Customer Reviews
excellent product 
2006-06-29
I use this sander mostly to flatten panels and to
dress surfaced lumber, and it is *excellent*.
It removes material very quickly, and will
pull 50 grit on the fastest speed with no bogging down. I
use the optional sanding frame, and a vacuum hose, so the
bag placement is not an issue for me. Using the sanding frame,
you can get to 120 grit finish very quickly. Just a touch with
the finish sander using 180 or 220 and you're good to go.
This beast is heavy. Unless you're Arnold Schwarzenegger
I wouldn't consider using this on vertical surfaces. On
horizontal surfaces, gravity is your friend, and the weight
of the machine does the work.
I have a lot of tools. Most are good, a few are crappy,
a few are excellent. With this sander, every time I use it,
I congratulate myself again for coughing up the $$$ and buying it.
It has saved me enough time compared to my other belt
sander to have paid for itself.
Thought I selected "Quality"? 
2006-03-27
After reading all the reviews, and talking to fellow woodworkers, I thought the 1276 was the right tool to do the heavy duty panel leveling I needed. I got exactly one day of use out of it, when it quit dead! There I was in the middle of a job, on a weekend, had to go to home depot and buy the Porter Cable after all.
Disappointed: Mike
Ugly Duckling is a swan 2006-03-10
Nice and heavy - so it does the work for you. Works great on Corian and hardwoods. UGLY looking - but very powerful and easy to change/adjust belts.
When I opened the box I thought this thing look heinous - but it's a real swan as far as ergonomics and use.
good and solid 2006-01-31
I've not had it very long, but it seems very well-made and does the job. I haven't yet used it, but the attachment to hold the sander upside down promises to greatly add to its versatility and will temporarily hold me over until I can afford a floor standing belt sander. The fence attachment has been back-ordered, but also seems to be a good option. The sander comes with one 80 grit belt. Some have complained about its weight, but I don't find it too much. One does need to be very careful not to take off too much material. This sander seems to be one very good addition to an arsenal of sanders of various types one needs for various projects and I surely recommend it. I seriously considered getting the 4" Porter Cable version, but the reviews tipped me towards this Bosch sander.
Workhorse 
2005-09-05
I own four different beltsanders thats used in furniture building. Bosch 4 x 24 is by far the heaviest of them all,
but also the one thats remove the most material. It takes a
strong person to run and dont even think of using this machine
on overhead or on sidewall job. Machine also gets very hot after
an hours work and hot air outlet is on wrong side of machine if
you are right handed. The dust bag is a problem, always in the way. But I know no better sander for heavy work.
Powerful & Efficient Belt Sander 2008-04-26
I've used belt sanders for several years to help with my home improvement tasks. My current project is refinishing all of the pine wood paneling boards in my den. Luckily, I can take each tongue & groove board of the wall individually and bring a bunch at a time down to my basement workshop. Before I bought the Bosch 1276DVS (4x24) I was using the Bosch 1274DVS (3x21) belt sander to remove the old finish. With the 1276DVS, I can now strip 4 paneling boards in the time it took me to do 1 using the 3x21 sander. By the way, some of the boards are cupped a bit and the 1276DVS is very effective at flattening the boards too.
The 1276DVS is a great sander and I'm amazed at the power that 12.5A can give you. It's awesome. Yes, it is heavy but that's exactly what you need when doing hosizontal sanding. Use the 3x21 if your sanding work entails overhead or vertical work. I did replace the cork/steel platen with a graphite one and the belt does run noticably cooler. Since I always connect my sanders to a shop vacuum, the bags are never used so I can't comment on whether they work or not.
All in all I'm exceptionally pleased with the 1276DVS in every aspect. One thing I did notice is that the belt alignment mechanism is a bit sensitive in terms of positioning the belt exactly. It could just be that I need more experience with the sander. Would I buy the Bosch 1276DVS again - absolutely yes.
Bosch belt sander 
2007-12-13
The Bosch sander is a very effective wood removal tool. One must use extreme care to avoid removing too much wood. The dust bag is more effective than others that I have used. One drawback that I have found is that the switch is extremely tight and requires a concerted effort to hold it on. I prefer to hold it on instead of locking it on because of better control. All in all a good machine.
reneged on contract 2007-08-23
What review? I never received the product! Seller's error in listing the item became my disappointment. Lots of apology but no satisfactory offer to remedy. Not happy with the whole process. Amazon's lack of awareness in this whole aborted transaction leads me to believe there is no one that actually reads the emails. Even after my initial complaint to Amazon at the time, I continue to receive offers of accessories for an item I never owned and now this, asking for my review of the product. How do I rate an item I never received?
It all amounts to a loss of confidence with the Amazon (lack of) service. Oh it's well enough when the retailer follows through but there is little to be done or take action for something like this when a customer contracts in good faith based upon Amazon's reputation and then finds out there is a lot of head-burying when things don't go right.
I'm fairly disgusted and will never forget your participation in what amounts to a colossal demonstration of negative customer advertising.
Poor design 
2006-10-18
I use sanders in flooring to quick level subfloors. On average I use it about once every 3 weeks for 2-3 hours. For the first few months of owning this sander, it worked like a champ. However the forward balance handle kept coming off during the job and finally lost the hardware holding it together. If that wasn't enough then the wearplate burned off. I called the factory and they took care of this no charge. Within 3 months of use this one burned off again. I don't consider this abnormal use and called them again. They told me this is normal and I would need to replace the part myself at my cost. Not expensive but downtime on the tool if needed. Maybe design a heavier duty plate. It's the best belt sander so far but I'm still lookin.
powerful, aggressive sander 2006-07-16
I bought this sander about 5-6 years ago, and have used it several times a year without any problems. It's a pretty burly tool, and I don't have a bench with holddowns, and that limits its usefulness for me. Because of its power, this tool must be used two-handed to have any semblance of control over it, and that means the work must be clamped. The sander is aggressive enough that you must keep it in constant motion to keep from digging a rut in the wood. This, however, is as should be expected for such a big tool. I have used it to successfully flatten joined-up panels too wide for my planer, and have obtained a good result using a diagonal sanding technique and winding sticks.
The tracking is generally very good unless you are applying a lot of uneven pressure or drag across the belt. The dust collection is pretty good compared to other "tools with a bag" that I own. If you buy it you might consider buying some very fine (220 grit, if possible) belts to increase its versatility.
If you're into refinishing your deck, floor or other home remodeling projects, I think you will be pleased with this tool.
