DEWALT DW433K Heavy Duty 8 Amp 3-Inch by 21-Inch Variable Speed Belt Sander Kit with Dust Canister and Case

I bought this sander based on a Fine Woodworking review. Ususally they get it right, but not this time. I bought the sanding frame kit. The frame itself works well, but the stand can not be used with the dust collector and the frame doesn't fit in the stand well. The case that comes with the kit holds all of the pieces and is enormous and of little use to me because of its size.

The sander is good ergonomically, I used it comfortably for about 6 hours straight while sanding a hardwood floor. However, the dust collection was poor to begin with and stopped working entirely after less than an hour. Apparently the plastic dust impeller broke, based on my visual inspection. I also knocked the dust bag off several times, as described by others. The design is just not up to snuff in my opinion.

The other positive is that DeWalt will take it back for the first 90 days, so I'm sending mine back.

Reading all the negative reviews and I originally decided purchasing the sander would be more trouble than it was worth. I looked at quite a few others but in the end, they each had something I couldn't live with. I decided to take the risk and hoped I wouldn't regret it.

It was the right choice. This is an excellent piece of equipment. I've used it on concrete, hardwood and softwoods alike with out any problems. It churns through projects with out slowing down.

I'll agree the dust collector isn't the best, but with the amount of material it's going through, only a vaccume dust collector could solve the problem. Besides, I've never seen a dust collector on any piece of equipment catch everything.

I may have gotten lucky, but it's worth the money.

I was so excited about this sander. Unfortunately after using it for less than one day it was eating belts, the tracking adjustment did not work. It spewed dust despite frequently emptying the bag and was a huge disappointment. When I called Dewalt they had me take it to the local Dewalt store for return and said a new sander would be shipped to me. The service person said they would only repair it, not return it. I called Dewalt customer service then the store manager who finally agreed to replace it with a new sander. It arrived and the preliminary test seems hopeful.

I purchased this as a recond. tool trying to save some money. I was surprised at the weight of the sander but that was not a problem. The first problem I had was that the belt got stuck. Upon further investigation I found that the rear roller had melted and stuck to the belt which the stuck on the flat part of the sander. I cleaned this up and purchased a new belt. A couple days later I was using the sander again. The motor was slowing down so I emptied the dust collector and continued using the sander. Then it started smoking and it caught on fire. I quickly threw it on the floor and the fire went out. I took it to the service center and told him that it caught on fire. I was then asked where was the fire. How should I know when I saw fire I got rid of it as soon as possible. I then asked if it would be repaired or replaced and I was told repaired. Now come on it was on fire it should be replaced. My old Makita which was stolen would run and run and never caught on fire. Not sure if this will be my last dewalt product but I will look at other options next time.

When I received my sander, I tried using it right away. It immediately ate a belt. What I didn't know is that the belt adjustment screw was missing. After checking out the manual I realized what my problem was. I called DeWalt and they sent me an adjustment screw right away. I've now used it quite a bit and have had no further problem with it. I did buy the dust collector attachment and use is every time I use the sander. I recommend it highly.