Customer Reviews
Should have read the reviews 
2006-03-28
Before buying this DeWalt sander, I failed to read the reviews. Now that it is on its return trip, I read them and concur with most. That I bought the DeWalt sander because I have other DeWalt tools that are great. Not my experience with this sander.
My problem was it plugging up with sanding dust and required the careful extraction of sand dust to get the collector to work. I didn't have a problem with over-heating, but felt the tracking device didn't function (however did not have a problem keeping the belt tracking from a visual check). When the air blower passages were clean, the sander functioned well. But after a few minutes of sanding, I'd have to take it apart enough to remove the blockage ahead of the blower fan (good to have a high powered vacuum). Not a good design, IMO. I was disappointed.
RUN AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN!!!!!!!!!!! 
2005-10-10
WE BOUGHT THIS DEWALT BELT SANDER YESTERDAY TO STRIP OUR RED OAK FLOOR OF ITS STAIN, AFTER ABOUT 15 MINUTES OF USE IT STARTED SMOKING, WE LET IT COOL OFF, WENT BACK LATER AND USED IT ABOUT 45 MINS., WENT BACK AGAIN AND WHEN I PULLED THE TRIGGER IT STARTED THEN STOPPED, IT NEVER CAME BACK ON!!
RETURNED IT TO LOWES TODAY FOR A NEW ONE, GOT HOME STARTED USING IT AGAIN ON THE SAME PROJECT, 15 MINS. LATER IT STOPPED WORKING, NO SMOKE, NO NOISE, JUST STOPPED.IT'S BEEN TWO HOURS AND STILL NOTHING(I CHECKED MY BREAKERS JUST TO BE SURE- IT'S THE SANDER!) MY HUSBAND IS A CONTRACTOR AND WE HAVE MANY DEWALT TOOLS, ALL OF THEM FANTASTIC!! BUT IN THIS CASE I WOULD JUST MOVE ON TO ANOTHER BRAND, I WILL TOMORROW WHEN I RETURN THE SANDER FOR THE SECOND TIME. $200.00 DOLLARS!!!- WHAT A JOKE
Excellent Sander, easy to use 
2005-08-29
I bought this sander to help with creating table/bench tops etc. I make these out of everything from pine, oak, endwood walnut, lacewood etc.
I found this Sander works very well. It has a nice heavy weight which I find makes it very easy to control. Also the variable speed allowes me greater control over the amount of stock the sander is eating. Plus i lets me dial it donw for softer wood and up for harder wood.
After a little practice I found I can use this to finish sand!
Had no problems with the dust bag, in fact I found it to be substantially more secure then the proter cable and craftsmen. It clips up from the bottom and then has a tight cowl the snaps over the top.
Belt tracking. Have not had a bit of trouble, but I have found there are two reasons folks tend to have difficulty with tracking 1) cheap belts; 2) Speed. I have never had a problem with my 3m belts. I have never bought a belt from Lowes/menards that was worth using on aything but a snail speed sander. The cheap belts can not handle the friction. The backing wears unevenly and they basicaly warp, thus making it impossible to track them. Folks who have trouble with bel tracking need to tunr the speed down and buy better belts. Also there is usuall no need to run at high speeds. The lower the speed the longer your belts last. Most belt sanders at their highest setting are running at the 3 setting on this sander (it goes to 6). Thus they are a bit more friendly to belts.
Buy good belts, and slow it down. The higher RPMS should be reserved for very hardwood and when you ned to chew up a lot of stock.
My second Dewalt Sander 
2005-08-02
I've had the older model for quite a few years, and have, in fact worn out the drive mechanism. I've been very happy with that model. This one is is different in that it does not have variable speed, and it is much HEAVIER. I have only used it a few times, and it seems to work reasonably well. The jury is still out though. I'm not sure I like the sound that the motor makes when running. It doesn't seem to get up to full speed. (I might well be so accustomed to the old one that this one just sounds different.) It does have plenty of power and removes even seasoned oak quickly. It seems to be much more "heavy duty" than the old model, although I assure you I got my money's worth out of it. The dust collector is also different. Rather than a bag, it has a small hard mesh box as a duct collector/filter. You can see much dust escaping as the sander runs. The locking mechanism for the dust collector does not seem to lock positively. I would have liked a bag better. I bought the whole kit, but the vacuum atachment is not included. You would think it would be, as I am sure it only costs a buck or two to produce (it is not easily obtained as no one has one in stock).
Piece of Garbage 2005-05-09
I'm a contractor/carpenter in Athens, GA and a complete tool snob. I pride myself on having the best tools on the market, and I thought that this belt sander would be no exeption. Boy was I wrong. What a waste of time. I bought this to use sanding heart pine at a cabin in the mountains. Imagine my frustration at having to take this thing totally apart and not being able to get it to track properly after using for only a couple hours, not to mention that after changing the belt twice, the belt tension knob stopped working. If you buy this sander, be prepared for all the fun you'll have changing belts while the engine is hot.
And that was DeWalt sander #1. Now I'm on #3. (Fortunately I know the guys in Tool World at my local Lowe's.) Yesterday the tracking device fouled up so bad that it ate the belt and shredded the rubber on the rear wheel, making the tool completely unusable. So hey, take it from me, if you wanna buy this sander because it looks pretty, or because it has more bells and whistles than the Porter Cable and others, be my guest, but you'd be wise to buy two at once so when your first one screws up, you won't waste an entire workday hunting up a receipt, driving to the store, and exchanging it, which, given the chances, is exactly what you'll do.
More than Expected 2007-10-30
I am a rehabber. This saw was a great purchase. The sander has more than enough balls. It can take down stock as fast as you can feed it. Don't buy cheap belts and you will be more than pleased. The stand is great for sharpening and for small parts. The dust bag is a square hole. I have no clue if there is an adapter. The dust bag by itself is normal on the collection of dust.
Sander is "nice." Stand is "okay." 
2007-07-19
I'm a big fan of DeWALT tools, in general. This sander is compact, powerful, ergonomic, and designed well, in general. In a new model, I would definitely change the square, rubber dust port. Attachments are a tad cumbersome to install/remove, and the rubber allows for a little too much movement at the joint. The sliding, plastic lock (same joint) also belongs on a brand of lesser quality. Other than that, I've had no problems with the sander. I have not used it without some means of dust extraction (bag/canister or vacuum). Doing otherwise for extended periods seems to be asking for trouble (for those who have read other reviews).
The stand/frame, on the other hand, isn't up to par. It is better than nothing! But these are some issues: It comes disassembled in the case with a bag of loose hardware (screws, nuts, etc.), and must be built and taken apart each time it is used/stored. Further, it includes a small attachment to support right-angle (or up to 45 degree) sanding to the belt. Mine has sloppy movement with no secure way to fix a given angle (even 90 degrees). I'm debating whether I should throw it away or try to re-engineer it to make it useful. Meanwhile, the face of the main frame (looks tan in picture) is covered with a thin veneer. This is fine, except that the same veneer is expected to keep several nuts (behind it) from spinning during assembly. These, of course, easily bend the veneer away from the surface. Last, the stand has a two, painted sheet metal parts that are stored beneath the sander in the box. If a belt is kept on the sander (of course), a piece of cardboard (or something) must be placed between the sander and frame parts to keep from scuffing them. The frame does have one nice feature: the distance (normal to the belt) between the sander and frame can be easily adjusted to that the belt sets behind, flush, or even proud of the face of the frame.
Junk. Pure Junk. 2007-07-15
I know you're actually supposed to use a product before you review it, but in this case, that is impossible.
Sure, I plugged it in and pulled the trigger a few times to make sure it worked and was impressed by the the sheer amount of power in my heavy hands (heavy because this thing weighs a ton!). That's about where my amazement ends.
Where to start? I put a belt on and go to sand the edges of some P-Lam, and end up ruining the door when the tracking knob FALLS OFF and sends the belt shooting off the rollers and actually bends the platen! That's right, a 3x21, 150g sanding belt BENT the platen on this behemoth! I finally got the belt to stay on the machine, albeit an inch of the belt was hanging outside of the edge of the machine, thus making it a 2x21 belt sander, and the adjustment knob was on the verge of rattling out, yet again.
Always sand towards the right with this one, as moving to the left will cause the rollers to lose traction on the belt, causing the grit of the belt to have a better grip on what ever you're sanding, and you'll end up pulling the machine off of the belt.
To compound all of this, 2 weeks after I bought this I was deployed to Iraq, and wasn't able to return it to the factory for repair/refund. It does fulfill a key role on my job sites though. Since I bought this, none of my drawings have ever been blown away by the wind. Most expensive paperweight ever.
Buy a Porter-Cable.
Why did I buy this belt sander 2007-07-10
I think I am on the third repair of this sander. Seems the switch has gone bad. The cord was caught in the rear of the sander between the housing and the drum and caused the shaft to strip. I can't remember the third problem.
These are not all that good, that is why you can get a re-built one for $99.
Nice sander, needs some improvement 2006-05-11
I used this sander on a deck and I ran it hard for about 45 min at a time and it never overheated. After about a week of heavy use and abuse it would not turn on. I got it repaired under warranty(the switch went bad) Overall I really like the tool, it works better than a Porter-cable I used. I wish it had a fan or something to clear the dust out better. It will get clogged if you close the dust ejection port.
