Customer Reviews
The best 
2006-01-06
This sander is with out a doubt the best belt sander on the market ! Being a carpenter I've spent thousands of dollars on tools . I cant remember when i got such a great tool for the money. it's worth its weight in gold . there is not one single bad thing i can say about it . It tracks perfect, And doesnt ever really get hot . The first day I had it it ran all day on dug fir removing saw marks My helper stopped before it did . great tool
Excellent Small Belt Sander 2005-12-06
I really have no complaints whatever about this unit. I've used it regularly for over a year, dropped it, abused it, etc., and it has never given me any trouble. The power is quite sufficient for a unit of this size. Belt doesn't wander, it's light enough to use as a shaping tool, it lies flat if you turn it upside-down, the lock is good, the dust collection bag works well, belt changing is fast, and you can sand up to a wall or edge. Nice job, Makita. I only wish it had come with a case like my other Makita tools did.
average 
2005-09-01
I bought mine 2 months ago. I paid $100. By now I have about 30 minutes of overall use with it.
It's fairly easy to handle. The belt has been tracking fine. The sanding is precise and quiet. The dust bag really works well as long as you empty it often.
My main complaint is the lack of power. It struggles a bit with pine and cedar. I am afraid of the day I try it with hard woods. Also, it will not sand right up to a wall, this is because the belts supplied are not wide enough, but if you used a wider belt, it would be wider than the sanders track, so, doing this would probably tear the sanding belt early on the edges.
I only have serious belt sander experience with one other sander; this was a Sears's brand belt sander, Craftsman, I think. This unit used less power and felt much stronger than the Makita, but it was not as precise.
Not bad for the money 
2005-08-11
I have owned this sander for about six months now. Not wanting to spend a great deal of money on a tool that would only see light use, I opted for the Makita 9910X. This sander handles quite well on both horizontal and vertical surfaces. The dust collection is surprisingly effective, capturing about eighty percent of the dust generated. Belt tracking is perfect. The sander works extremely well on softer woods. It's not as agressive on hard woods as I would like, so if leveling an oak table top is your primary use, you may want to look else where. For me, this sander suits my uses well enough. I only wish the belt speed was a bit faster.
Excellent for the price. 2007-12-01
This small belt sander has been a very good investment.
It is lightweight and comfortable to use. The dust collection is good with the bag and very good if hooked up to a shop vac.
The belts are easy to change.
I have been using this belt sander mainly for scribing kitchen cabinets and for this task it has been extremely usefull.
Lasted about an hour - sparks were flying! 
2007-11-21
I purchased this sander to do some medium duty sanding/stripping on doors and woodwork. Overall, it was a tight little sander, very comfortable to hold and operate. The belts, like on the other Makita models, were easy to load and use. Material removal was decent, but the 5.6 A motor may be too small for the weekend wannabe contractor. The 5 belts that came with it were a good selling point, too.
But after only an 45 min to an hour of use, the motor began to spark at high rpm and no load. White sparks were visible through the motor vent on the side, and there was a definite loss of motor torque. This went along with a popping sound coming from the sander (and my lights flickering in my house). I'm guessing the motor was shorting to the brushes at high speed.
Needless to say, I was very disappointed in this tool and luckily was able to return it. I would opt for a higher amp motor and a different brand sander like I did.
Great Tool 2007-11-03
I just spent 4 hours using this tool to smooth a glued up table top I'm making. I'm no expert in wood working and I was very pleased with this sander. It has good power and I had no trouble with belt tracking. The sander worked perfectly. Changing belts is very easy and precise alignment before use is not required. The dust catcher works very well.
Nice little sander 2006-01-11
Several of the reviews critical of this sander seem to be from people who don't know how to use it properly: there's a screw on the side to adjust the path of the belt, and if you turn it you can move the belt so that it'll cut into the plastic (if you want to ruin the sander ;-) or extend out even beyond the base (for sub-zero clearance/flush sanding). You usually have to adjust this when you change belts because they're not all exactly the same size, and sometimes after using one for awhile because they stretch.
I've had this sander for years and it's always done what I need, yes, even including cleaning up the leftovers after using a drum sander on hardwood (oak) floors. It's small, light, easy to handle, reliable, durable, and while it isn't the most powerful sander I've ever used, for the price I say you can't beat it.
Lasted less than 20 minutes. 2006-01-07
I bought this sander after doing research on the internet and thinking this would be a good purchase. We are building a cabin and I am doing a good bit of the work myself.
An hour after buying the sander, I started using it on a piece of white pine. After about ten minutes I noticed it was "dragging". I looked and saw that the belt had been slipping and the belt was actually cutting into the plastic housing of the sander itself. I was pretty well disgusted with this and over the next several minutes I was constantly stopping and starting the sander to get the belt back on the proper track, as it kept "eating" into the plastic of the sander. I had already decided that I was going to take it back to the store if I could just get this one piece sanded that I was working on. Unfortunately, in a few more minutes, the sander just quit completely. I never got it to start again. I waited several minutes thinking that maybe it had just gotten hot and needed a rest. I never got so much as a whimper out of it again. Total time of use was less than 20 minutes. I took it back less than three hours after it was purchased and got my money back.
Maybe I just got a lemon, I don't know, as Makita usually has a pretty good product. Anyway, unfortunately, this particular item could not have been any worse.
