Makita BO4556K 1/4 Sheet Finishing Sander, with Tool Case

While I can't attest to the long-term durability of this product, I can say that it's a stand-out among other mid-to-high end finishing sanders. I considered purchasing the DeWalt or Ridgid finishing sanders after seeing both in the store. The DeWalt felt nice in hand, but the reviews mentioned that it actually was > 1/4 sheet, which seemed like a waste of sandpaper to me, and long-term longevity due to plastic frame mounts was questionable. The Ridgid was similarly comfortable, however, the sandpaper attachment mechanism in the front did not seem like it would hold up very long and reviews confirmed as much. Even with a lifetime warranty, frequent repair trade-ins were not something I was interested in. This Makita has a long tradition of 4+ start reviews and now I see why. The blow mold case is nice and fits everything snugly, while still leaving room for sandpaper. It comes with a nice paper-punch to properly align and punch holes in your sand paper to make use of the exhaust ports. The dust-catcher actually does a pretty good job sucking up the fine dust. Compared to my old finish sander (a super old Sears model), this thing has very little hand fatigue, moderate noise level, good dust collection, and holds a straight line. That last bit is important, because it makes it easy to sand as opposed to fighting against your every move. The paper retention system takes a little getting used to, but once you do it a few times, it's really no problem. It's a simple clip mechanism, but one that seems like it will last for a good while, since the only way for it to wear out is for a clip to break or the metal to wear through - neither of which I see happening with regular use. You can get this for about the same price at Home Depot, but without the case. It's worth waiting a few days for the Amazon delivery because the case is a nice freebie. You won't regret this one.

This is my second or third one of these little sanders. They just work great. And for the price with a case (which I wanted) you can't beat it. I've used these to prep porch floors for painting, prep refurbished wooden garage doors, prep deck railings as well as little jobs like closet shelves and interior steps. I like the small grip because I have small hands. The DeWalt is too hard for me to handle because the palm grip too big. Like other reviewers I buy full sheets of sandpaper and cut them down. The hole puncher that comes with the unit makes this a simple task of cutting the paper, putting it on the sander and punching the holes. The clamps work fine and hold the paper well. The case is heavy duty and is plenty big enough for the sander, cord, hole puncher and lots of sheets of sandpaper. This little sander does not tire out my hands ... not very much vibration. They do tend to get a little noisy as they age but I wear hearing protection whenever I'm in the shop so that is not too much of an issue with me. The dust collection works OK ... but hey, it's sanding. The nature of the beast is to create dust. I have not tried it with a hose hooked to the shop vac. My last one of these sanders had a zipper on the dust bag which made it easier to empty ... kind of miss that but the bag on this one is OK. Bottom line ... I'll be buying another when this one wears out.

I needed a finishing sander to sand the stairs in my house before putting a polyurethane coat. It may not be very fast, but you can get to all corners with it. These sanders are not very expensive, so I wanted to get the best one. Limited my choices to Dewalt, Bosh, Milwaukee and Makita. Started looking at Amazon reviews and to my surprise all of them except Makita had very poor customer feedback. Being an engineer I went to Lowes and Home Depot to verify it first hand. Bosh and Milwaukee both have a modern way of holding the paper. At first I liked it because of easy paper loading, but I have to trust other reviewers in that these new clamps are not holding the paper securely. So these two names are crossed away from my list. I always had a lot of respect for Dewalt and their line of professionally looking tools. Recently my opinion started to deteriorate after I have learned that many if not all their 20V little cordless drills have chucks with unacceptably high runout. How come they allowed that to happen to their very expensive tools? For comparison I can say that my recently purchased 2 no good name cordless drills exibit practically no runout and they cost only a fraction of the Dewalt's cost. Amazon reviews say that many Dewalt sanders model D26441K fail due to a problem with their plastic platen, which holds the sanding pad. Plastic breaks under load and pieces get jammed in the motor. Not very good... In addition somebody said that their pad is too big to accept a 1/4 sheet of paper. I have compared Dewalt and Makita side by side and can testify that Dewalt's pad is bigger. What good is the sander if it cannot take the paper? So I desided to take my chances with Makita for which I could not find really horrible reviews. It is the most expensive among 4 big names (due to the plastic case which I wanted)and has only 1 year warranty (Milwaukee has 5 years). Yesterday I finished my sanding project. Based on my experience with this tool I can say that it is pretty good. It is powerfull, paper clamping is easy and secure, vibration is low due to a special balancer on the motor shaft. The pad is just the right size to accept a 1/4 sheet of 9"x11" paper. This sander does not collect all the dust, but about 90% of it, which is very good without the help from a vacuum cleaner. Other sanders can accept a vacuum hose, but on the stairs it is impossible to manipulate with it. So Makita was the perfect tool for the job. I gave it 5 stars. Unfortunately I cannot say the same about Amazon performance. I have ordered the sander on May 6, it was not shipped until May 11 and was delivered On May 14. I have lost a good weekend of work due to this delay. To make matters worse it was shipped from the warehouse in Allentown, Pa and I am in York, PA. They could have it delivered in 2 days with no trouble at all, but they elected not to. This was the free super saver shipping case and they were not obligated to deliver it quickly. I cannot prove it, but somehow I've got an impression they waited intentionally. Sorry for venting it out, but this is not the first and not the second bad experience with Amazon.

machine comme prévu! Très bien!

Formidable petite machine, comme c'est souvent le cas chez Makita. Un long fil d'alimentation en caoutchouc, une très bonne maniabilité. La taille du patin correspond à un quart de feuille standard et la machine est livrée avec un gabarit pour percer les trous d'aspiration ... quelle riche idée ! En plus, bien que le collecteur de poussière ressemble à un jouet, le système est très efficace. Il y a très peu de poussière non-aspirée. Que demander de plus pour ce prix !

Boa qualidade Mas vem sem maleta

So macht schleifen Spaß

Makita sempre top! Presa dal mio ragazzo che fa tanti lavori con il legno si è dimostrata un valido attrezzo per realizzare ciò di cui necessita. Marchio affidabile e qualità indiscussa.