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It melted in half from the flexing. This thing will literally destroy itself. I will never buy another B&D power tool again. I took the sander apart to see what broke and found it to be one of the plastic pins. This sander worked great for about a month (I used it about 4 times on small woodworking projects)until it broke.
Buying this sander is like buying a paper cup instead of a glass.Pros: Has a strong motor and great ergonomic design.Cons: Poor mechanical design. The suspension for the sanding pad is not rubber like most sanders, but 3 thin plastic pins that flex at very high speeds when the sander is turned on. Which didn't surprise me at all because that's what happens to plastic when it flexes repeatedly. Worst design i have ever seen.
The B&D mouse has certainly exceeded all my expectations, and I have slipped into using it as my main sander for the boat interior, even instead of my regular orbital sander: it is efficient and very effective at edges. Of course you need a good supply of sandpaper. My local Home Depot was deficient in B&D mouse sandpaper, but I quickly found I could use regular 5" (Norton) disks on it, cutting a piece from an old disk to cover the velcro near the base where the disk falls short. I have a regular 5" orbital sander, but its too big for the corners and some of the planks. You can cut the disk completely to the shape of the mouse's sanding plate, but I find it better just to let the disk fold-up around the edges for extra edge sanding power. This is also much more effective than I expected (could have done with it being even longer, though). My project is an 18' wooden boat.
The inside is full of nooks and crannies under the seats, between the planks, and the bow (pointy end). Hand-sanding seemed the only alternative. This is basically a sanding job: putting on (clear) epoxy resin sanding it off, repeat. For the much smaller finger probe, you have to cut pieces from the disks, if you follow this DIY sandpaper approach.PROS: very effective, high-speed, great for edges & tight spots; the effective extension tool, low height enables access to smaller spacers (watch out for other versions that are taller)CONS: sandpaper availability (using regular velcro disks solves this); the extension tools attach via a small philips head screw likely to strip at some point (but hasn't yet); the dust collection is not very effective; the on/off button in the front inconvenient in tight spaces; the base plate is a bit spongy if you are looking for a dead flat surface. Then sand again for 3-5 coats of epoxy varnish, sanding smooth between each. I headed to Home Depot, and picked this as the smallest viable looking sander (there was a smaller Ryobi detail sander whose reviews were less good, and looked less convincing for the larger areas i needed to cover). This are all minor compared to the efficacy of this product.
For the nastiest corners it has a finger-sized prong that fits to the nose with a screw.
THIS IS A GREAT PALM SANDER. I LOVE IT THE DUST COLLECTION SYSTEM WORKS VERY WELL.
really nice for getting into those little spots where you can't use a belt sander.
Got it to do some detailed fiberglass sanding and word like a charm. If using it upright on a flat surface and not holding it up, it's just perfect. Might be a little bigger than I wanted, I have average size hands and it seems a bit big for the type of handling I was doing.
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