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The Makita is excellent, the best small belt sander I've ever used. Details, guys, please. A minor detail, but annoying and I'd expect Makita to catch things like this.- The closure on the dust bag is a funny plastic thing that slides on and I can already see I'll have to be careful not to lose it. As usual with my power tools, I bought the Makita 9911 and gave it a gentle break-in. As always, I'll edit my review if problems develop. It's light, but on high speed it really sands fast. The dust system actually works on this sander and works very well. I haven't felt the need to hook it up to my vac system because the dust collection is that good.
This is the best sander in the world if you have to sand vertical surfaces. The not-so-good:-I had to take a utility knife and remove the sharp plastic molding edge on the underside of the handle. But still I give it 5 stars because it works very well and has great features. If you've used belt sanders before, you understand the need for a compact sander for jobs like scribing countertops and for sanding verticle surfaces.
I still wear hearing protection, but it's noticeably quieter than the turbo-jet scream that most belt sanders emit.- I experienced no tracking issues at all. Then I continued to give it about 3 additional hours of use and that was just its first day. If you're after a compact belt sander with plenty of power and features, this Makita is first class. The positives:- Light weight, but very powerful. Now if you've tried to use heavy belt sanders to sand vertical, you know how nice it is to have a light, but powerful sander. What's wrong with a zipper like everyone else uses.
Put on a belt, adjust the tracking screw, and it stays right where I set it. I took it out of the box, changed belts to a coarse, and then ran it for over an hour without shutting it off while sanding the hull of a wooden boat. - Good dust collection. - It's actually fairly quiet for a belt sander.
However, there are times when a random orbit sander is just too slow for the job at hand. Just slip the belt on and go. A very nicely engineered tool which I'm glad to have in the collection. I recently picked this up for $79 on clearance at The Borg and am thrilled with it. The balance is just right.
I already have a large heavy duty belt sander, but I rarely use the monster because it is so aggressive and heavy. With this little Makita I have excellent control and reasonably aggressive removal rates. Mine was Made in England, though I'm not sure if they all are. The belt tracking is automatic.
Say goodbye to those gouges caused by the rollers and edges of the belt. The ergonomic placement of the handles is absolutely perfect, which provide superb control. That makes this one very easy to use. The belt stays in place and does not require any adjusting. This belt sander really does the trick. This sander is light enough that it could be used on walls and even ceilings. I was pleased to find out how quiet this sander is compared to others I have used in the past.I would highly recommend this sander over other sanders in the 3-inch class. The dust collection bag works better than I could have imagined.
I like makita products but was disappointed when it just stopped working after about 5 hours total of use. steve I didn't force iteither. The switch was on high nearly all the time so I don't see why the variable switch might have become defective.
It's one of those rare tools that leaves you wanting nothing more, because it would be almost impossible to improve. Real quality at a fair price. Most recently, I used this sander to edge new hardwood floors and even went so far as to use it for the initial sanding of almost 200 s.f. Although I did break down and purchase a 4"x24" Porter Cable (a Makita 4"x24" was not available locally) to complete the remainder of the floor, the Makita performed flawlessly, even under heavy pressure. The 4"x24" Porter Cable would get to about 1/4" on the side and 6" in front. It has been almost a year since I purchased this sander and I must say that it impresses me more every time I use it.
And as other reviewers have pointed out, the dust collection is outstanding, even when using the supplied dust bag. of oak flooring, using 50 grit belts. I highly recommend this sander. I was able to sand completely flush to the right side of the sander and to within approximately two inches of the front. It's light, powerful, relatively quiet, with good belt tracking. It simply would not stall, regardless of the pressure applied.
I just wish I could say the same for the 4"x24" Porter Cable. Another good feature of this sander is its compact design which allows you to get into tight quarters.
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