Once upon a time I bought a Black and Decker sander because it had more accessories than the other more expensive sanders at the store. It died partway through a set of baseboards I was sanding. For some reason instead of buying a new sander, I finished the baseboards by hand, good for the arms I suppose.
Then I woke up and realized that I would have lots more project requiring a sander and asked Clint what to buy. At the time he was working on my sister in law’s house and they had put in miles of walnut flooring and finished sanding it with orbital sanders. Of the four they started with, the Makita was the only one still running at the end of the job. So that’s what I bought.
I’ve been using this little Makita 5″ Orbital Sander for about three years now and it’s still doing the same great job today it did when I bought it. It was definitely more expensive than my Black and Decker flop…but it still works.
When you remember to buy the right 5″ 8-hole sand paper, the little dust bag catches quite bit of your sanding dust.
The only problem I have had with this sander is the velcro foot wears out and needs to be replaces periodically. I’ve replaced mine twice. Making sure you are sanding with paper attached helps, velcro doesn’t take kindly to being mashed directly against the wood 😉 It melts together in case you’re wondering.
I found replacements at tool supply stores and on Amazon. They are more expensive locally…but it’s sometimes nice to support those guys.
I have recently found that rather than completely take apart the bag assembly to empty the dust, I just hold it up to the end of the dust collector and try not to lose the bag :0)
Before I always thought it a little bit counterproductive to carefully collect all of that sanding dust….then let it cloud the air as you emptied it from the bag. Now it goes into the big bag of collected dust that at least only poofs up outside as it is emptied into the dumpster.
There you have it! A great little sander that will see you through many, many projects!!
Girl with a Hand Plane 
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