Porter Cable 97355 5 Inch Variable Speed Random Orbital Sander Kit with Carrying Case and Dust Kit

Customer Reviews

great sander

2004-05-07
Best sander I have ever used. First porter cable product and I am very pleased. I dont have the dust attachment and I do have the sticky pads. I just love this thing! More powerfull than I imagined and the cord wraps nicely between handle and rear. Money well spent.

Very Satisfied !

2004-01-19
It's another of the collection of tools we use to make our renovation projects easier. Picked it because of our mostly good experience with Porter Cable. It does awesome work. And, the dust collection system, which is absolutely essential for our work, just about does away with dust completely. That's a great plus for indoor projects such as refinishing wall paneling, hardwood trim, etc., where you can't have dust going all over the house and you'd really rather not have to tape up plastic everywhere.

Unlike one of the other writers, we've found the dust collection system to be great when hooked to our portable vacuums. We also like the hook and loop and have had zero problems with it, despite this sander's power. It's a big improvement over our five inch sanders for larger projects. That one inch difference is unbelievable. We're going to buy more of them.

What a nice tool 2003-08-07
I don't know how much I like the vacuum attachment, but I love the sander. Also I got the polishing pad #54745. With the versatility and quality of this tool I recommend it.

My best sander 2003-01-13
Used to use my speed block to sand most of my work. Got this unit & it beat the pants off the speed block. Just got to get the hang of it.

most usefull sander 2002-10-31
this sander is also one of my most loaned out tools. Use the adhesive pad version. I have two sanders and can use up the individual disc (which purportedly is the advantage of hook and loop) by using one grit per sander, and the adhesive discs are much much cheaper than hook and loop. Have easily paid for the second sander in savings on sandpaper. Sander is easy to hold and allows light sanding or hogging.

Nearly dustless workhorse 2006-06-25
Great price. Arrived in perfect condition and on time. BTW - paid for Amazon's two day shipping for the year and it has been a good deal, have bought many tools, etc., and if the right size, they always come on the second day.

Very fine machine. Buy it with the dust removal kit - worth the price and then some.

I make furniture in a basement shop, so dust removal is a matter of concern, so, this machine delighted me. I hooked it up through my Festool vacuum system (with has an automatic swtich)(the hose in the sander box connects perfectly with the adaptor provided) and have sanded many square feet of white oak and hard maple with grits ranging from 80 to 220. I think it is a better at nearly finish work than stock removal. I am very satisfied with this machine - the variable speeds are key depending upon the grit used and whether the wood is rough or not.

It is a manageable tool and a sturdy one. The cord is a good length and so is the dust hose. The Festool RO Sander may be better at stock removal, but it is twice the price.

Norm Abrams recommends sanding across the grain first, than diagonally, and then with the grain. This method works great with this Porter Cable sander.

Sands Like A Monster, But With Fantastic Results! 2006-06-16
If you've read my other reviews, you know I own a lot of sanders (more than I've been able to review, actually), and this is one of them.

This sander has been around for years and does a great job. The old version was made in the U.S.A., but the new version is made in Mexico, NOT the U.S. as the information on Amazon states. There are more plastic parts on the newer model, but nothing to worry about.

The new model also has variable speed and dust collection, although it does NOT have an included template for punching PSA sheets, or an included PSA pad, for that matter. I think it's because P-C markets the unit as a polisher, and hook-and-loop polishing pads work great, while PSA polishing pads wouldn't work so well if they were available. Talking about "not available," there is no punch for this machine; you have to make your own out of a block of wood and some bolts.

This unit is now incorrectly labeled a "random orbit" sander, when it's really a "dual action" sander, meaning the orbits aren't really random, and regular swirl marks exist. However, dual action sanders leave much less noticeable marks, and produce a much better finish than orbital sanders.

Variable speed is a great feature for not melting varnish when sanding it, and for not taking off a load of stock instantly. Being a bigger guy I can use the sander with one hand, but be aware it is a monster at full speed and will consume wood quickly.

The sander is relatively light for this type of sander, pretty quiet, and relatively vibration free. Realize this is a lot of sander, so it's not exactly light, quiet, or completely vibration free, but it's the best sander you can buy in its class. It's also much more controllable than a 6" sander, and when combined with the variable speed it can handle most any sanding or polishing job well.

I immediately bought the PSA pad (for keeping edges square) and contoured PSA pad (for rounded edges). PSA paper is about 1/2 the price of hook-and-loop, and a torn piece of PSA won't immediately ruin the PSA pad, unlike hook-and-loop.

The case is huge, as another reviewer put it, but not large enough to store boxed pads. You can fit two unboxed pads in two corners, the handle in the third corner, and the fourth corner is molded for the vacuum adapter.

The results from this sander are the best I've found for a dual-action, and the sander is built well. Buy it; you'll probably love it.

If it came with a both hook-and-loop and pressure sensitive adhesive pads, and a hole punch plate, I'd give it 5 stars, even if the box couldn't hold boxed pads.

vacuum care 2006-05-12
Great sander, quite aggressive, so select your #grit carefully. The variable speed control gives a nice amount of control over the work. It does tend to get heavy after a while, but it does the business.

The dust collection system on this is pretty good. Hooked up to a shopvac, the only escaping dust is when you first put the sander to the surface.

I would recommend a few careful adjustments so as not to over heat the shop vac though - the 2" hose supplied is less than half the size of my shopvac hose. This cuts down airflow to the shopvac, making it work overtime - something that will burn the motor out fast.

I drilled a couple of holes in the supplied adapter, to increase airflow, the shopvac stopped whining so badly and there was no perceived change in cleanup...

Oh, and it's quite quiet - as far as sanders go, doesn't have that high pitch shreak associated with palm or belt sanders, even when it's running on full power.

HUGE Storage Case but Here's Why... 2004-10-05
Other reviewers accurately reflect my favorable opinion of this random orbit sander but I did get a surprise when the item arrived: the storage case is HUGE! When purchasing the kit version of this sander you get the vacuum hose and, yep, a storage case designed to hold the sander and all of the dust collection components--including the hose. It is a monster-sized box.

"Buy" the way, Amazon would NOT match woodworker.com's lower price on the PC 97355. The problem I had when I called to get the price match was that the person with Amazon's Tool Crib department pretended to be a klutz with web surfing and was unable to even locate the 97355 on woodworker.com's website (I finally had to give her the URL) and then she pretended to be unable to figure out that woodworker.com would provide free shipping if you had come to their site using the URL provided thru toolseeker.com (as I had). Bottom line: Amazon wouldn't price match. Result: I bought from woodworker.com who not only saved me significant bucks but also shipped the product the very same day! My recent experiences (read that more than one) with Amazon's "SuperSaver" shipping (their version of free shipping) have been a 5 - 7 day DELAY on shipping of products listed as "Usually Ships within 24 hours". When I questioned Amazon about this they defended this practice as their way to save money. My advice: Go to woodworker.com and save yourself even more money and get your stuff shipped the same day instead of one week later.

Work horse sander. 2004-07-13
I've been using this sander for nearly thirteen years with out a problem. It removes stock very aggresively. Great tool!!!!!!