Wilton 99179 1/3 Horsepower Benchtop Oscillating Spindle Sander

Editorial Review
What a pleasure it is to sand on this oscillator, especially if you're accustomed to chucking a drum sander into your drill press. It's powerful, quiet and has a generous worktable, along with throat plates to match each size drum. Everything stores neatly on board the sander and keeps it ready to use.

The dust collection is probably our favorite feature; sanding like this makes a wicked mess, but just hook up your shop vacuum to the dust port, and nearly all the sawdust you make will get sucked away. Granted, it does make a strange sound as the spindle oscillates when you've got the vac running, but some ear protection isn't a bad idea anyway when your vac is on.

The oscillation really does a great job of removing stock when you're using a coarse grit, and with finer grit, you get a nice smooth finish, especially on scroll-sawn work.--Kris Jensen-Van Heste

What's in the Box
Sander, throat plates, sanding drums, sanding sleeves

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Customer Reviews

Good Product

2007-05-12
Good product for the price; and does a relatively good job. The reason for only 4 stars is that the sanding sleeves don't tighten up adequately.

The little sander that can

2007-04-30
I Bought this sander about 6 months ago based on previous reviews. It has done every job I have asked of it, and then some.

Granted, I'm a weekend warrior that has not a bad shop. However, I'm no Norm (You fokes know who I mean) so occasonaly I need to put equipment into use in say .... creative ways. The couple of times I needed to do this I held my breath, and sure enough the sander came through like a champ.

If I were a pro using this every day, day in and day out, I would have moved up one or two steps to the Jet or Delta (at almost 3x the price). However, for light regular use or more moderate occasional use it has worked out very very well.

Several issues of note:

1.) The sander has a "plastic" (the base is plastic and the top is covered partical board, as I recall) feel. Don't fret when you first get it - use it before making any judgements.

2.) The center insert did not quite fit flat. A few adjustments and I got it the way I wanted. However, other reviewers found it a bit more disturbing. Just something to note you should watch out for. One solution I've already implemented for larger pieces (be practical, this sander is not ment for very large heavy pieces. However, I've sanded some crecent table tops by extending the top and implementing support, so don't be afraid of it either.) is to drill a hole in plywood or partical board and place it over the surface. This extends the work surface and avoids the problem at the same time.

3.) When a dust collector is attached the sander has an odd "wooosh" sound for each stroke. Not bad, and dust collection works very well, but some people may not like it for that reason alone. Otherwise the sander is quite quiet. One reviewer removed the plate used for suction (I believe) when not connected to dust collection and this solved the noise problem. I have not tried it but resolution may be that simple.

4.) Spindle storage is a little odd (a little loose) on mine. Again, nothing big just a little off.

5.) Lastly, one caution...use the proper grit sand paper and don't be afraid to make a couple of grit changes. Keep in mind this is a 1/3hp sander. I found starting one or two grits lower (don't start at 100 or 120, start at 80 or even 60) the tool works much better then trying to plow a lot of material with a higher grit. Let the tool do the work - but make sure the took can work for you by having the extra grits on hand.

Based on price alone, I have to give it 5 stars compaired to the alternatives. Even with the few oddities it is worth every penny.

Good Solid Spindle Sander

2007-03-12
The 1/3 H.P. Spindle Sander is quite adquate for a lite commercial shop such as we operate. The price.is good and the machine is doing a good job.

Will consider the source and the brand on our next purchases

wpntool

What a sweet sweet tool to have in the shop!

2007-02-17
I love the Wilton Bench Oscillating Spindle Sander! The thing is plastic but I got to thinking that there would be some problems if it were made of metal like other tools. I have a single section in my shop for sanding tools and need to have the ability to swap it out with my Wilton belt/disc combo sander--if it were metal it would be much harder to move. The only drawback is that the top is made of chipboard and covered in a thin heat-activated plastic sheet that can pull up if you aren't careful or if you think that it is just a protective covering and give it a tug like I did (easily heated in place with an iron). I will be having some fun with this one!

Wilton Benchtop Oscillating Spindle Sander

2007-01-06
This edge sander does a very good job when using large spindles but it is difficult to obtain a tight fit on the sleeve of small sleeves such as the 1 inch. They will tend to creep up if the nut on the top is not very tight. When using this sander, one should always connect a shop vacuum to the dust port to prevent dust buildup blocking the port. All things considered, a dependable machine with a few quirks.

Wonderful tool for the money!

2008-07-07
I purchased this in March 2007 and I have been very happy with its performance. It is relatively quiet, sands efficiently, and has a good dust collection system. Recommend highly!

Cheap and good.

2008-04-23
For light use, it is a great deal. It does the job and has all the basic elements of a good spindle sander. You can install an external rheostat to regulate speed. I recommended it to several friends who bought it, and they all liked it.

didn't last long

2007-12-31
This itme is one of those tools I don't use often, but when I need it there is nothing like a good spindle sander to get around those curves. When I recieved it I was impressed with the way it was built, the nice storage for the extra spindles and the way it worked. I had no need for it really at the moment and after a couple test runs it sat in the corner. Last month I did need it and the nasty grinding sound coming from it did not bode well. The spindle would spin around but there was no oscillation at all. I cleaned everything up as best I could and it gave me a few half hearted movements and more grinding sounds. It is now sitting in the garage and I reclaimed my old spindle sander from my uncle. I was pleased to find out the sleaves fit my old one. I will use them.

Best bang for your buck

2007-07-30
Great machine for the money, uses Ryobi sanding cylinders. A must for any level woodworker!!

spindle sander

2007-05-13
do not know how I could have worked in my wood shop for so many years without this sander, it is extremly well made and has a very large surface to work on..it is great !