Review Detail

I am a painting contractor and specialize in historic renovation and remodels, so me and belt sanding go way back. If you've used a belt sander for more than a couple of hours a day while having to hold it either vertically or overhead for long periods, you know how heavy most of them can be. But those big dog belt sanders are heavy for a good reason. For horizontal sanding the extra weight saves on elbow grease. I've owned some of those (like the Porter Cable), and their quality it tops, but unless you're only going to do table top sanding consider the Black & Decker Dragster. Besides its very manageable weight, it's got some other features that are also big pluses: a very good dust pick up system, an adjustable front handle that goes from horizontal to vertical w/ the quick flip of a locking lever, and the thing that I really like is a long, hinged guard in the front that flips up to expose the front roller and allows close in sanding on three sides. Don't know of any other belt sander that's got that feature and I use it a lot. The only other control on the machine is the belt adjusting knob for belt drift and it works well, but is a tad stiff. The sander's got plenty of power to run 40 grit belts all day (with cool down periods so the belts don't stretch out). I've used one for over a year now without a hitch. I paid about $60 for mine new and will probably buy another when this one wears out.