My Porter Cable 5" sander crapped out, reccs for new one?

[gellfex]

I don't know why it keeps snapping the O ring that makes it orbit, that last one lasted like 20 seconds! I'm done, it's gotta be 15 years old. Went to my local Depot and they had almost none of any make in stock! WTF? Anyway, I like the looks of the DeWalt DWE6423 that's in stock at a Lowes near my mom who Im visiting tomorrow.  VS, nice big port for dust collection (unlike the bizarrely small port on the Makitas) and a skirt to collect what doesn't get sucked through the holes. I don't see getting a cordless, a sander gets used for long continuous periods unlike a screwdriver or sawzall, plus I use a relay box to power up the vac when the sander goes on.

 

Any opinions?

Edited January 21 by gellfex

[Dewy]

I went through a couple of orbital Dewalts before getting a Bosch GET75-6n orbital sander. I was doing a lot of slab and table work with some epoxy mixed in and this thing made short work of it. Has regular sanding mode and “turbo” mode as I call it and you need two hands on the turbo mode with 80grit. Dam thing will fly out of your hands. Think they are $275 ish now

[gellfex]

3 hours ago, Dewy said:

I went through a couple of orbital Dewalts before getting a Bosch GET75-6n orbital sander. I was doing a lot of slab and table work with some epoxy mixed in and this thing made short work of it. Has regular sanding mode and “turbo” mode as I call it and you need two hands on the turbo mode with 80grit. Dam thing will fly out of your hands. Think they are $275 ish now

Thanks, but that's probably more sander than I really need. I find there's a 'required quality' continuum between the thing I use once in a blue moon and the thing I use every day.

[ccb]

Look on eBay , some good deals there. Sometimes  My old Portercable is still running , but no bag. My Bosch belt sander  is about 40 years old , nice heavy one, Hope it never dies. 

Edited January 22 by ccb

[Scallywag]

I have a DeWalt and a Milwaukee. The DeWalt is corded. The Milwaukee is the m18 cordless. The DeWalt doesn't get used anymore. Done with cords. 

 

Neither are real powerful sanders. For that I have a Hitachi belt sander. If a basic palm, random orbital sander is all you need, I'd suggest one of the battery ones. I get decent life out of a 5.0. I can run it on the 9.0 or 12.0 for hours. 

 

If you want corded though, the DeWalt is fine for light sanding. If you really need to remove material, one like the Bosch mentioned is key. There are some other brands that make similar. 

[Rmarsh]

Besides the pneumatic operated sanders in the cabinet shops ive worked....This is my all time favorite ...a workhorse....no dust collection... took the t handle off and use it one handed

neither is a problem for me.

Edited January 22 by Rmarsh

[Sudsy]

[Sudsy]

Ridgid seems to have the best warranty (according to a contractor friend who has a truckload of them)

[triumph]

I've run through a few of those dewalts in my hardwood floor days. Probably the best bang for the buck.

If you take the bag off of it a 2.5 inch vacuum hose fits on perfectly. Also, Lowes has replacement pads in stock for when the hook and loop wears out.

Edited January 22 by triumph

[triumph]

The Festool Rotex is the crème de la crème but that's like a $700 palm sander. Lol

[Rmarsh]

47 mins ago, triumph said:

The Festool Rotex is the crème de la crème but that's like a $700 palm sander. Lol

Festool make great tools judging by their track saw.......i got a feeling this Mirka could be as good.....has dust collection port.

Edited January 22 by Rmarsh

[Rmarsh]

3 mins ago, Rmarsh said:

Festool make great tools judging by their track saw.......i got a feeling this Mirka could be as good.....has dust collection port.

I buy mirka sandpaper to put on my PC and its fantastic stuff....far superior to anything you can buy at Home Depot.

 

Edited January 22 by Rmarsh

[gellfex]

1 hour ago, Sudsy said:

It's funny, I was thinking of that chart while checking out the stock at Lowe's. They had a Craftsman that was suspiciously similar to the DeWalt, right down to the bag mount, for $55 vs $85. If it had been VS I'd have gotten instead.

[Rmarsh]

38 mins ago, gellfex said:

It's funny, I was thinking of that chart while checking out the stock at Lowe's. They had a Craftsman that was suspiciously similar to the DeWalt, right down to the bag mount, for $55 vs $85. If it had been VS I'd have gotten instead.

Those cheaper sanders would not be sufficient for real production use....small jobs...sure.

[gellfex]

24 mins ago, Rmarsh said:

Those cheaper sanders would not be sufficient for real production use....small jobs...sure.

True, but I don't do production work!