BLACK+DECKER Belt Sander with Dust Bag, 7-Amp, 3-Inch by 21-Inch (DS321)

I had one of these for many years which I used primarily to sand down OSB floors. After the rain, they would cup on all the seams. This worked really well for taking down those cups. When I killed that one, I bought a new one. Hard to beat it for the price

So I have owned many belt sanders in my day. In fact, I have 3 others presently when I decided to buy this one. The primary reason for this purchase was this sanders' large front space in front of the handle to be able to get under railings. My project is sanding a deck with existing vinyl railings that none of the other sanders could get under. So this seemed like a perfect solution.I got the sander and put it right to work. I paid attention to the front wheel and adjustment as many reviews here complained that it was badly engineered and the belt kept coming off. I completed about 150 feet of edging, under railings and along the house on this deck and the belt acted exactly as you would expect; if you push in one direction it will move in the opposite direction. In other words, if I am pushing down on the front of the machine and I slide the machine to the left, the belt will want to move to the right. It isn't an engineering issue, its physics.Anyway, great product. Did exactly what I wanted it to do and solved a great problem because of the unique design. Well done B&D.

First, it comes with one Aluminum Oxide, cloth backed, 60 grit belt already installed; in my case, it was also well tracked. If you are sanding wood, this will chew through it and leave a rough finish, so you will want to purchase other belts of higher grit numbers. I had pretty smooth results with 150 grit on cedar and then hit it with 240 for a super fast pass with a hand block (not many belt sander belts above 150 grit). The included belt is probably best for paint or extreme rust removal, it's just too coarse for most wood applications.The major complaint everyone has is belt tracking, but I found the tracking to be pretty good and easily adjusted. However, the tracking changes when actively sanding vs no load on the belt. It's not by much and you can get a sweet spot where it tracks in both cases; I'd also consider this pretty normal and I track a lot of belts (conveyors, printing presses, etc). There is a special card reminding you which way to turn the adjustment knob and it is listed in the manual (screw in and belt tracks in toward knob, screw out and belt tracks out away from knob), couldn't be easier. My only complaint is I had a tight spot where I kept bumping the knob and would have to stop and turn it back or my belt would walk out. I would rather a tracking knob that is then locked in place by a tightening nut thingy.The dust collector bag is held on by tying a string and is a pain in the ass. Whoever ties that in the factory must have tiny hands or one of those surgical robots. There is a sold-separately service part/adapter that allows you to hook a vacuum to it mentioned in the manual, but I used a bike tube and a hose clamp and it works great.I found the fixed speed to be set fairly well and it did not get too hot after an hour of pretty constant use. I did use the included belt for some rough work where some boards really didn't line up and it worked fine, seems like a nice belt. I took away one star because the thing is crazy loud; earplugs are a must.

Learning my heavy belt sander purchased 30 years ago required belts that are now obsolete, and having a small job that needed a belt sander, I read the reviews on this belt sander and decided to give it a try. My immediate impression was unfavorable, as most belt sanders I have previously used were heavy - and that extra weight helped when using it on horizontal surfaces, but admittedly strained the muscles when working on vertical surfaces. This feels very light and has many plastic parts, so I was suspicious how well it would work on a 10' by 15' subfloor that needed extensive sanding. Within a few minutes my suspicions were abated, as adjusting the belt in advance of using it was an easy task - and the belt did not need repeated adjustments, which was something previous belt sanders required. While I needed to apply more pressure on the horizontal surface to ensure the sander bit into the wood, the sander worked marvelously and the dust bag actually worked. No dust bag collects 100% of debris, but this one did an admirable job capturing debris. I'm not sure how it would stand up to all day use, but for the few hours I needed it, it worked without a hitch. Stopping to vacuum out the dust bag afforded the sander an opportunity to cool, and then it went right back to work. I wish I had more time to spend working wood, as this would definitely become a valued tool.

I HAVE A RYOBI FIXED BELT SANDER, A RIDGID AND A DEWALT FINISHIG SANDER / AFTER THE RYOBI FIXED, THIS IS THE SECOND ONE TO USE, REALLY AGRESSIVE

The front flip-up guard is a fantastic feature. I wish all belt sanders had that. I dis-assembled my deck railing (60 feet long x 4' high) with 2x2 staves, 2x6 caps and 2x4 facing, sanded everything down to bare wood, and repainted. A huge project and that sander was fantastic. I just kept the flip-up in the up position the entire time and used the front of the sander to really crank down on those stubborn spots. The paper walks a bit and required occasional adjustment but, hey, they all do that; nature of the beast. I had 18 years worth of solid color stain to remove and this sander did the job. I used a small electric blower to clean the sander out about every 15 minutes or so, and that helped a lot. I'd highly recommend this inexpensive sander for medium projects like this.