Belt Sander Recommendations -1/4 palm sanders?

[mrclean]

I can get this one :

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=7812627

for FREE brand new, but my only concern would be the cost of the belts, I wanted to get one that just uses regular sand paper which is alot easier to find and less expensive. It's almost like ink for a printer. But this one happens to have a dust collector, which the last time i borrowed a belt sander it was an older black and decker which didn't have one and it was dusty for sure, but got the job done.

Oh yeah, it's going to be mainly used for just sides of cabinets / getting them smooth / so i can prime / paint future projects.

[Blanka]

A belt sander is probably too rough for that. It like mixing sugar in the coffee with a kitchen mixer. Better use a flat sander and hand sanding.

[mrclean]

Really ? because ive used the norton hand sander and on an already painted cab even with 60 grit was too tedious.

[richms]

Chances are you had cheap sandpaper which will immediately dull.

Also 60 is too rough, if you start too rough, it just puts scratches in the material you're sanding, rather then actually removing it. I have never started with less then 120 when removing paint etc

[Blanka]

Better remove paint with a heatgun and a knife. Sanding away paint is no fun for the sandpaper, and you damage the wood too much. If you just want to paint a new layer, sand with a fine paper. Or better, sand by hand with 3M sanding sponges. They are fantastic!

[richms]

They are awesome for sanding internal recesses on architraves/scotia which you cant do with a sander, pricy tho so dont waste them on flat surfaces.

[Blanka]

I had no problem with the price. You can get the paint out easy as they are really flexible. Normal paper covered in paint is useless directly.

[mrclean]

well even though i can get the skil one for free I read a review about it on sears.com and it didn't seem to promising;

""I bought this sander and a couple hours later I returned it. One whole hour of my time with it was pulling it apart and trying to figure out what was seizing up the motor. It has plastic pieces in it somewhere that like to heat up, melt, and jam the motor. I only used it for 15 minutes at most. The tensioner for the belt worked very well and held the belt in place for the short time I used it. The craftsmenship on it is just what I figured it would be though. It is not something that I would purchase again, and I would never recommend it to a friend."

So I still want to buy a belt sander.. but I want to buy one that uses regular sandpaper. I do not want those triangle ones or belt ones, I want the traditional square ones, do they still make them ?

[mrclean]

I think what i want is 1/4 palm sander. But ive been reading mixed reviews on all of these on Amazon... Just a few I was looking at. Some come with a case which is nice, just about all of them have a dust canister.

Bosch 1297DK -               $44.34 - Mixed reviews
Milwaukee 6020-21 -        $38.95 - Very difficult to change the paper
Black & Decker FS540K -   $32.30 - Mixed reviews
Makita BO4556K  -           $71.91 - Had good but limited reviews expensive side
DeWalt D26441K -           $49.00 - Review said loud screeching noise