Does anyone own or have you used a Porter Cable 444 profile sander?

[Steve Vaughn]

I'm thinking about buying one and would like opinions.

Thanks,

Steve

[Steve Clardy]

Nope. Had one, gave it away. Then I was stupid enough to buy another one on sale a couple of years later, hoping it had been improved. Nope.

[Dave Lehnert]

I never did own one but think you will find woodworkers will tell you to "run" and "run fast" . Not worth the money at all.

[peter kolb]

I own one and have used it. Not one of PC better efforts; In fact might be one of thier worst products. Five minutes of use and your arm will be numb
even with vibration gloves. Peter

[Bruce Page]

Maybe I'm too easy to please. I have one that I use it very infrequently but it is nice to have when I need it.

[Homer Faucett]

I have one, and for what it's made to do, it's very good. If you want a random orbit sander, this is not for you. If you're going to use this for hours on end, you've picked the wrong tool.

This is a profile sander and a hard to reach areas sander. We use it to refinish furniture and to get into areas that you otherwise would need to use a block or profile block and elbow grease. It cuts down on the time and elbow grease involved, and I think it does a good job. I've read a few other posts by refinishers that use this tool and give it high marks, and that's why I bought mine. You can pick them up used for about $35-$40 with all the profiles if you watch and wait. To my mind, that's a good buy, and I'd do it again. I would like to pick up the dust collection port for mine.

[Ryan Baker]

I have one and use it when I need it. It is definitely not my favorite tool (anything involving profile sanding starts out very low on my 'fun' list), but it does what it is supposed to do. I'm not sure what all you guys were expecting of it that it doesn't do. If it's the vibration that you dislike, there is probably some stupidly-priced Fein out there. It does burn through the paper pretty fast, so watch out for that. I'd get one again, especially at a good used price. When it is the tool you need, the alternatives are much worse.

[Dino Drosas]

I've got a deal for you. I happen to have a PC 444 that I have never used. You can have this one for 35.00 and you don't even have to watch and wait.

[george wilson]

I have one,and it comes in handy for certain uses. I had some trouble with the rubber sandpaper holders coming loose. To fix this,I took a coarse checkering file,and filed some horizontal,sharp grooves into the inside edges of the plastic part that grips the rubber paper holders. That fixed it.

One time the sander stopped oscillating. I took it apart,and the large bevel gear had slid away from its mating gear. An easy fix.

One unusual use I have had for this sander is for polishing away the grinding marks left on knife blades after hollow grinding them on the belt grinder. I use soapy water,which does not get on the sander itself. It really saves on elbow grease for my old joints when I want a mirror finish. I spray spray adhesive onto wet or dry sandpaper to apply to the sander.

[Larry Edgerton]

I kept the collection of rubber profiles and gave the sander away.

[George Sanders]

I have one and it was the most disappointing P-C product I have ever owned.

[Wayne Cannon]

I was disappointed with P-C's profile sander. The idea is good, but the sandpaper attachment to the profile "bits" simply doesn't work -- the sand paper won't stay in place. I found the Dremel and MultiMaster equivalents to work much better. I don't yet know how the latter two will hold up over time, however, which is why I started with the P-C version.

[Steve Vaughn]

Thanks for the replies everyone. It looks like a no-go.

Steve

[Byron Trantham]

I kept the collection of rubber profiles and gave the sander away.

+1 for this option...

[Doug Shepard]

I was actually able to get $40 for mine during a garage sale a few years ago. I felt like a bit of a thief but like they say Caveat Emptor.

[Joe Scharle]

Along these same lines, the Fein multitool attachment works pretty well at low speed. Too fast, and it throws the paper like the PC.