Small Belt Sander

Ron Roase

Member
Messages
268
Location
Bloomington MN USA
Has any one heard any good feed back on Porter Cable #371K 2 1/2 x 14 belt sander? I saw a guy useing one at a tool show last fall. He was not selling them at the time. He used it to sand down some dove tail joints he had just made. It looks to be a nice compack unit. I have a regular heavy duty one used for heavier work. Also a couple of orbital sanders. This one looks like a good addition to my shop. I can get a factory reconditioned one for $79.00 + shipping. :dunno:
 
i know of one guy that has one and loves it,, he used it for a large conference table 45FT long and told me i should get one, havnt yet, so let me know your thoughts of it,, i wished i had one now!
 
I have one of these units, but I have only used it twice:
  1. to flatten a picnic table built from a still-too-green kit (it needs it again, now that it's dry) :doh:
  2. to flatten the reclaimed plywood top that I put on an old kitchen cabinet, as a base for my benchtop jointer and planer
The unit is lightweight and does a great job, but it does get hot with prolonged use; I often had to hold it by the front handle and the power cord strain relief. It doesn't come with a dust bag, but I found that the one from my Black & Decker ROS works in a pinch. For the second job above I hooked up my ShopVac - which kept the air a lot cleaner than using nothing at all.

[HERE] is a set of reviews on Fine Woodworking by a good cross section of owners (membership NOT required to view). I learned some stuff by reading these reviews, like using the unit for "scribing" to a line. This sander would really shine at small, intermittent jobs like that.
 
Ron, I purchased one about a year and a half ago. I bought it for a specific job, and I have only used it once or twice since. I will admit though, that I am not a big fan of belt sanders in the first place. I agree with Kerry that it does get quite hot after 5-10 minutes of use. It is a well built tool, but I wouldn't get one just for sanding down dovetail joints or anything that small.
Don
 
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