3" by 21" belt sander choices

[David Cramer]

Hello fellow woodworker,

Any recommendations on a 3" by 21" belt sander? I've had a PC for years and keep having problems with blow by dust at the point of attachment. The slightest gap and the air is forced out with the dust...right in my breathing path even though I wear a dust mask. I would like to stick with a 3" by 21" as I've used them for years and I like the weight versus a 4" belt sander. Any comments pros or cons would be appreciated.

Thanks:)

David

[Jim Andrew]

Does your sander have a dust bag? I took off the one on my Makita, and my 1 1/4" vac hose fit. So when I used it, used it with the vac. The hose is a bit of a pain, but I put mine over my shoulder with the cord.

[Bill McNiel]

I do the same as Jim with my PC 3x24. Direct connection to my Festool vac.

[John Schweikert]

Ditto, Makita 3"x21" connected to my Fein vac. Works great. Also I built a mount to use it as a sideways tabletop belt sander, so it serves double duty.

[Jim Becker]

I have a Bosch. It's nice and not too heavy. But it only gets used about once every four years or so...

[Tom M King]

I'm with Jim. I have a Bosch that must be twenty years old, but I doubt if I've ever worn out a half dozen belts on it, so you can see it doesn't get used much. It has a dust bag, and works fine. Also have the little one handed PC, that I use for trimming horse hooves, and an ancient Rockwell 4x24 that's a beast that gets called on for rare occasions. The little Bosch is easy to use.

[Robert Delhommer Sr]

I recently got a 3x21 PC and it too sure blows out a lot of dust, I have been thinking about hooking it to my dust collector. I have a old PC 4x24 that does a good job of collecting in the bag and is a lot cleaner than my new 3x21, needless to say I am disappointed with the dust collection on my PC 3x21, but the 4x24 is so much heavier I like the weight of the 3x21 a lot better, just need to improve the dust collection.

[Cary Falk]

I have a 3x18 amd a 4x24 Makita. I love both of them. The have a flat top so I can turn them upside down and sand free handed if needed. I neveer met a PC sander that I liked.

[Jim Becker]

I recently got a 3x21 PC and it too sure blows out a lot of dust, I have been thinking about hooking it to my dust collector. I have a old PC 4x24 that does a good job of collecting in the bag and is a lot cleaner than my new 3x21, needless to say I am dsappointed with the dust collection on my PC 3x21, but the 4x24 is so much heavier I like the weight of the 3x21 a lot better, just need to improve the dust collection.
For small tools like this, a shop vac is going to give you better performance for dust extraction because they operate better at high static pressures with small dust ports.

[David Cramer]

Thanks for all of the great responses. I just scored a fein vacuum from a friend and will use it as you've all described. Honestly, I never thought of using a shop vac and just figured the hose was too cumbersome and that the bag "should" work better. I was wrong on both accounts. In addition, I spent a few years in a shop and that was not the norm. You grabbed the sander and boogied or the boss...you understand.

Thanks again as I, and my lungs, sincerely appreciate it:)

David