My harbor freight oscillating drum sander review

[keith ouellette]

Mike McCann sent me a coupon and I was able to get the sander for $84 total with tax. (They wouldn't let me use 2 coupons though.

I used it to sand all the contours of the 2 rocking chairs I made. The wood was all pt 2x4's so it wasn't too hard but was very pitchy. Every part got sander and re shaped so I put it through a pretty good test.

The sander worked great. Believe it or not it has plenty of power if you really need to bear down on it. It spins at about 2000 rpm which is fast enough.

It could use a bigger dust collection port but the dust collection does work. I used it without my collector on for a few minutes and the dust piled up real quick so the dust port helps a lot (off course)

The stroke is only 5/8 of an inch but that didn't seem to bother me though I'm sure an inch would be better.

The 80 grit sanding sleeve really lasts. works even with all that pitch on it. If I clean it it still has a lot of work left on it.

I do not like the way the extra sanding sleeves are stored. They need to be on the side, not the back

Over all it is a great tool. I have one of there 5" orbit sanders that I use on all kinds of things in and out of my shop so it gets a lot of use and is still going strong after wearing out boxes and boxes of 25 cnt sheets( 5 years now) and I expect to see the same longevity out of the drum sander.

I would buy it even if I didn't have the coupon. Its worth at least $150. Any more than that and I'd get the ridged with the belt attachment.

really good tool.

[Cody Colston]

I have a Ryobi OSS that retailed for $89 new but has since been discontinued. It looks just like the one you pictured from HF. I have to say that it's probably the best power tool acquisition I've ever made in terms of value. Like your HF model, it works great and I use it on most every project I build.

[Alan Zenreich]

I also have the Ryobi. They look similar but the Ryobi has a much larger table.

[Dave Lehnert]

Also looks like the Triton brand that gets good reviews.

[keith ouellette]

Originally Posted by Dave Lehnert

Also looks like the Triton brand that gets good reviews.

I think the triton is a dead ringer except for the color. They didn't even try to hide that. At least the ryobi had a slightly different base.

[george wilson]

I have an older Ryobi sander at home that hasn't been used a lot. It would be broken down if it had been. We had one at work,and the very THIN little drive belt broke pretty soon. Ryobi was sending a free new belt at that time which was a bother to have to install. I never got around to sending for one for my sander.I'm waiting for it to die.

I think Ryobi machines have no guts to them,and will not buy another Ryobi product.