Anyone Use a 5" Cordless Orbital Sander?

[Mike Henderson]

I'm looking at the DeWalt 5" cordless orbital sander. Anyone use a cordless orbital sander (any brand), and if so, what comments do you have about it?

I'm looking at the DeWalt because that's the system I have - lots of DeWalt tools, batteries, and chargers.

Mike

[Howard Rosenberg]

My sanders are Makita. Extremely low vibration. and quiet. Excellent longterm reliability.

[Dave Sweeney]

I have a Ryobi, not the highest quality sander but it's OK for what I use it for. I primarily use it for drywall repair and other types of small repair projects. I do appreciate the cordless feature especially when the job is far away from electrical service. I doubt if I would grab this sander when I really care about the final results when working with wood but it does serve its purpose for me. I would assume that the higher quality manufactures such as Makita, DeWalt and Milwaukee probably have cordless sanders that perform just as well as their corded offerings.

[Rich Aldrich]

I use a cordless 5" Dewalt sander. It works well. Its nice not having to deal with a cord. Battery life is good. Vibration is less than the corded version.

[ChrisA Edwards]

I have two Festool 5"/125mm cordless sanders, but with an AC adapter option. Love both of them and would replace either one if it quit on me.

[Jim Dwight]

I have a Milwaukee. It has about the same power as the corded DeWalt I have but without the cord. I don't like the fact that it will only use the little Milwaukee 18V batteries. I have one and I have lots of the bigger ones. The dust bin also comes off too easy IMHO. But it works fine, with the right battery and if you are careful with the dust bin. If I already had a bunch of another makers batteries I would try them instead, however. It's OK but not great.

I only do light sanding with the Milwaukee or the corded DeWalt. If I really need to sand something of size, I use a Bosch DEVS 1250. It is MUCH faster. Especially in turbo mode. But it is a bit difficult to use one handed. Big powerful sander that makes quick work of the task.

[David Stone (CT)]

I have the DeWalt cordless sander you're looking at, as a companion to a 5 inch corded sander, which happens to be a Mirka. In terms of end results, I think the two are much more alike than different.

The principal advantage I find with the cordless sander in a shop setting is that you can just pick it up and use it, versus the cordless sander that first needs to be fished out of its case and plugged in. Obviously, the latter is hardly difficult, but if all you need to do is 30 seconds or a minute worth of sanding, it's handy. I also like the cordless sander for DIY home renovation/repair projects, of which I do a lot, where it saves hassling with another extension cord. Finally, a really nice feature of cordless sanders is that they stop orbiting almost instantly when powered off, meaning you don't have to hold the the tool in midair while it takes its time spinning down. (The Mirka and other corded sanders of its ilk have this same feature, so I won't count this as an advantage, except in comparison with older corded sanders.)

The above notwithstanding, I still get out the corded sander for most shop work. Mainly, this is because it feels a little better balanced and the hose arrangement seems a little better, probably reflecting the fact the design doesn't have to accommodate a battery, as opposed to anything brand-specific. Also, extended sanding chews through batteries, though that's not a big thing assuming you've got extras.

[Dennis Jarchow]

I have the Dewalt cordless as well. It does a decent job and as David says is ready to go as quickly as you can snap on a battery. It is not a replacement for my Festool sander in terms of dust collection, vibration. The Festool is also much better balanced, especially if you use a big battery with the Dewalt. That being said, there are times the cordless is very nice, especially since the Festool requires a dust collector.

BTW, Lowes currently has the Dewalt on sale including a charger and battery for $119 which is $50 less than the sander by itself.

[Rick Potter]

Keep them coming guys. I am hoping for a couple Makita reports, as I have a bunch of their batteries.

[Keegan Shields]

I pick up the Milwaukee version as a free tool, tried it, and sold it. IMO power tools that are operated continuously, like sanders, aren’t the best applications for batteries. The Milwaukee sander ate through my 5.0 amp/hr batteries very quickly.

Also I prefer hooking my sanders up to a dust extractor, so until that’s cordless, there’s no advantage to cordless sander for me.

[Aaron Inami]

Last year I had to do a big outdoor sanding project. I ordered a "corded" DeWalt sander, but I did not like it at all due to excessive vibration (it basically vibrated my hand off - major muscle fatigue over time). I also purchased a "cordless" Makita since I had moved over to Makita for all my small cordless tools (the Makita chainsaws are excellent!). The Makita cordless was very nice and vibration was extremely low. I purchased it based on this video, which seemed to indicate the Makita cordless did better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHOhtUuISas

After having it in my hand, it was very nice, but it did not seem to have as an aggressive/fast random orbit movement. It's hard to say, but I'm not sure that Makita's posted specification of 11,000 OPM is correct (impossible for me to confirm). After reviewing the video again closely, I would say that the DeWalt is a more aggressive sander, but sucks for dust collection (with just the bag). The Makita will collect more dust in the small bag/container. The DeWalt pretty much just sprays dust all over the place. If you have a dust extractor/vacuum, your dust collection on either sander will be much better.

Neither really worked for me and I ended up going all the way and purchasing Festool Rotex 90 and 150 sanders.

[Aaron Inami]

For anyone considering the Festool cordless sanders, please be aware that all 3 of their cordless sanders use a very small 2mm orbit. This means that these are excellent "finishing sanders". However, if you have a lot of material to remove, it's going to take a long time. Stuff like thinning material or sanding off excessive glue from glue-joints is going to take a long time with the Festool cordless. You're better off getting a corded sander with a 3mm or 5mm orbit for this type of task.

[Mike Henderson]

BTW, Lowes currently has the Dewalt on sale including a charger and battery for $119 which is $50 less than the sander by itself.

Thanks for pointing out that sale. I have a number of batteries and chargers but that's a nice 4Ah battery.

And I get the 10% veteran's discount at Lowes.

Mike

[Jamie Buxton]

I *always* connect sanders to a vacuum. If I’m tethered to the vacuum by the hose, paying for cordlessness on the sander doesn’t make any sense.

[glenn bradley]

I *always* connect sanders to a vacuum. If I’m tethered to the vacuum by the hose, paying for cordlessness on the sander doesn’t make any sense.

This is absolutely me. I always run DC when sanding so having the cord there is inconsequential. Staying with a battery system you already have makes good sense though if you choose to go this route.