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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.
I think I would have gotten along fine without the tool though. Because of this, it maybe justified by the manufacture to only have TWO mounting holes for your bolts.Build wise, the housing is mostly casted metal and the belt apparatus sits on top of the casingand the disc to the side. It may provide collection with the disc but you would need a powerful suction system to take care of that. Either find a Harbor Freight Tools store to get your discs there or order online.Now for dust. Don't expect to fit big pieces of wood to sand accurately (you need to find other means to do this).
I have yet to use the sander in all the adjustment angles besides the included miter.Operation is a slow to full speed start which I like. sawdust will naturally build up there overtime and that volume of area also is shared with some wires that are exposed to the inside area that the sawdust (if not cleared out) shares space with. The power switch is big and right there so you can quickly turn it off and on. Don't expect your mobile shop vac purchased cheaply from your big name hardware store to handle the dust collection, you will need something better and even then dust still builds up here and there amongst the tool.The base of the unit has a removable plate and you can access the innards of the solid metal casing.
After that it is ready to use as the sanding belt and disc are already installed. It is a tool that for my purposes is needed on occasion but now that I have a miter saw and a router, accurately getting my rough cuts to the exact edge I want is not a problem anymore and this tool stands by as an auxilary tool. The disc table doesn't feel flimsy once installed and once set to the proper angle it stays solid. Small pieces of work are fine. The belt stop right before the dust guard while solid metal doesn't feel solid enough to be used as a guide. I have no complaints as it allows me to sand any work piece without manually sanding it by hand or compromise safety by breaking out the orbital sander for small pieces of wood.Assembly is minimal as one would need to install the sanding disc table, the dust guard for the belt and the fence. It is something noted for long term usage to clean out this sucker once in awhile.I am satisfied with this tool but it is very limited because it is a small stationary sander. I have yet to try it with other angles but I am sure that for any first time use that calibration is needed to double check the manufacturer's gauges.
I have used this router for about 5 months, on and off, here and there in that time frame. The instruction manual provides some details on bench mounting which is a must (though for awhile, I used it without bolting it down to a surface and it was steady). The belt back fence takes a bit to adjust and install and does not have that similar feeling of solidness but it gets the job done. Both are 60 grit.The provided miter gauge is reasonable but for finer things, it may need to be adjusted.
The dust collection system for the tool is only good for the belt. However, the tilt adjustment for the disc table and the fence seem to be good for 90 degrees. The guard for the belt sander doesn't do much for collecting and gathering dust so it can go out of the dust port. You do have to check to see if the belt drifts over time though and that can be done easily.The only thing about this 8" disc sander and the 4" belt is that the sanding disc is not something that your Lowes or Home Depot would carry.
Just meerly a simple stop.Have yet to change out the sanding disc but belt adjustment is pretty intuitive.
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