Need a new hand held belt sander

[John Harris]

I need to get a new handheld belt sander. Looking at the Hitachi 9amp 3x21 at lowes for $149. Anyone using this sander? What is the good and the bad? Never have owned Hitachi tools before. I wanted to stay under $150 if possible but lowes also has the Porter Cable 8amp for $169. Is the PC better? Any others I should be looking at?
Thanks

 

[Barry W]

John, Big Sky Tool, next door to Hitachi's U.S. headquarters near Atlanta, has this sander reconditioned for $109.95. I bought this sander and several other Hitachi reconditioned tools from Big Sky and found them to be in excellent condition. They also have very reasonable and fast shipping. Here.

-Barry

 

[junquecol]

I own a couple three of the PC 3X21 sanders. They are work horses! Mine all came from pawn shops, and cost in the $60-$75 dollar range. Plus they are "Made in the USA" machines.

 

[golfdad]

Hitachi makes a very good tool. Starting to see some show up on construction sites also. I have a Ridgid. It does a very good job.

 

[Roy G]

What do you intend to do with it? Is 3" wide enough, or should you consider a 4" sander? A 4" makes quick work of leveling a table top. Of course, you need to brace yourself when you turn it on and put it on the wood.

Roy G

 

[John Harris]

The PC352vs is made in Mexico.

 

[John Harris]

3 inch is plenty wide for me. This is replacing a 3x18 Ryobi belt sander.

 

[Mike Wilkins]

Another vote for checking pawn shops. I have purchased both new and used tools from some shops. I have a Bosch that has served well for a lot of years. Have had to replace the graphite platen but a fine tool. With variable speed as well.
Had a PC in past years and was given good service from them too.

 

[bob vaughan]

Transverse mounted motors on portable belt sanders make them unstable compared to an in line motor like the old Porter Cable 503. A 4" wide base is much more stable than a 3" wide base and thus, the 4" sanders have a better reputation of good sanding results. The width of the motor is pretty close to the same on both the 3" and the 4" sanders. I mention this in case there's a cost-effective buy on a 4x24 sander in your future.

As to general use on smaller surfaces, the 3x24 size is what I use mostly because the sander is relatively lighter and the abrasive belts are less expensive, but when it comes to larger panels, the 4" wide sander is my go-to.

 

[JimD]

I have a 3x21 belt sander with variable speed (Ryobi) but rarely use it. Modern ROSs are about as fast (I have both 5 and 6 inch DeWalts) and their paper doesn't go bad. I've had bad luck with belts failing at the joint then they get old. There are a few newer ROSs (Bosch and Festool) with more aggressive modes that are faster than a belt sander, I believe. The Bosch is the cheapest at about $250.

At your price point I would look at a 6 inch ROS. You won't lose much speed (probably faster than your little Ryobi) and it will be easier to control and the paper will last indefinitely. Even a good 5 inch is pretty fast and is a very useful machine. If I was to buy one today I would look hard at the new PC.

 

[patlaw]

Modern ROSs are about as fast (I have both 5 and 6 inch DeWalts) and their paper doesn't go bad.

I guess I need to get a new one. The paper on my PC 333 doesn't last very long at all.

 

[JimD]

Just to be clear, my issue with a belt sander is I keep the belts around a year or more (I buy in bulk to keep the price down) and then they fail at the glue joint. They can be cleaned and used a long time if the glue joint doesn't fail. I have never successfully cleaned a ROS sanding disk so they do require replacement more often but boxes of the discs that are 5-10 years old still work fine when I go to get one. That is not my experience with belts for a belt sander.