Cons: Blows dust. May require frequent paper changes depending on the work.
The Bottom Line: Excellent Porter Cable Quality. This is a very powerful, quiet and efficient compact sander. Good in tight spaces due to square footprint. Works very rapidly. A pleasure to use.
zlotmachinskyr's Full Review: Porter-Cable Speed-Bloc Quarter-Sheet Finishing Sa...
Porter Cable has been in business since the early 1900s and was started by the Porter and the Cable families. At one time this company was owned by Rockwell but was bought back by Porter Cable people and renamed Porter Cable. Porter Cable is also linked to Delta power tool company. As a large power tool manufacturer, Porter Cable produces a surprising large number of different power tools. Many are unique and specific to specialized needs in the realm of the construction and building trades. The products from this company are always very professional in look, feel and operation.
I believe that Porter Cable has done it again with this unique design of sander.
In the realm of compact sanders this unit is very powerful. In fact after you use this unit it is doubtful any other unit of this size will satisfy your sanding needs quite as well. Once this sander is turned on it revs up to it max speed in a very steady well balanced way. Because this sander is so well balanced it is easily held with two hands and goes where the operator wants it. It does not act like a gyroscope and resist movement. This helps prevent gouging the work which is being smoothed.
I have used this unit primarily on vertical wall surfaces such as plastered walls that needed some smoothing down and for repainting bathrooms and kitchens with shiny smooth enamels. After you go over a wall of enamel with this machine you can rest assured that any new enamel paint will stick very well. Naturally you will need to clean up the dust generated by this first class sander. I use a dust and fume respirator when sanding paint related to fact that old paint may contain lead and then I vacuum up the dust from the floor and the walls.
Note that this sander must be on the surface ready to go before you turn it on. It becomes unwieldy to try and apply a running sander like this and still hold on to it as well. With a fresh sheet of sand paper in place it is amazing to watch the surface to which this unit is applied just explode with dust as it performs its task. Dust floats off the bottom pad from all four sides. This unit is very robust and must be packing more power than most if not all other sanders of this footprint size. The unit is taller than many others of this type because of it's powerful motor and it's sandpaper clamp mechanism. This sander is a good fit for anyone but men with larger hands will like having a device that has an adequate place for those hands. The cord is made of a round soft flexible rubbery material and so it does not interfere with the work in progress or resist motion of the operator in any way and the length has always been adequate. Single speed is all you need. You control the amount of material removal by time spent in the worked area and also how fine or course the sandpaper is. This unit shines in the realm of being able to use virtually any grade if sand paper, from ultra fine to very course. Cut your sandpaper ahead of time with a utility knife and ruler or use giant scissors. Avoid ragged edges as that reduces sanding sheet life.
To give you an idea of the power of this unit: just suffice it to be said that it would do a fine massage on a Grizzly bear with the proper massage pad. This is a professional grade product, not a sissy tool like so many look alike products. Because this sander is so smooth and well balanced it has never gouged anything I have applied it to including soft woods. With the proper grade abrasive the user should be able to apply this tool anywhere and on any material that is in need of smoothing.
For even greater speed and versatility there are aftermarket conversion kits which allow adhesive backed sandpapers to be used. 3M makes an aftermarket adhesive sandpaper and conversion kit. The user just replaces the original pad with the new supplied smooth surfaced one. The user can then cut several sheets of the grit type needed from a roll of stick on sandpaper in advance of starting a job. It is more expensive than 1/4 sheet sandpaper but the convenience may be better for many users especially do-it-yourself types. Stick on sandpaper still must be clamped in on both sides of the base. The advantage for adhesive sandpaper is that it is more durable so requires fewer changes. The limitation for self-adhesive sandpaper is that the number of available grades is limited. Keep in mind that you can still use regular 1/4 sheets of sand paper after conversion to the adhesive friendly pad. A quarter sheet of sand paper is a lengthwise long strip that is made by cutting a sandpaper sheet lengthwise down the center and then lengthwise down the center of each half yielding 4 lengthwise 1/4 sheet strips of sandpaper. This sander comes with a pry bar to force open the sandpaper clamp for each end of the sandpaper strip.
At a 99 cent store I discovered some 00 grade steel wool 1/4 sheets that will go on this sander as well. This opens up the realm of smoothing metals. If one grade exists then there must be other finer and coarser grades of steel wool 1/4 sheets available. An interesting discovery I thought.
This sander, on display at to my local lumber yard, was advertised as capable of being gripped with one hand by its top knob and even used upside down so you can place this sander virtually anywhere. I picked it up by the top and realized that is is very comfortable to hold in the palm of one hand and that the unit is really not very heavy. I hadn't thought of one hand operation before but it made sense and will greatly increase the reach of this unit.
Their ad also mentioned that this sander uses ball bearing construction in it's moving parts and naturally this is for long product life and consistent performance.
I purchased my copy of this fine sander at Home Depot because the store tool expert turned me on to it and I have been so satisfied with this product that I have never looked back or ever considered using any other product. This sander is unique in that I have yet to see any other sander that uses 1/4 sheet sandpaper. Most other products in this category use expensive adhesive disk sandpaper.
Porter Cable 330 Speed-Bloc Quarter-Sheet Finishing Sander Comfortable, easy-grip outer housing for hours of use without fatigue. Solid metal frame fo...More at CPO Porter-Cable
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