth adjustment is by a WEIRD post-mount system -- never saw such a BIZARRE thing before. It's imperfect, but I can't suggest a better way to rigidly fix the position of blade-to-saw and get every bit of blade exposed for the deepest cuts.

Gauge of the base plate is a trade-off on weight (& balance) vs. durability. If I felt I couldn't rely on it, I'd have a steel plate base fabricated and fitted, but so far it works great.

Careful setup and periodic realignment are VITAL for accuracy on this beast (esp. as to pitch of cut -- that post-mount can shift), but take no real time once you learn the saw. [Hint: Take five minutes and fabricate a calibration slot block to keep the blade perpendicular to the base while tightening that crazy post-mount. Make extra calibration blocks for all angles you routinely use. Add a wide stand slot beside the blade calibration slot to provide a base to set the saw on between cuts, rather than dropping it on the ground to warp the plate, gall the plate and knock the saw out of alignment. Stop being a lazy, whinny dummy.]

I also use the Makita 5402NA 16-15/16" saw and the Skil HD5860 wormdrive 8-1/5" (as well as other great Bosch, Makita and Porter-Cable saws). Each one, like this, is a 5-star NICHE tool but only a 4-star GENERAL tool. Savvy?

Unfortunately, I have to agree with the other reviews. I also am a Porter Cable fan but this was one of the worst tools in my collection. At the cost of $100 or more, I expected much better. The attachments don't stay on, it is noisy. And now, after moderate use, it rattles and wines. It was a good idea on the drawing board but in practice it fell short.

Well this certainly has a range of opinions. Even after the negative reviews I bought it since I have faith in Porter Cable (no kool-aid comments please). I thought I would address the comments by J. Smith directly.

1. Even with all the profiles there will be some times that they don't fit but by rotating the sander I generally get it to fit pretty close. I never have worn through a pad and gotten a black mark and do some pretty aggressive sanding (makes up for poor cutting). So I haven't had that problem. If you want to save a little money and get more variety on sand paper try this. I use regular sandpaper and spray the back with a 3M adhesive (#77). That will stay tacky for about 30 minutes so don't do to much. They stay on the profile fine and I am currently using some #50 to rough sand the trough for New Yankee Workship marble roll.

2. It isn't really smooth but then it is a high speed vibrating sander so I didn't expect that. I have found that by tilting it slightly forward or backward it will travel in that direction along the piece quite nicely.

3. It is noisy but then I wear ear protection every time I use a power tool and I am sure your mother would want you to also.

4. I have had no problem with the profiles sticking and I even take them off and reposition them as one part fills up.

5. I don't know how else you would get the paper to stick without adhesive so don't understand this comment.

All in all I am very happy with this tool. Now back to sanding.

This is definitely the tool to have when it comes to difficult sanding tasks: It goes into inside corners and curves with ease and the variable speed allows less or more agressive sanding. The dust port is great, hardly any dust when hooked to vaccum. Great feel in the hand, good weight and just all around the expected American made PC quality!

WE BOUGHT THIS DEWALT BELT SANDER YESTERDAY TO STRIP OUR RED OAK FLOOR OF ITS STAIN, AFTER ABOUT 15 MINUTES OF USE IT STARTED SMOKING, WE LET IT COOL OFF, WENT BACK LATER AND USED IT ABOUT 45 MINS., WENT BACK AGAIN AND WHEN I PULLED THE TRIGGER IT STARTED THEN STOPPED, IT NEVER CAME BACK ON!!
RETURNED IT TO LOWES TODAY FOR A NEW ONE, GOT HOME STARTED USING IT AGAIN ON THE SAME PROJECT, 15 MINS. LATER IT STOPPED WORKING, NO SMOKE, NO NOISE, JUST STOPPED.IT'S BEEN TWO HOURS AND STILL NOTHING(I CHECKED MY BREAKERS JUST TO BE SURE- IT'S THE SANDER!) MY HUSBAND IS A CONTRACTOR AND WE HAVE MANY DEWALT TOOLS, ALL OF THEM FANTASTIC!! BUT IN THIS CASE I WOULD JUST MOVE ON TO ANOTHER BRAND, I WILL TOMORROW WHEN I RETURN THE SANDER FOR THE SECOND TIME. $200.00 DOLLARS!!!- WHAT A JOKE

Before buying this DeWalt sander, I failed to read the reviews. Now that it is on its return trip, I read them and concur with most. That I bought the DeWalt sander because I have other DeWalt tools that are great. Not my experience with this sander.
My problem was it plugging up with sanding dust and required the careful extraction of sand dust to get the collector to work. I didn't have a problem with over-heating, but felt the tracking device didn't function (however did not have a problem keeping the belt tracking from a visual check). When the air blower passages were clean, the sander functioned well. But after a few minutes of sanding, I'd have to take it apart enough to remove the blockage ahead of the blower fan (good to have a high powered vacuum). Not a good design, IMO. I was disappointed.

I used this sander on a deck and I ran it hard for about 45 min at a time and it never overheated. After about a week of heavy use and abuse it would not turn on. I got it repaired under warranty(the switch went bad) Overall I really like the tool, it works better than a Porter-cable I used. I wish it had a fan or something to clear the dust out better. It will get clogged if you close the dust ejection port.

I bought this unit and paid for two day shipping to control the dust in a room addition I am doing.I am skim coating and sanding everything. It arrived as expected but when I started the assembly, I discovered that it was missing one of the clamps that held the sanding screen to the sanding head. I immediately called the number on the product sheet and was assured that the part would be FedExed that day. One week later, after not recieving the part, I called again. The vendor once again assured me that it would be FedExed for next day delivery. That was the day before yesterday.I now dread going to the job. Despite other control measures, dust is everywhere, the part is no where to be found. My evaluation of this product is that it is useless as delivered. It is no better than the support you get when you have a problem.

I have been using this unit for the last three days on a major drywall project and am dissapointed in the unit. I find that I have to completely clean the unit every half hour or the suction drops to zero. I am using a 16 gal. heavy duty vaccum that starts choking after a few minutes use.

Sorry, I would not recomend this unit for extended use.

I just spent half a day sanding drywall with this thing, and I have to say, it delivered as promised. I understand what others are saying, it doesn't look like you're getting much for your half a C-note, but what are the alternatives? The hose looks cheap, but it is very flexible and sprung back when I invariably stepped on it. It's kind of noisy, but I'd rather wear ear muffs than get covered in dust all day. And I'm sure it must be better for your shop vac than sucking dust directly all day.

If I were a professional mudder, I'm sure I would go for the three- or four hundred dollar set up, but for the once-in a whiler, this is about right. The bottom line is I got more done in less time (spent less time choking on dust) and clean up was about 10 percent of what it is when the dust is allowed to run free. You still have to supply the muscle, but at least you're less disgusted when your done (though still tired).

Sander okay for small sanding project. Dust collector fell off after first use. Once supplied sandpaper with kit is used, it is impossible to locate additional paper.

I bought this some time ago to use as a general sander. It is too light duty and too much "try to please everyone," though. The thing makes waay to much noise, I hope MY dust collector (not ONCE have I taken dust out if it since it has never collected any) fell off, it seems that some plastic piece rattles around in that area and is magnifying the noise the sander makes. As I said, although this sander does sand, I would not recommend it even for medium jobs, such as sanding a piece of wood with rough paper (grits 50, 80, 120) before you get to the finish (220+ grit) step. It just takes too long to sand with this sander.

Also,a *big* bother for me: The sandpaper you can get for this at a superstore comes with tear-away pieces for the other B&D sanders (mouse, detail, whatever). Well I hate it because the stupid sandpaper tears in the tear away perforations (since this is the biggest sander you don't have to tear anything away to make it fit) and I strongly believe this has made the sandpaper last WAAAY less than normal. This alone is reason enough for me to say "don't buy this thing." The "produce a single sheet of sandpaper for all our models" idea makes sense to some dumb marketer at B&D, but you're stuck with the self-destroying sandpaper.

Man do I hate changing the paper because it is torn away at the tear marks and not because I have used it up!

If I were a prospective buyer I would skip this sander and buy a better quality one from the "serious" toolmakers like Porter Cable, DeWalt, Bosch or Makita for about the same money for a base model sander.

Bottom line: I own this sander and I'm about to replace it with something different.

This sander seems to do a good job although I don't have much experience with other sanders. Like most who have written reviews I am not a big fan of the proprietary hook and loop sandpaper replacements that are sold. However, after quickly running through a batch of it and not having replacements on hand, I traced the outline of the sandpaper pad out on a sheet of regular sandpaper and cut it out. I then took some spray adhesive (I used 3M high strength 90 I had on hand)and coated the top (grit side) of the old used up pad and pressed on to this the back of the cutout sandpaper and held for about 10 seconds and proceeded to sand the walls in my bathroom for painting. Total time for this process the first time was a couple of minutes. Using this method I have been able to use whatever grit sandpaper I like at 1/4 of the cost of the B&D replacements. Even better I am able to use the resilient stuff that lasts longer so I have to change much less frequently.

There's an art to using the thing and once you acquire it, you can do pretty good work with it. Until you catch on, you'll burn holes through one spot on your sandpaper and leave black rubber residue on your work in a heartbeat if you're using the rubber profile attachments. If you're using the diamond pad with hook and loop, you definitely want to have the dust wand and vac hose accessories. If you don't this thing will keep your face full of dust. They should be included as standard since they're almost a requirement, but they weren't on mine.

Other than bad balance, lousy dust control, too much noise, and some serious reservations about the quality outside the motor housing, I like it. It lets me do a lot of things that I previously either couldn't do or had to do by hand.

Just make sure you're adept at power tool repair, that you have a handly online source for parts for the thing (Sears.com is best I've found so far), and be prepared to accept the fact that the pad attachment brackets will be self-destructing on a regular basis, and you'll like this thing after you get used to it. If you can't handle those little problems, don't buy this thing.

Would I recommend it? Not without making you aware that you're going to be constantly replacing pads, pad parts and bracket housings IF you can find them to replace them. Porter Cable's parts distribution system is still operating in the 1950's. Thank goodness for Sears.com and another outfit that has a good parts website in Canada or we'd have thrown this thing away long ago.

The attachment system is a real disappointment. I could see somebody like Wagner making junk like this. I haven't found this to be typical of Porter Cable in other tools I own. Seems like I've got to overhaul it just about every time I get about halfway through a restoration job. It could have been better designed and Porter Cable could make parts for the thing more readily accessible like all their major competitors have done.

I'd give it five stars on workability (once I found and bought the attachments that were needed to make it workable for anything other than hobby use) and NO stars on durability and less than that on manufacturer backup. Wish it were different but that's what I've experienced.

I've had this thing a couple of years now. I still haven't found anything else that can do all the things that this tool can do as well as it does it. The profiles will let you restore practically anything once you learn to use them. The Fein may be preferable for doing jobs that the diamond pad does, but it just can't do jobs that can be done with the Porter profile kit.

I stand by my previous criticism of the pad attaching system. It's rather "mickey mouse" and not up to Porter Cable standards I'm used to in my other tools. But, we've got periodic replacement of the parts that self-destruct pretty much down pat now so it's not a big problem, when you consider what all this tool does that nothing else we've found can do. Also, I was told recently that Porter Cable is addressing the pad mount system problems in an update of the tool that is planned for release soon. I hope so and if they do, I'll be the first to buy one.

We've adapted the Profile Mounting Pad to dust collection by boring a couple of holes on each side of the holder and using the vac wand with it. Works great. Porter should have thought of it.

It's a tool we consider essential for restoration of detailed woodwork, both inside and out

This tool is great for sanding detail work like painted window and door molding in an old home. I just started working with it and my first impression is that this will allow me to work much faster than if I tried to do this by hand. I was able to remove paint from the molding of 2 doorways and 3 windows in about 2 hours. Not bad for using it for the first time.

It does take a little getting used to using this tool. This is not an orbital or finish sander. The inline action seems awkward at first, in my case only because the paint would gum up in the paper and cause the tool to kick back. If you move the tool constantly in a slow motion across paint (as the manual states) it works very well for paint removal.

I would agree that this tool is loud, but it is not unbearable. It is a little louder than my PC orbital sander, but not nearly as load as most shop vacs or compressors. Ear protection doesn't seem necessary for this tool.

The profiles stay on the tool without any problems. The sandpaper stays put too without any problems. The paper does wear quickly, but I sort of expected this with sanding paint. The sanding motion is very agressive. This can be a great thing for removing paint. However, you do have to change the paper often. The sand paper rolls are pretty cheap.

I bought my tool factory refurbished for about half of what I have seen it sell for new. I have no complaints about its performance or quality. This is another PC tool that I would recommend. Good luck.

I have owned this sander for over a year now and I'm very disappointed with it. It is under powered and the belt bogs down with minimal pressure. The belt tracking adjustment is difficult to use. The sanding belts and sanding disks are a pain to change. Overall, I think Delta needs to make some major changes to make the 31-280 sanding center worth the money!

Purchased three years ago for a small home shop. Be sure to check belt tension during initial setup. Soft plastic dust covers are easily damaged by retaining screws and sanding belt. The toggle switch seems inadequate and sometimes leaves the machine running after turning off the machine. When the switch completely stopped working recently a replacement cost $34.00. Overall a good machine, tables and gauge slots are true.

I purchased this sander for making poodle toys for sale at craft shows. This sander works very well except the platten spring is too weak....I put on a stiffer spring and now it works great!!

I bought this sander at Lowes because it was inexpensive,
about $50, and I also thought that Black and Decker was
still a good name. Used the sander to sand old floor
adhesive off of plywood. The floor was approximately 4'X 6'.
For a brief moment I thought this tool purchase was going
to be worth the price. This is the first belt sander I have
ever used. I went through 4 belts in about 1 hour.
The belts would track true and sand good for a short time.
Then the belts would go off track and cut into the plastic
housing. I could turn it off and manually adjust the belt
back into the proper position but they would just go off track
even quicker after the first time. One of B&D's big selling
points is automtic belt tracking, no adjustment neccesary. It
did not work for me. I returned it to Lowes the next day no
problem.

I was going to buy the variable speed Dewalt until I read the
reviews about it on this site. I was cheap before so I thought
if I spent $200 on a sander I could pretty much expect to get a
good machine but now I am not so sure. I really like the idea
of being able to mount the Dewalt on it's stand and use it as
a fixed sander. Not sure what I am going to do now.

I got this sander as a youth beginner and at that time I was unimpressed. If you use this type of sander very infrequently or you are buying this for a person that has a BEGINNING interest in woodworking this is the tool for you to buy. If you plan on going in any way beyond that plan on being disappointed and plan on buying a higher quality sander. I was told this same thing and didn't listen at a younger age. Oh well small price mistake I guess.

Can anyone help me? I need information on a 3" X 24"Black & Decker Sander, a B-245, TYPE AB. Specificaly the size and description if the Drive Gears. Thanks.

I have had this sander at Makita's regional service center (the second time) for over 4 weeks, and still no sander. They have told me that the parts needed to fix it are "on national back order" and were unable to provide any estimate of when I might have the sander back. I have already purchased a Porter Cable sander as its replacement. I have suggested to the Makita regional repair manager (in Chicago) that this kind of treatment was unacceptable, but with no results. I beleive that they should have replaced the sander with a new one after it failed the second time. It is unreasonable to expect me to pay for this sander, two trips to the service center, three long distance phone charges and a replacement sander so I can continue in business.

From my earlier review, you will recall that I had problems with the hook & loop sanding pad and the rotation mode of sanding. I received the unit back from the Columbus, Ohio regional service center (after more than twice the quoted repair time) and the rotation feature broke again within 30 seconds of my first use on some poplar trim. At this point I am quite dissatisfied with this product and Makita as well. This sander cost about twice what comparable products without the rotation plus random orbit mode cost, and it is essentially a very heavy, bulky and expensive 6" random orbit sander. The regional service center promises to get it right this time, but to be truthful, it was defective from the start. I attempted to contact Makita (in California) but met with only automated phone systems and a long distance bill. It will be the last tool I ever purchase from Makita for my small cabinet shop.

I think this is a much better machine for polishing cars - in the dual action mode - than any random orbital I've ever used. In the dual action mode there is enough movement between the pad and the paint to get work done while being safer and easier to control than my Makita 9227C polisher that I use when I have to cut fast. Also, by using the B06040 after my rotary polisher I've been able to remove all the swirl marks and produce a really terrific finish on all kinds of paint from really old lacquer to the most modern urethane.
So far, the machine has run like a champ every day for a couple of months with no trouble at all. I hope my experience is more indicative of the way this tool performs than is the experience of the other reviewers of this tool.

This is a follow up to my review: In the six months since I wrote that review this machine has only gotten a bit quieter. It hasn't been any trouble and I run it hard every day.