By Chris Kulczycki
Publication Date: May/June 2003
Beads of sweat collect on my brow whenever I hand out belt
sanders during the boat building classes I teach. In the wrong
hands these powerful tools can easily do more damage -- like
sanding through the hull of a boat in seconds -- than good. The
same is true for belt sanders on the jobsite. A racing abrasive
belt under a rookie's guidance might spell disaster for those
built-ins, stair parts, or custom oak doors. After years of
using these tools for installing finish work and building
boats, I've learned that getting a good, flat finish is about
control, and control comes from skill, experience, and good
tool design.
While we can't do much about your skill and experience, we did
test seven 3x21-inch belt sanders: the Bosch 1274DVS, Craftsman
27725, DeWalt DW431, Hitachi SB75, Makita 9903, Porter-Cable
352VS, and Ryobi BE321 Type II. We looked for the good design
features that'll help you achieve a flat, smooth surface and
good performance: nice balance, comfortable handles, straight
tracking, easy adjustments, and good finish quality. We also
looked at power for knocking off tough materials like
paint.
I worked the sanders for a month on site and in my shop on both
hard and softwood projects. I used them to surface glued-up
stock, remove paint and varnish, resurface a maple countertop,
sand a badly weathered deck railing, and clean hardened epoxy
off boat building projects. I also built a jig to test how well
they reached inside corners and edges. To keep things fair, I
used the same brand of 40-, 80-, and 120-grit belts on all
seven machines.
Body Styles and Handles.
There are two distinct body styles in this test: low profile
and traditional. The Bosch, Ryobi, and Craftsman units have
motors in-line with the belt and their handles are at the far
ends of the tools. The result is a long, narrow, and
low-profile tool, about 1-1/2 inches more narrow than the more
traditionally designed DeWalt, Hitachi, Makita, and
Porter-Cable tools. These four higher-profile, more traditional
designs have motors that spin transverse to the belt. Their
handles also are above the belt rather than at the ends of the
tool, a design resulting in a wider but shorter sander.
Though I've always used belt sanders with the traditional
layout, I like the low-profile tools' balance and feel,
especially for working wide, flat surfaces like a glued up
panel or hardwood floor repair. The Bosch in particular is
light, nicely balanced, and has well-shaped handles. Of the
more traditional tools, the Porter-Cable and Makita units have
exceptionally comfortable handles and well-distributed weight,
although the Porter-Cable is a bit heavy. I found the DeWalt's
handles a little too close together, making the tool
uncomfortable to hold.
Flat Tops.
The Bosch, Craftsman, Ryobi, and higher-profile Makita sanders
have flat tops so you can flip them belt-up for use as
stationary tools. This is great for shaping small parts or
working to a scribe line. Each of these sanders worked great
when I used them upside down to work the edge of a piece of
trim. This position also was excellent for minor adjustments to
little pieces of base molding that I had to fit over a
threshold. You can even put an edge on a chisel or flat bar for
rough work with the tools in this position.
Fences.
Fences turn these belt sanders into proper little sanding
stations that are great for installing built-ins, trim, or boat
interiors. You can already use the Bosch belt-up, but to get
even more utility out of it, the company sells optional
accessory fences and hold-downs. DeWalt sells similar fences
and hold-downs, making it the only traditionally designed unit
with this accessory package.
Switches and Cords
For final sanding procedures like leveling a floor repair or
sanding a countertop, it's handy to lower the sander's speed
because it's less likely to gouge the work. All of the sanders
in the group have variable-speed dials, which I like, except
the Hitachi; it only has a high-and-low speed switch, which
makes it more limited. The Bosch, Craftsman, Makita, and Ryobi
have dials that are easy to reach when the machine is running.
The DeWalt's dial is tough to reach; it's on the handle so you
must move your hand to get at it. Porter-Cable's and Hitachi's
speed switches are a difficult reach, too.
As for cords, when will tool companies realize we want them
long? The Makita has a 16-foot cord -- kudos. The others are 6
to 9 feet long, which is too short for my liking.
Belt Release.
The metal belt-release lever on the Makita is notably easy to
use. By contrast, the thin metal lever on the Hitachi is
painfully sharp. I have doubts about the durability of the
plastic release levers on the Craftsman, DeWalt, Porter-Cable,
and Ryobi tools. While they all work as intended, they feel
stiff and seem like they could snap off. The Bosch lever is
particularly stiff.
Tracking and Adjustment.
Tracking is the tendency of the belt to stay centered and not
wander off the rollers, as happens on some old belt sanders I
have. Once in a while, as the belt wears, you might need to
tweak the tracking to keep the belt centered. Also, you must
reset the tracking for each new belt.
All of the belts tracked steadily once adjusted, but some of
the adjustments were easier than others. On the Porter-Cable
and Hitachi models, the thread pitch on the adjustment screw is
too coarse, which means a small turn of the knob moves the belt
too much. The rest of the tools have finer threads, so more
turning is required to achieve the same result; however, you
have more control and don't find yourself twisting the knob
back and forth repeatedly to get the adjustment where you want
it. I found that the coarser adjustments on the Porter-Cable
and Hitachi, actually make it more cumbersome to adjust belt
tracking precisely.
Platen and Finish Quality.
To ensure a flat finish, a sander's platen should be flat. I
checked the transverse flatness of the platens with a straight
edge and found most of them to be flat or slightly convex. The
DeWalt, Bosch, and Makita tools are closest to perfect; the
Craftsman, Hitachi, Porter-Cable, and Ryobi also are very close
to flat. The Bosch unit has a composite rather than metal
platen and only the Ryobi and Craftsman lack a cork or rubber
backing pad under their platens. Interestingly, I didn't detect
much difference in finish quality between any of the sanders
when surfacing glued-up cherry; all of them left an impressive
finish here and throughout the test. Bosch, DeWalt, and Makita
sell optional sanding frames for their sanders. The frames
(which fit around the base of the sanders) make it much easier
to achieve a really flat finish and prevent gouging on large
surfaces such as countertops and floors.
Yaw.
None of the sanders in this group yawed or wandered, as some
older models I've used do. They all run straight and true, even
when I ran them one-handed. This is particularly evident when
sanding to a scribe line. The Bosch, Craftsman, and Ryobi were
easiest to keep on a line. I found that their handle locations
(at the far ends of the tool) allow for better control. The
Makita and Hitachi also were very steady working to a
line.
Power.
While I wouldn't call any of these tools underpowered, the
Hitachi, Porter-Cable, and Makita definitely have extra grunt
and would be my choices for heavy stock removal, hogging off
paint, or knocking down a hard finish. The Craftsman, DeWalt,
and Ryobi models, on the other hand, feel a bit strained when
pushed hard, but were still capable.
Sanding in Corners
The Hitachi's 4-inch-wide platen design is unique. The idea
behind this feature is you can track the belt to the edge of
the platen to better sand flush in corners. However, I found no
advantage to this design, and the 3-inch platens on the Bosch,
Craftsman, Porter-Cable, and Ryobi tools did just as well. In
fact, the extra width of the Hitachi gives it an awkward and
bulkier feel in tight spots. The DeWalt's platen isn't flush
with the right side of the sander body. The body overhangs the
platen on the right side by about 7/16 inch. Since the motor
overhangs the platen on the left, this means it simply can't
sand flush to a wall, backsplash, or other vertical
surface.
The removable front handle on the Bosch unit is a thoughtful
design feature. It helps the tool fit a little closer into
corners and other tight spots. DeWalt's tool has a removable
front cowling that exposes the front roller. This makes it
easier to work in corners, but for obvious reasons, you've got
to be careful not to bump anything you'll have to go back and
fix later.
Dust Ports.
Dust collection is very important to me. All of the sanders
tested have dust bags. While dust bags help, I typically find
that the dust pickup is marginal, so I usually attach a shop
vac. Fortunately, that's easy enough to do with any of the
tools in the test except the DeWalt, which has a rectangular
dust port and won't accept a circular vac hose.
Dust Bags.
The bags on the Porter-Cable and Hitachi are on the right side
of the machine where they blocked my view when I sanded flush
into a corner, but you can see the work just fine in other
positions. If you do get stuck with the bag in the way, the
Porter-Cable's pivots, which helps in corners. On very rare
occasions, Hitachi's must be removed for corner work, which,
needless to say, generates some dust. The DeWalt's
front-mounted dust bag is hard to see around whether you're in
a corner or not.
The Porter-Cable, Hitachi, and Makita have the largest dust
bags, which I like, because they require less emptying. The
Bosch, Craftsman, and Ryobi bags are on the small side and are
positioned off to the left side of the sander. They might need
to be removed in some tight spots like the Hitachi's, but
that's still the best place for them on these low-profile
tools.
Winners
I like the Porter-Cable and Makita sanders best, but choosing
between them is tough. I really like the Porter-Cable's
rock-solid feel, comfortable handles, and excellent overall
performance. But the Makita deserves the top honor because it
too performs well but also has a longer cord, better
belt-release lever, nicer tracking adjustment, and a flat top
for upside-down use.
The Bosch also is a great, if very different, tool. It has nice
balance, tracking, and overall feel. Being able to use it as a
bench tool is a huge advantage for some work, too. The Ryobi
and Craftsman are much like the Bosch and would be a good
choice for the budget conscious or for more occasional
use.
The Hitachi is well made and powerful, but has a few features
that need improvement. The DeWalt rounds out the group.
Sources of Supply
Bosch Power Tools
Model 1274DVS: $179
877-267-2499
www.boschtools.com
Craftsman
Model 27725: $150
800-377-7414
www.sears.com/craftsman
DeWalt Industrial Tool
Model DW431: $150
800-433-9258
www.dewalt.com
Hitachi Power Tools
Model SB75: $150
800-829-4752
www.hitachi.com/hpt
Makita USA
Model 9903: $199
800-462-5482
www.makitatools.com
Porter-Cable Corp.
Model 352VS: $199
800-487-8665
www.porter-cable.com
Ryobi Technologies
Model BE321 Type II: $150
800-525-2579
www.ryobitools.com
This article is reprinted
courtesy of Tools of the Trade