...because I can tell that I will just end up going back and getting a better brand and higher end model in the next year or two. This one does an OK job for must of the around the house / weekend warrior stuff. The ergonomics of the moveable handle as well as the fwd piece that moves up to allow tight spot sanding are very nice options. And I would have to say that for under $100 you would be hard pressed to find a better sander. But this sander will not stand up to a Porter Cable or DeWalt model that runs roughly $150. You would be better off shelling out the money... cause you always get what you pay for when talking about these companies.

Everything works well, except the belt tracking. I spend most of my sanding time trying to center the belt. I am afraid the unit will soon end up in the trash can.

i am a remodeler and also own professional model sanders. i purchased the dragster in a pinch. it was the only sander in stock at my local home depot. i knew about tools trial period and expected to return the sander for lack of quality. i was suprised, the dragster is a keeper especially with its light weight and the close up sanding feature. i dont know how long it will run in heavy use but is worth the $70.

This sander is a complete waste of time. If you need to do some serious sanding, that's when you need a belt sander. This one is not even close. The sanding belt doesn't track. It runs hot after a few minutes. And finally, after about 15 minutes of trying to remove paint from plywood, the rear tire tore off! If you need something to do light work, you don't need a belt sander, but you certainly don't need this sander anytime. It won't handle balsa wood. Spend the money. If you don't have the money, buy a good random orbit sander which is less than this junk. I ended up buying the Ridgid belt sander and it was expensive but worked great (nice machine). Lastly, be careful, Craftsman offers the same sander as this BD but it's a different color and $10 more! Don't even consider this sander.

Love the low profile design which is specifically what I was looking for in a sander, so I was willing to purchase the sander just for this feature (already own a good belt sander that has a standard profile). However ... the belt wanders ALL OVER THE PLACE. Very difficult to keep it on track. I spend more time futzing with the belt tracking adjustment than I do sanding.
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br /Also noticed that it takes longer to get the same results with this sander that I get when using my normal belt sander. Takes longer with the Dragster to get the same results using 80 grit, for instance, as I get with my old belt sander. So allow more time for sanding, even w/o factoring in the additional time needed to futz with the belt tracking.
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br /Someone else mentioned squeaky bearings. Have that problem, too. High-pitched squeak can be very annoying.
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br /Plastic casing isn't very durable. Within the first few minutes of use, the orange casing on the front end shredded due to belt tracking being off (belt slipped to the inside and I didn't stop the sander immediately because to see if the belt would adjust itself).
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br /Great looking sander. Great idea. Love the concept. Frustrated with belt tracking. I don't have the patience to continually adjust it. So only use the sander when I really, really need to use the low profile aspect. Definitely not a sander to purchase if you only want to buy one belt sander.
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A pure consumer product that falls short of producing professional results. Important to experiment matching the sandpaper grit to the work. Hint: fine doesn't produce the result one expects from a belt sander. Relatively light, easy to use, but left me wishing I had paid more to get a stronger machine.

I purchased this sander because I liked the features of the product. The sander has a very low profile that allows the user to get close the edge of a floor or another area where there is a right angle. However, during my first use I was disapointed to find that the lever that compresses the tension spring for the belt failed. I had to return the sander to a service center for repair the first day it was in use. It seems to me that the lever is made of poor quality material. Hopefully, the replacement will be made better. I think the design is great for a homeowner's basic needs.

I've had this sander for about 6 months, and have used it a lot, primarily on hardwood glue-ups for cutting boards. Admittedly, I'm likely using it more frequently than it was designed to be used (5 to 10 hours of pretty heavy use weekly). It pretty much does what it was designed to do, albeit with a few shortcomings.
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br /From day one, the bearings on my BD Dragster have squawked intermittently. I figure I'll use it until it burns up, but it's sounded like it wants to die since the day I got it. The belt tracking is pretty finicky. I'm using high-quality 3M blue belts, and I still have to regularly tweak the tracking when I'm using the sander. The dust bag works about as well as those on other belt sanders I've used, but since it has a rectangular dust port, there's no straightforward way to attach a vacuum hose for real dust control.
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br /On the plus side, the needle nose design provides a slightly larger platen area, and there have been a couple of cases where it was useful to be able to use the nose of the sander for tight inside curves. Belt changes are quick (if you don't count the time it takes to adjust the tracking).
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br /For a homeowner sander that gets occasional use, this sander should do the trick. If you need a sander for more frequent use, I'd recommend looking for more of a professional model.

Never owned and belt sander before, so I just picked the one that looked the coolest... Good for simple projects around the house, I can't imagine it would be of any real use to a serious wood worker. Haven't had the squeak that other reviews mention, but have only put about 2 hours on it so far. A few non-performance related gripes... because of it's odd shape, a case would have been nice, so it can be stored with my other tools. Other gripe is the dust bag. Would have been great if you could attach a shop vac, but you can't. I scoured BD's website, hoping there was some sort of attachment, but no dice. All in all... nice, easy to use sander for small DIY'er type projects, but probably not a good idea for bigger projects.

I recently purchased this sander for general use and for finish sanding on the hardwood floors in our apartment. Having used Black and Decker equipment many times before I felt quite confident in the brand.
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br /Boy was I let down by this machine. Having read the instructions and after setting it up with the included sanding belt I adjusted the belt tension to what I assumed was correct. In the beginning the sander performed fine, although I noticed it didn't remove as much matierial as I was accustomed to a belt sander removing. Then the problems started. The belt started to slide off by a good 1/2 to 1 centimeter. I stopped and retightened the belt. After another 5 minutes it happened again. Having this happen repeatedly I decided to stop for the day and return the sander the next morning. After talking to the manager of the hardware store he had commented that many people had been having the same problem with the sander and told me that I needed to "really tighten the belt down good and tight." Upon returning home I slipped a new belt on cranked the tightness knob til what I thought was right and proceeded to sand away. All was well and good for about 5 minutes then it all started over. The only problem this time was the belt slid the other way, into the machine, through the cheap plastic guard and shredded the side of the belt. This happened before I noticed and had a chance to stop it.
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br /Needless to say the sander was returned the next day and the money put towards a brand new dewalt sander. The dewalt performs better than perfect and I was able to finish the floors in a day. Unfortunately, thanks to the black and decker I was delayed two days returning it to the store.
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br /I now know why they call it "DRAGSTER" - You have to keep dragging it back to the store.

I bought one of these at Home Depot two days ago and spent a good chunk of yesterday sanding studs with it to remove mold. Up until the last belt change I was in love. It was cheap, lightweight, it worked, and the cutesy front wheel really does provide great access into tight spaces. Then for some reason the belt tensioner stopped working. After less than one day's use it was broken. Needless to say it went back to Home Depot and today I'm shopping Amazon for something a little sturdier.

I got this before I owned my current home and I just had a few very small projects. It worked fine with them (as I expected), but since I moved into my new home, I have been using it a lot more and it continues to work fine.
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br /It does get pretty warm with continuous use, and the belt adjustment can be a little finicky (so the belt slides around a little), but for the most part, I am very pleased with the purchase.

i have owned this for about 2 yrs now and i have put it through a darn good workout and it has performed very much better than expected. i am a tool freak and own a roofing and remodeling business. we are hard on tools and trucks. this sander is a great performer, especially for the money. have not had the least troube from it. actually performed better than an industrial sander that i used before. easy to control, tracks real good, i was amazed at how good it has performed. others complained about certain things but i guess they just got a lemon. i have been really impressed by this sander, especially when considering the price.we have even used it for a lot of things that it was not designed for and were pleasantly surprised at the performance and quality and quantity of work it has produced. would give a five except that i won't even give snap-on or proto, craftsman that high rating.

I would have given the sander a 5 but i'm still waiteing for the drive belt i ordered from BD that has been on back order now 2 weeks. Once aqain BD has rushed a good sander out on the market without any parts.
br /If I was a professional wood worker, this waite would be costing me money.

Never have I had a tool go south so fast. Belt tracking is a joke. good luck getting it to track straight after you start sanding. It runs extremely hot after only a few minutes and then the rear roller comes off! I spent a couple hours with my brand new sander sanding a table top and the sander was ready for the trash bin. I am steaming and this is the last Black and Decker product I will ever purchase. Spend the money on something else!

I purchased this belt sander because of the design which looks good for my first project, sanding the deck and rails. After reading the reviews I felt a little concern because of the bad reviews but I decided to get it anyway cause of the good price. I was so wrong, from the first day that I tried using it, the freaking sanding belt kept coming out and I was just testing it by itself, no surface yet, it even burned the front corner when the belt moved. After adjusting it so many times to get the belt perfectly aligned I decided to give it a shot on my deck. Big mistake, after like few seconds of sanding the belt moved again and this time burned another side of the plastic cage. When you push it against the surface, it tends to get stuck, so not enough power to level the wooden surface.
br /I recommend to spend a little more and get a good tool. I'm planning to return this piece of junk and get a Dewalt or something else of better quality.
br /A side note, don't get tricked by Sears, they have the same tool but Craftsman, it is probably the same piece of junk.
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The front end exposure is a great idea but this tool is way under powered. Applying any downward pressure while sanding will almost stop this weakling. The rear drive wheel is aluminum threaded onto a steel shaft, only a matter of time, it will strip the threads. If you can buy one for under $30 buy it but this is a tool for occasional use, nothing more.

I have the 7 amp version of this sander and I really like it. The tracking was sketchy at first but it finally settled down. Now I really only have to fiddle with it about 1 time per every hour of sanding.
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br /Really nice little unit. Craftsman does offer the same sander w/different colors but you would be better off finding a Black and Decker outlet and picking up a reconditioned unit for around $40.

Its lightweight but has plenty of power to do the job. Controls are handy. One concern--the small roller on the front might be too small for the belt. I had one belt that broke, but I didn't know if the sharp turn on the front roller contributed to it. I do like it so far.

THE PRICE IS GOOD EXCEPT I'VE DIFFICULTY IN FINDING THE 320-GRIT ABRASIVE BELT THAT FITS MY WORK. ANY SUGGESTIONS?
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