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Used it to sand the bottom of my boat nad it worked great. Have to change pads every once in a while but that is to be expected.
It has survived a few drops off ladders and an extraordinary amount of dust and debris. The is a true workhorse of a sander at a relative bargain price and has proven very durable. It taken about many years of regular use including prepping two San Francisco Victorians for paint to finally bring this sander to a halt and I have happily ordered another one. There a number of review praising this machine and I agree with them. I highly recommend this sander to anyone.
After using and abusing one of these at work for 3 years, I bought one for my self. The handles really give me the control I like. It can almost take the place of a belt sander in your tool collection.
It works great for stripping off paint and exposing fiberglass, and also for sanding off fairing material. I'm unsure if the allen head scre4w should be tight or allowed to float slightly. The internal dust seal was damaged, the first time the pad started to shake itself off, which increased the amount of dust that could not be collected. Also, I found that at times the power seemed to drop, perhaps due to bad contacts on my extension cords, perhaps low service voltage, or possibly something internal. On windy days I can sand without a facemask and only need eye protection. I was able to sand over 400 sq feet of hull in three days.
With other sanders I'd need a crew of men and multiple sanders, and it still would take longer.I use 60 grit "hook and loop" pad and I duct taped a vacuum cleaner to it. A powerful external vacuum cleaner will make dust negligable. I bought this sander for refurbishing boats. Although it sometimes picks up and performs like it did out of the box.I gave this unit a lot of use, and wish I had another one, but I can't give it top marks because the problems I've encountered. When I reattached it, it did not perform as well as previously. If left slightly loose it tends to shake itself looser. I still rated it a 5 because even if it craps out, it is still worth the money.
I can do ten times the work, with a better final finish.However, I got less than a year of service out of it. It outperformed all my other sanders, by a huge factor. After the first time the pad started to shake off, I was unable to make it perform like new.I tried changing extension cords. The variable speed works ok, although I had trouble with it later which may be related to some internal probelms after I serviced it.It is the best all around sander I've used and out performed palm sanders by a factor or 10:1. The backing pad started to shake off. Now the power was gone from this unit. I wish the manual provided service information to maintain it.I'm now planning on buy a competing 6" sander of similar design.
If I'd had this tool when I finished my first oak floor I could have saved about $150 in rental fees and a number of scars on the floor itself. With a 60 grit paper it will take down an eighth inch difference between planks in a few seconds. There may be other brands or models that are even better than this one, but I have no complaints. It had to move parallel to the grain of the wood. And your hand doesn't vibrate for half an hour after you've stopped as it does with some palm or belt sanders. So when I found myself in a kitchen going back and forth a short distance between cabinets, it was almost impossible to reverse course without leaving a scar shaped like the mark a paint roller leaves if you just touch it to a surface.In all the time I've used this random orbit sander it's never left a scar of any kind. The sander I rented, a drum sander nearly as big as a lawn mower, was not very maneuverable. Sure, you have to crouch down on one knee, but you avoid the risk of hernia and pulled muscles that you run when load the massive drum sander into your car.The random orbit technology is an advance comparable to the ball point over the fountain pen, or the laser level over the line level.
The big drum couldn't come closer than a foot from the cabinets. This little unit even gets a couple inches under the toe kick. The motor is smooth and powerful, but comfortable to use for extended periods with one or two handles. Another advantage over a belt sander is that it won't devour shirttails or shoelaces or, in the worst case scenario, long hair.
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