DEWALT DWE6401DS 5-Inch Variable Speed Rotary Sander with Dust Shroud - Perfect for Woodworking, Sanding, and DIY Projects

I was using an orbital sander to sand down some exterior posts on the front of our house that had been exposed to the weather and it was taking me HOURS to cover a couple of square feet even with a 40 grit pad to get to a smooth texture that I could stain. Then I used this bad boy and in less time I was able to completely sand down all of the posts. It was so powerful that I had to move to a higher grit or I was going to risk having a smooth but undulating surface because it was removing so much material. I’d recommend for any large surface project where you need to sand down quite a bit of material.This Dewalt sander is a time saver! I have been using pneumatic sanders which work pretty good but dont compare to the power of an electric disk sander. I needed to sand down my car to bare metal, and this is the best way to do it. My only regret is I should have purchased this a couple of months ago when they were still priced at $69.There are easier ways to sand to bare metal but not always the wright way. A grinder with a flap disk will cut thru almost anything but anyone with experience knows it will create a very uneven surface where this Dewalt leaves the surface FLAT and SMOOTH. I highly recommend this for body work. I also do a lot of wood working and although I have't used it it yet on wood I can tell you that it would do great,Wish I would have pulled the trigger on this purchase years ago.I finally got fed up with belt sanders. Tired of having to watch if the belt is drifting. Tired of replacing perfectly good belts, other than the glue strip/tape came loose. Tired in general, because a belt sander is tiring.I knew that I would be removing a lot of surface wood, and was trying to think outside the box (grinders/mods, polishers, multitools...). After looking at the options, just couldn't pass up this versatile inexpensive tool from a reliable manufacturer.A cordless version wasn't available when I made my purchase, which is good. Something like this when sanding with coarse grit will use a bit of power.With 40 grit, it is way easier to control than a belt sander. Haven't used fine grit yet, but with the adjustable speed dial (If you're wondering, the speed dial is round and built into the trigger - very convenient), the speed can go much lower and much faster than I'll ever need. If you need to go slower than this, then you might as well use a hand pad. If you need to go faster, then you might want to use a grinder.This tool fell into a sweet spot between price and functionality. Hindsight being 20-20, I feel very satisfied with this purchase. Also, looks like it would be easy to convert to 7" discs, if the need arises. The 5" discs cost about $1/each, which is much less expensive than crappy belts. The range of capability appears huge within this $80 tool. No more belt sanding for me, plus I'll be able to do a lot of fine work with it too.Prior to this purchase, I dreaded sanding. Now, I'm almost looking forward it. Even better, I'm not avoiding sanding. If you're reading this review - go buy it - you'll like it.I'm not affiliated with Dewalt. I've just been so impressed with some the Dewalt tool time saving ergonomics, that I use Dewalt as my standard. For cordless, I pretty much only use Dewalt (So that I don't have to buy more batteries). My first Dewalt tool was a marked down returned portable table saw, quite a few years ago; best tool purchase ever, by far. This Dewalt sander has potential to become my second favorite tool purchase, and for a lot less money.I ordered this sander to help with sanding an old work bench that was painted brown and I couldn’t for the life of me get it sanded down. Within the first pass I saw a dramatic difference between it and my orbital sander. The only knock I have on it is it can be a little tricky to use at first. You can’t lay it flat on the wood or it will scratch it pretty bad also if you sand at an angle and apply to much pressure or don’t move the sander in a sweeping motion it can gouge the wood. All in all I highly recommend this product to get hard to sand projects knocked out quick!Bought this sander after reading some reviews, and I wasn't disappointed. Instead of buying a flooring edger for over $1,000 I got this bad boy for under $100. We have been using an random orbital sander to do edges and it took forever. This beast chews through the old finish and wood quickly. This sander has paid for itself in the first job. If it last 3 jobs, I'll get another. Well worth the $$This is the only corded sander that performs as good as a pneumatic sander. The variable speed makes it more versatile and usable on more delicate projects. I've used and worn out about every orbital sander on market and this is by far the best I've come across especially for price.Works well with wet sanding concrete floor.Super clean sanding and solid performance. Adequate torque at low speeds and doesn't bog down inappropriately. I would definitely purchase again.I have never actually used this as a sander, so I cannot comment on its effectiveness in that role. However, I can give it top marks when it comes to polishing concrete, granite and quartz. I realize that traditionally, much more powerful equipment is used for these tasks, with an angle grinder usually being the absolute minimum.I polished the entire concrete floor in my condo using nothing but this Dewalt sander. For anyone unfamiliar with the process, it helps to have some weight behind the polisher being used, so it had to be able to handle the force of the friction with the floor, as well as the weight my upper body exerted upon the tool. (approximately 160lbs)After burning out two more powerful polishers, I decided to give this one a go, because the high noise levels of most other polishers and angle grinders. Both quiet and powerful, this extremely resilient sander easily withstood the punishment of this task, and did so for the 100+ hours it took to complete.Like other reviewers have said, this thing is a beast. Trust me... Buy this. You will not be disappointed. You will be shocked in the very best way.This machine is much, much better than a random orbital sander at removing old paint and varnish. It is almost as good as a belt sander. I was able to use it instead of a (Makita) belt sander for most of the work I was doing. It can be attached to a De Walt ShopVac-like dust extractor so it generated very little dust. It is powerful. You need to hold it with two hands otherwise it will start precessing (wobbling). I believe it is basically a good drill with a good sandpaper disc platen added so you can keep the sandpaper flush with the object being sanded. If you lean on it, it will remove more material but it can overheat. You really do need to hold it firmly with two hands.Antes de comprarla tenía mis dudas de cómo fuincona y para qué trabajos se tenía que utilizar, pero por desafortuna, solamente encontré 2 videos sobre la maquina y no resolvieron mis dudas, así que dejaré mi experiencia. Es una muy buena herramienta, pero para lo que está hecha, yo la he usado solo para madera, pero para lijar como tal no, funciona para desbastar de forma muy fuerte la madera, tipo cortezas, dar cantos a maderas fuertes, pero para lijar no, quita mucha madera y los lijadoros no son parejos, tampoco puedes usar para lijar toda la lija, solamente los extremos de la lija, justo por la potencia. Entonces, si, es una excelente herramienta para los trabajos para los que está hecha la herramienta, en resumen, es como un taladro adecuado para ponerle una lija, pero con mas control que un taladro, pero básicamente es eso.If you don't have it, you are missing out.It's a beast! You have to watch the video on YouTube to use it properly. You are best at using it on the angle exactly like the video suggests. Once you get used to it, you will never buy another sander! There is a lot of dust coming out of it, so do not use it without the provided shroud and a dust collection system.This is not a fine finishing sander, it’s a smaller beast to quickly remove material. You can certainly slow it down with the variable speed, however this unit excels at removing meat off your project. It’s a bit unwieldy to get used to at first as it has about twice the power of your typical orbital but a great hand held unit when you need to get serious..