[a1Jim]

It least it looks jazzy

 

[dbol]

I bought the same one used it once and thought the same. So I I got my air hose blew it off and took it back to Lowe's. Never did get a another belt sander though.

 

[HanselCJ]

I have either this one or one similar to it. It was an out of box sale for 20-30 bucks. for that price i cant complain, but i would have to say it isn't a fabulous piece of equipment.

 

[richgreer]

Black & Decker was never a great brand - but they were a good brand at one time. They made reasonably good products at relatively low cost. It saddens me to see the deterioration in the quality of B&D products.

Of course, the company also owns the DeWalt, Delta and Porter-Cable brands now and they have positioned B&D as their very low cost brand.

 

[RexMcKinnon]

I was thinking about getting this one but now I am not.

Thanks

 

[AaronK]

thanks for the review. Although that tapered nose seems nice for some things, I wouldnt trust myself to be able to control it well enough on flat surfaces. I wonder if you could attach a strip of leather or something onto the pad (under the belt) to raise the belt off it a bit more - that might help prevent the roller from gouging into the surface.

 

[dbhost]

I saw that one at both Lowes and Home Depot. Something about it just screamed STAY AWAY to me… I still don't have a hand held belt sander. I am actually kind of glad I don't have that particular unit…

 

[tierraverde]

I stay away from ANYTHING with the B&D label.
I just hope their engineering and Mfg. practices don't bleed down to their subsidiaries. Already, some Porter-Cable tools have become questionable.
If so, we all may be buying Festool products. (Which ain't a bad thing.)

 

[Edward83]

Yep next time going with my gut and spending the dough for a decent one, can someone recommend any in particular?

 

[dbhost]

If you want to upgrade from B&D, Harbor Freight sells belt sanders…

But better question is, what are you looking for in a belt sander? Bosch sells a belt sander that I am saving up for… But it is BIG, meant for lots of fast material removal…

 

[araldite]

Looks like the design team has a bigger budget than the engineering team. If you're into drag racing, there's your tool.

 

[PhineasWhipsnake]

I have a Porter-Cable 352VS I got 11 years ago for $130 refurbed. It's a beast - really hogs off the wood-, it's noisy & heavy, but utterly rugged. You might look for refurb deals on old PCs, DeWalts, Boschs, Milwaukees, Makitas. Stay away from the 'Dime Store' brands for this kind of tool.

 

[Bearpie]

I have a Craftsman 3" x 21" belt sander that I have had since the early 70s and it has served me well and faithfully and I hope it never wears out! I bought this when the Craftsman name meant something. This has sanded all the hardwood floors in 2 of my houses and they were not exactly small houses. However I would not recommend buying Craftsman these days although they rate higher than Black and Decker.

Erwin, Jacksonville, FL

 

[Edward83]

I agree about craftsman bearpie, though I wasn't around in the seventies to really know craftsman in their prime. I do have a craftsman table saw that I have run a lot of lumber through but It's not fantastic, they really try to make it difficult to make jigs for so you will buy their factory ones at outrageous prices, but I'm not rich and have all the time in the world so their jigs can take a walk as far as I'm concerned, I also like a challenge.

 

[steventyler]

I bought the Porter Cable 362V back in December to sand a bunch of plywood for some cabinets I was building. This thing has lots of power and was used for hours straight with no problems. It just grinded the wood smooth in no time at all compared to a ROS that I had been using. Awesome tool that has worked very well for me. Only problem is that you definitely need to wear some type of dust mask because of the cloud of dust it creates. Even with a shop vac hooked up to it, there was a tremendous amount of dust in the air. (I am looking at buying a better dust collection system in the near future…)

 

[mnguy]

I have the Bosch 1274DVS, 3" x 21", and it's great. Belt tracking and changing is excellent, dust collection with a shop vac hooked up is decent. I think unless you're sanding down timbers or trying to sand a floor without renting a real floor sander, you don't need a 4" x 24" beast. They just end up too heavy to control for most sanding chores.

I chose the Bosch after reading some comparison tests and getting a recommendation from the guys at 7 Corners Hardware in Saint Paul.

 

[Ingjr]

I have had that sander for about 3+yrs. now and it has served me great. No problems on my end what-so-ever.

 

[falegniam]

that small front roller wheel would come in handy if you had to get close to a board or wall when the grain is perpendicular to it.

 

[dannymac]

it really sucks that black an decker has fallen so low. i still have a bd saw i bought almost 30 years ago and consider it one of my best circular saws, its outlasted and out worked every other brand on the market. hell i even cut concrete with this thing after i burned out my wormdrive. someone needs to bring BD back to it's formor glory