Belt sander

[doctor Bob]

Hi,
I have 3 belt sanders. All makita's, 2x 9404 and 1 x 9403.
One of the 9404's has bust beyond repair.
The guys find the 9403 too heavy, so I'll just replace with another 9404.
Unless you chaps think there is a better sander out there.
No festool as they get abused too much.

 

[RobinBHM]

Funnily enough Ive been helping out a mate who has a joinery shop where Ive been using Makita sanders -he has a 9403 which I found difficult to use -not so much the weight, as the balance.

Ive been taking in my own 9403 which I find nice to use -well balanced and with its nice long platen its easy to sand without digging in.

the only disadvantage is it has a design flaw that means its more or less unrepairable if it gets dropped on its front corner.


I use to have an Elu / de walt -but it has a small platen and is difficult to control without a skirt.

 

[johnnyb]

I love my 9403 its the gold standard tbh apart from the dustbag keeps coming off! but it does extract efficiently though.

 

[Doug71]

Stick with Makita, they do make the best belt sanders.

I used a 9401 for years (proper heavy duty) so my 9403 feels light in comparison!

Never used a 9404 but just checked them out and see the dust bag is on the opposite side to the others, seems strange but guess it's just what you get used to. Always use mine with extraction from above so like how the 9403 vents out of the top.

 

[harryc]

I would recommend the Bosch GET 75-150 basically a rotex at almost half the price. All the benefits of a geared sander combined with a orbital sander.

Plus depends on how important dust collection is for you.

Bosch were the original pioneers of sanders and this Sander is no exception IMO.

 

[scholar]

@doctor Bob I know you don’t want Festool, but just to say that my Festool belt sander is an awesome tool - ok it’s very well built, being one of their very old models, and expensive to match - but the thing that transforms it is the sanding frame, turns a crude machine into a real precision tool. (It also has a stand and fence so you can use it as a bench sander). Makes me smile every time I use it.

So, it depends on what you are using the belt sanders for, I guess.

Cheers

 

[Nelsun]

IIRC, the Festool BS (hur hur) belt sanders are based off an older AEG design. Bosch do their own blue variant which is likely cheaper and has a similar, but less polished, set of accessories like the bench mounts, angled fence and sanding frame.