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All I can say is I love it. It works great even though it's small and compact.
Bought it and used it right out of the box. Great replacement for one I wore out after 12 years of nearly daily use.
It's heavy enough that I don't have to apply pressure, but not so heavy that it's hard to maneuver.The only thing I wish for is that the unit was designed a little better for dust collection. That being said, there is a huge improvement in performance with the shop vac versus just the bag, even with things like MDF. I'd guess with a shop vac that about 90% of the dust ends up in the vaccuum. This sander works well enough at removing stock (coarse sandpaper) and fine sanding (fine grit paper) that I may not replace my old Harbor Freight belt sander that died recently. Just don't expect to use this without some goggles & maybe a mask / air filter.
The motor is powerful, yet there is almost no vibration and my hand doesn't end up sore even after a significant amount of sanding. The connection to the dust bag will accept a 2 1/2" shop vac, however, the tube coming off of the sander is probably only 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter--not even 1 1/4". What this means is that the weight of the shop vac hose can cause the dust collection adapter to come off, especially with how the location of the dust output is fixed. If the tube was a bit bigger, the shop vac would also be able to collect more dust and stay on better.
All of the others stopped orbiting randomly and basically turned into grinders. I have been using one of these sanders for over four years and it just recently died (free spinning disc and no power). But compared to the sanders my co-workers have been using I can't complain. I am currently ordering another Makita and expect it to last just as long. The makita has outlasted several Rigid's, Ryobi's, and a very new Bosch.
Because the hook & loop is so fast, I now do a better job because I'm much more inclined to "step down" with the grits. I've had this sander now for over 2 years and it works great. Does a nice job, and I've had no problems whatsoever. My Dad just tried this and now he wants one too. My (very) old palm sander was the 1/4 sheet type and it was a real pain to change paper.
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