Looking for a good belt sander

[JimD]

I have a 3x21 Ryobi that I bought reconditioned from Cummins for about $60. It works very well. It looks a lot like the Bosch with the motor between the rollers. You can lay it upside down to do little stationary sander tasks. The dust collection into the bag is good too. FWW tested 3x21s and made the Ryobi their Best Buy.

Jim

[jonmulzer]

I have the Ryobi 3x21 also and love it. Have not used it a ton, but the times I did it was a huge timesaver and a pleasure to use. The belt tracking is rock solid also. Others I have used, you have to fiddle with them from time to time while using them. This one you set once and it is good to go until you change belts, and usually not even then.

[LinuxRandal]

For handheld, I picked up a very lightly used one in a pawn shop sale years ago (they actually had one, too many tools). I gave $20, and it was a later Craftsman version of what my father has (mine has dust collection, his doesn't). For as often as I have needed a portable one, it has worked fine, and the price was right.

When it dies, I will get something better, as now I am into woodworking as well as still doing home repair.
So depending on how your going to use it, don't forget to look at CL, Garage sales, etc.

[bthere]

I have an old Craftsman that does well for the extremely rare instances when I need a belt sander. I have been tempted to get a newer/better but this is truly one tool that I don't have much use for.

[JimD]

I got my Ryobi when LOML hit my Craftsman with her car. It was on the garage floor at the time so not really her fault. It worked OK but belt changes were much worse on the Craftsman, it had no dust collection, and belt tracking was harder to set. It also could not be turned over and used like a small stationary sander.

Jim