variable speed belt sander?

[Kevin Jenness]

My 30 year old Makita hand-held belt sander is on its way out. I would like to get a replacement with a low variable speed. I have used a newer Makita 4x24 which is a nice unit but not as slow on low as I would like. At one time I had an Elu that went down almost to hand block sanding speed. Is there anything similar on the market these days?

[Dave Sabo]

you could add this to any belt sander :

http://www.rockler.com/router-speed-control

Smaller and cheaper versions are out there - you could prob. find one to piggyback on the sander itself if you looked long enough.