We bought several of the Dewalt 5-inch random orbit sanders less than a year ago and none are useable today. The problem is the foam backing to the sanding disk - all have dried out and cracked, most have lost large chunks of foam - and the cost of a replacement foam disk backing is 60% of the cost of a new sander.
When they could be used, they worked well, but the first one began to crack and fail within 6 months, and the other four followed soon after.
WOULD NOT RECOMMEND. DEWALT D26451 3 Amp 5-Inch Random-Orbit Sander with Cloth Dust Bag
I've been using this product for a while now and the best
thing about it is the vacuum attachment. I hook up my shop
vac with a 1.5 in. dia. hose and there is no dust at all,which
comes in handy when using the sander in the house. Recently sanded
4 hardwood doors at my mother's place and the sander performed great.
I've been into woodworking for the past 15 years. Over that time I've gone through 4 of these sanders. Each lasts about 4 years, but I use it alot. I've tried the Porter Cable and Makita sanders, but this one works best for me. Maybe it's because I'm used to it. As I said before, I do lots of sanding and the sander works really well until it dies. I attach my sander to a Fein vacuum, and almost all of the dust is sucked up into the vacuum. My fourth one just died, so I'll be ordering a new one. I originally had the variable speed sander, but never used the slower speeds, so I'll order this one and save some money.
As another reviewer stated, the vacuum attachment (just remove the bag but leave the bag holder in place) is absolutely great. Unfortunately, it is the only great thing about this sander. I did not have trouble with the pad backing as another reviewer mentioned, but that was the only thing. The biggest problem with this sander is the "clutch". To keep the disk from free spinning at an uncontrollable speed when lifted from the workpiece, DeWalt uses a nylon/plastic slip disc (a very, very thin donut) between the pad and the motor. So far, so good. Unfortunately, as soon as you sand, residue from the sanding adheres to the slip disc changing it from something slippery into something very sticky. The result is that the pad spins at maximum speed when you lift it from the workpiece. This, in turn, makes it impossible to put it back onto the workpiece without gouging. The only option is to turn the sander off, put it on the workpiece and then turn it back on. The switch is just small enough to make this a tedious operation. Using the vacuum attachment slows the inevitable a little, but it still occurs. Sanding wood with a high resin content, or wood with some finish on it (such as sanding between finish coats or refinishing an object) speeds up the non-function of the slip disc with or without the vacuum. You then must take the sander apart, clean or replace the slip disc, then reassemble the tool. I have seen guys on job sites use this sander on drywall - basically saying that this sander is so frustrating to use that they are consigning it to the slow death of plaster dust. I have found the Porter Cable to be a better option for finish sanding.'
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