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Anyway, after three attemptswith customer service, I did finally get UPS back here to pick up the damaged sander; and I must say there was a certain element of entertainment to the process. The trouble arose when the first sander arrived belatedly, slightly damaged. Because the first sander shipped was thought to be lost, a second was sent which arrived in a timely manner. Your customer service reps appear to be young women trying to pick up extra income at home. My son-in-law loves the sander. They don't seem to be sure about anything you ask, and in one case, I picked up the phone only to hear a screaming baby who cried on and on and finally a little voice called, "Mom".
I put it in the dump and bought this Wilton. I'd recommend this to a hobby woodworker. First use it worked pretty good - runs steady, tracks perfectly, doesn't bog. For about the last 3 months I've had to tinker with it before it would start. Bought this to replace a Delta that I bought in March 2006.
It is easy to set up and quiet when it is running. The Delta's plastic drive wheel stripped gears in the first month and I repaired it. The FIRST thing I did was open the power transfer box and check the drive wheels. Light to moderate use, it will do just fine for you. They are metal, cheap metal, but metal and the look substantial enough for the 4/5 horsepower motor.
I gave it away and bought this one based on customer recommendations I read here. I do small woodworking projects, frames, small tables, crosses and various knick-knacks. For the price range and size, this is it. In my opinion - and i use the heck out of this thing - it is as much as you will find for the price and size. I had a Rikon, it never worked well - the tracking was unstable and it did not handle much material.
The product is of amazingly poor fit and finish. I ordered this sander based on Wilton name, power rating, and customer reviews. The foul smelling paint came off on my hands and smeared my bench. The spindle adjustment is similar story, with a screw with cheap plastic knob and a plastic arrestor nut pushing on a piece of bent sheet metal to adjust the spindle.
Even at this relatively low price it should not be of such bad quality. I have bought a number of tools from Hitachi and Bosch recently and I'm very happy with them. The sad thing is a number of people have rated this product highly, which is an indication that the American consumer is getting used to the inferior quality coming from China. I'm putting together a shop in the garage and have bought several power tools from amazon recently. When you open the box you're greeted by a peculiar, noxious paint smell, and it all goes downhill after that. The cast metal base looks like it was hammered together by an amateur blacksmith. Companies like Wilton need to be sent the message that selling products of this quality with their brand names on them will destroy their brand image.
I was considering a number of bench tools from Wilton, like a grinder and a drill press. I just got it delivered today. The tensioner lever is a piece of crooked, probably hand-bent sheet metal with a chunk of cheap plastic attached to it as a handle. After this experience I will not touch anything that says Wilton on it just in case. It probably works as a sander, but I refuse to pay $170 for something this junky.
Received the piece within a few days of ordering, had it assembled and ready to go in about 45 min's. Great product, great deal, and I'm happy. :-)G Schaeffer ABsolutely great machine for the price. After all, that's all that really matters, right.
Nice and heavy, accurate table angles, great dust diversion, easy to "fine tune" pieces even with heavy grit belt. Practiced on a couple pieces of scrap pine, and 10 minutes later, first project was under way. Needed to cut a perfectly round 4" disc. Started with a rough cut using band saw, but got it perfect by trimming down to the pencil line.
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