Makita BO4556 1/4 in. Sheet Finishing Sander

This Makita replaces its ancestor that I bought in the mid-90s, dropped several times, used like crazy, and finally dropped one too many times. It was finally time.The new one works much the same, which is to say although it's a finishing sander, you can use it for all sorts of sanding tasks, including 4x8 sheets of plywood if you have some patience. The only change of any substantial nature is the sandpaper mounting arms, which in this one are left-right reversed from my old one, and in my opinion don't work as easily as the old model's. They do hold the paper, which is what matters, but they don't reach out and grab it as well as the older one's did. It's a fiddly complaint but I thought I'd bring it up.Great sander, quieter than its predecessor.

I didn't write a review for this until I'd used it for about a year, but now that I put it through a lot of use and it's still working great I wanted to take the time to say it's very well made and does a good job even after it's not "new" anymore.I can really notice a difference between the amount of dust left on the board and around the work area by using the dust collector bag. It seems to help a lot and it's not a hassel to empty the bag either.It doesn't seem to require a perfectly fit piece of sandpaper if the piece you're using is a little more narrow than the width of the bottom of the sander it still works good.The vibration is not bad at all and it's not irritatingly noisy either. Just a nice little handy sander to have around to use.

A month ago I thought my Makita was not going to last much longer as it was slowing down and speeding up. I purchased another one from Amazon. Apparently it was my work shop surge protector cutting in and out and the old sander is now humming along as good as the new sander after installing a new surge protector. It is light weight, very easy to change the sand paper, and now I have two. I have had other sanders in the past but none so easy to use as the Makita 2AMP and the fact that is lightweight I can hold at any angle and sand without my hand getting tired. Perfect for someone who has never used a palm sander before it is so easy to use.

This is a great sander. I only gave it 4 stars because the pad actually has a slight concave pattern while it’s running. I checked with a few different straightedges and the pad itself is flat. But, while it’s running, it will create a pattern on the front and back edges of about 3/4”. It’s not ideal on flat panels, but is easy to work around.This sander has a little more RPM than the makita orbital sander and it does make a difference in finishing sanding. It will still give swirl marks if you don’t be careful about building up too much sanding dust(depending on the material you’re sanding). I’ve tried both punching “suction” holes with the provided guide, as well as running without and i actually got better results without the holes.I use almost exclusively Makita in my Shop and would highly recommend ALMOST any power tool they make. This was a great addition to help with sanding in tighter/right angles where the orbital just doesn’t reach.

I'm refinishing hardwood beams in a ceiling. This sander is ideal for the job because it's lightweight and easily maneuverable. Perfect for overhead work.

This is light weight and feels good in your hand. I've had many 1/4 sheet sanders over the years and this is the best. Low vibration and much more quiet then my dewalt. This is a well built tool at a reasonable price.

Wonderful, doesn't vibrate so much my hand begins to hurt which is a definite positive. Moved smoothly with out leaving any obvious marks on wood. Would most certainly recommend this.

A little more powerful and aggressive than the Porter Cable Speed Bloc. It's paper clamping mechanisms have worked ok so far. The pad under the sandpaper is much stiffer than that on the Speed Bloc, which is good for some applications (sanding a chamfer) but bad for others (sanding a round-over). I also find the switch a bit awkward - it's covered with a rubber bubble that I not quite used to yet - but it's light and comfortable in my hand.