DEWALTDEWALT Rotary Sander, Variable Speed, Dust Shroud, 5-Inch (DWE6401DS)

The media could not be loaded. This sander is a great compliment to any DA sander (if you’re looking to perfect it) and is a game changer for my sanding game. This thing could carve wood if you’re into that sort of thing. I can sand rough or prefinished surfaces in a 10th of the time it takes with the DA (see video). Start and end with long passes trailing nose down. Be careful and get a hang of the pull of it, if you make the wrong move you can easily wreck sandpaper, a foam backer pad (a must with this IMO). Never pull the sander off the end of a board, always use a pushing motion nose down and control the follow through.If you do any sanding, and especially if you’re looking to refinish old wood, buy this right now. I’ll buy another when it dies if there isn’t an upgraded version available by then.

Works great

This is not an orbital. For some reason I thought it was but never the less, wood trembles at the sight of it.

Glad I bought it. Help make my jobs done much easier. It would not be this easy if I picked a less powerful one. Never been wrong to go with Dewalt products!

Works great

Oh ok... I get it now. I bought this in addition to my belt sander, Makita random orbital sander, and my palm sander. This is a great addition and now does about 60% of all my sanding duties in my shop. When you first use it, don't panic. this thing is a little different. my initial reaction to this was... "WTH, this is just a drill with a spinning pad at the end." So I was trying to go slow speed with it using the trigger. The tool got hot quick. So this is not the way this tool is intended to be used. So I got a good grip and went full speed on the trigger and set it down on my end grain cutting board that I was making. Wow, once the tool gets in it's rhythm it really sings. It does have a slight orbital notion to it. This tool is designed to go at full speed all the time. What the tool does is not dependent on trigger adjustment (speed). It is completely dependent on the grit. If you have this tool you should buy a big pack of 80, 120, & 220 paper (this is 8 hole). The 80 will skin a grizzly bear! quick to even out your work piece. 120 will smooth things out. and 220 puts on a high polish. 220 got my end grain cutting board just like glass in about 30 seconds. It was incredible. Does the same thing as my random orbital sander (which takes the same paper),.. but it does it much more quickly and efficiently. I will still use my Makita random orbital sander for more detailed and slow areas. It is a great tool. but missing a star for not including a dust bag.

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 am giving this beast a 5 star rating because it isn’t their fault that I am 5’ tall and weigh 120 lbs. I bought it to refinish my French doors and my bathroom cabinets that had a lot of paint layers on them. I put my cabinet doors on a piece of cardboard on my deck and turned on this tornado. It sent my door flying for a good 10’ and I lost control of it so the sander pulled me another 5’ down the deck like a free-spirited Hippie before I could release the trigger. Lesson learned. So I decided to try the French doors, since they are stable. My windows are nicely sanded in 2 places, again, before I could release the trigger. My son is now the proud owner of a slightly used Catagory 5 tornado and he loves it. Thus, the 5 stars.