One of the new products that came out of the IWF Show
this last August is this Porter Cable Small Belt Sander. Small is 2.5" X 14"
which is quite a bit smaller that the PorterCable 3" X 21" that I am quite
used to. This is the product shot that shows the sleek design. The front
hand grip is not shown and should be.
Get it at Rocklers:
click here
Remember to also get belts:
click here
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Elena is here and uses the small belt sander for the
first time. She is using the 80 grit paper that came with the machine.
She is also making use of the body's comfortable handgrip.
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She wears a disposable breathing mask
just in case the compact sander throws out dust. She has connected a Festool
vacuum but you can see that the fitting doesn't fit. None-the-less the built-in
dust extraction does work to about 85% efficiency. Helpful but not enough
not to wear the small respirator.
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The belt adjustment knobs are convenient placed and
very responsive. We found that it took just a second to track a new belt.
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But this is where the new belt sander really stood
out. Its sanding action is aggressive — just what you would expect from a
belt sander.
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And how does it compare to the new
Festool Rotex 150. That is very subjective but from Elena's viewpoint: the
RO150 seems to sand as fast but leave a smoother surface. She also likes the
new ergonomic shape.
In fact, this is not a fair comparison — hardly apples to apples. I
guess what counts is what sander Elena will use to smooth out the rest of
that board.
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Did you ever wonder how to level off
those plugs that you use with pocket holes?
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The Porter Cable Compact Belt Sander
with 80 grit paper handles the task quick and accurately. The body of this
small belt sander allows you to sand smoothly right up to the corner.
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