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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 12 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 13 found the following review helpful:
 Best sander out there, BUT ... Sep 13, 2003
Easily the best 1/2 sheet sander out there... beautifully balanced, quiet, effortless to move, and with virtually no vibration... and the variable speed control is great. BUT... totally frustrating in that it comes WITHOUT the punch plate needed for the thru-the-pad dust collection system to work... 'had to hunt a week and drive the local dealer nuts until we located a punch plate from another model that works [#192523-3 for Model 9046]!!! Why Makita would make a truly great sander and not include the punch plate is beyond me. Order the sander AND the plate together... tried all the 1/2 sheets out there except Hitachi (couldn't find it) and this is THE BEST! Plus, only this and Hitachi offer variable speed on a 1/2 sheet.
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
The best of the best sanders & Festool paper fits it too Oct 28, 2005
By Woodsmithy
I have used the Makita Model 9046 1/2 sheet sander for 4 years. It is almost identical to this model.
I had the opportunity to do a hands on evaluation of 1/2 sheet sanders. I liked the ruggedness Porter-Cable, the economy of the Milwaukee, and the feel of the Bosch, but the Makita is in a class of it's own.
At first it seemed a little heavy, but after I got use to it and let it work, it did a fantastic job. This 1/2 sheet sander oscillates much more than the others and does the job in half the time. It leaves the surface dead flat and is very kind to veneer.
It has vacuum pick-up holes in the paper/sander like a random orbital sander. If you hook it up to a vac the dust is minimal ( This may require a little tape around the outlet to fit your hose). The punch plate does not come with the sander. So unless you can find the special pre-punched paper, you need to order the plate from a Makita rep or make one.
I do not recommend starting with 80 grit paper. This sander can be very aggressive, so start with the finest grit that will do job.
Added January 2009
The bad news is that I recently ran out of the pre-punched Makita sandpaper and my local shop stop carrying it. Sometimes when I'm working on a small project, it's really nice to have the pre-punch hook & loop paper for fast/easy grit changes. The good news is that I did some investigating and discovered that the Festool ½ sheet hook & loop is interchangeable with the Makita. Of course the Festool paper is no bargain but it works great on my Makita sander and the dust control is awesome.
Eight years of intermittent use and it still runs great.
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
Smooth! Quiet! Reliable! Incredible! I Love It! Jan 15, 2005
By Donald J. Junk
My application requires a minimum dust sanding system (house with air heating ducts). I could not find any vendor selling the vacuum hose and punch plate for the BO4900V sander so they were ordered directly from Makita. The sander was ordered from Amazon. When all parts arrived from the two vendors nothing fit. Called the the Makita Service Center and talked to Dalton who resolved the problem (one of the parts was was quickly replaced). The question was asked: why don't you include the punch plate with the sander? Answer: many customers don't need or use the punch plate and so it gets lost; this just adds to the price of the sander. This is a quality punch plate (1/2 lb steel), rugged, accurate, virtually indestructible and worth the price. Wait! There's more! The edge of the sanding pad has air holes to vacuum dust from the two long sides of the sander without the punch plate; but it's even better with holes in the sandpaper from the punch plate. I am now the proud owner of a great sanding system!
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Much better than expected Oct 16, 2009
By Harley Dixon
"AgelessWings"
I had a heavy, old, half sheet Craftsman orbital sander that has served me very well over the years...it was hard to beat the job it was able to do, mainly because of it's weight, and the size of the sanding sheet it used. So when the gears in it finally gave up and it was unrepairable, I had to search for another to finish sanding the airplane I was building.
I searched the local stores for a large orbital sander but was unable to find any for less than $300. So, I tried a couple of smaller, lighter, brand name orbital sanders that I bought from the local Big Box stores, but they couldn't handle the size of the job...one of them broke the paper hold down mechanism, both of them too small, too light and too slow.
After a search online, I came across this Makita unit, and seeing the reviews on it on several other websites, and the price here on Amazon, I figured I'd give it a try.
What a difference! It did the job beautifully...fast, smooth and accurate. I have to admit that I did not use the filter or the vacuum cleaner attachment for a couple of reasons...in sanding a large object like the fuselage and wing strakes of my plane, the vacuum hose would get in the way, or the filter would fill up every five minutes with the primer and fiberglass dust I was removing. So, I sanded it outside and let the wind carry the dust away (sorry, neighbors ).
It surpassed my expectations, as I was able to finish my fuselage in less than three hours. Both the coarse and finish sanding! I had figured it was going to take me eight to ten hours, so I was way ahead.
Excellent product...the third Makita tool in my considerable collection of power tools (the other two Makitas are a saw and a drill)...and all three of them surpassed my expectations. Don't think I'll look at any other brand first for any future tools...or anywhere else but Amazon.com for the best prices!
4 of 4 found the following review helpful:
Pure Happiness May 29, 2004
It IS the best sander I've used so far. Quiet, balanced, does the job faster AND it's good looking. Doesn't come with a punch plate...$17+ shipping to order from Makita. Make your own with some dowels and a block of wood. Other than Makita not including that in the package, you won't be disappointed with this sander.
See all 12 customer reviews on Amazon.com
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