Unlike some other users, I've replaced my belt sander with this one. pThe good points of this sander have to do with it being very powerful and a random orbit sander. Powerful is good for smoothing large surfaces quickly. Quickly is good for me because I hate sanding so much (I own at least seven electric sanders -- I must hate it). Random orbit is good, frankly, because you never get the surprises that an instant of inattention with a belt sander gets you (I am in awe of those of you who get perfect results every time with a belt sander -- you are better than me). This machine is nearly as aggressive as my P-C belt sander, and much less likely to carve low spots or dig in an edge.pThe bad part is that it is much harder to handle than a smaller, less powerful random orbit sander. It took me a while to develop a smooth technique with it, and it still sometimes wants to "walk" off the work piece. I use it for preliminary sanding on flat surfaces before assembly. I think it would be a poor choice for sanding small parts of an assembled piece, and a disastrous choice for something with a lot of different surface levels close to each other (a rolltop desk, small table, chair, etc.)pI use it where I used to use my belt sander, and finish sand by hand or with my small random orbit sander.pBy the way, it sands like mad. It's fast. It's aggressive. I love it.pRecommended.

There is no such thing as a tool that's perfect for every task and this PC is no exception. I build kitchen cabinets and use it to smooth whole sheets of plywood before cutting and smoothing dovetail joints on drawer boxes. The 120 grit works great. Saves a ton of time on drawer boxes and the insides of the cases. The dust collection is fantastic, no more cloud of dust from my palm model with the silly catch canister. Quiet, smooth running, quality construction. Be careful with coarse grits, eats wood fast! The pad is very firm so it won't round over the edges of the wood. It may not be the best for small or narrow parts, but it's great on the big stuff. Nice Tool!

I have my own furniture business and the PC 97366 is a great sander. It is much more aggressive than my DW421. Dust collection is great, variable speed is very handy for fine work, after 2 months pad brake still working and all this with no swirl marks. A great sander for most work, but still not the only sander I need and use.

I recently purchased the PC 97366 6" Variable Speed Sander Kit with Dust Collection Hood. I read a review at Amazon indicating the dust collection was inadequate. In my experience the dust collection, while not perfect, is very good. I sanded the parts to make a cherry bookcase with my Ryobi RS-115 just before ordering the 97366. Even though the RS-115 has built in dust collection, as usual, I had dust all over the shop. I just finished sanding an identical bookcase with the 97366. There is very little dust in my shop from this job. The dust hood is definitely worthwhile. I suspect the variation in dust collection with the 97366 is due to the shop vacuum attached to it. If you have a good shop vacuum with a clean filter, you should collect almost all the dust. I did note, however, that I get better dust collection with sanding pads that have the holes, rather than those without holes. Porter Cable says you can use pads without holes, and you can. But, I don�t think dust collection is as good. pWhile it certainly is not as aggressive as my large Porter Cable belt sander, it is very fast. I did not find control to be a problem although it is a little more difficult to use than the RS-115. It is bigger, heavier, and supplies much more torque. pTo change pads you invert the sander and peel off the old pad. This would be much easier if the manufacturer would put a flat base on the top so the sander would remain steady when inverted. (Are you reading this Porter Cable?) But, then, that also goes for any sander I have ever used or seen.

I recently purchased this sander and must say it is the most aggressive sander I have ever seen. It puts my pneumatic sanders to shame in sanding. I will say that it is kind of heavy and awkward to hold. After sanding two hours with it my right hand was quite sore and tired. Other than that, it is an excellent tool.

This ia a remarkably versatile sander, equally adept at finish sanding and rapid stock removal. As such, it replaces both a half-sheet finish sander and a belt sander for most people. It's aggressive, but more easily controlled than a belt sander, and with fine grits (150 and above) and at slower speeds its aggressiveness can be well moderated. Because it is a random orbital sander, it never leaves sanding marks, and sandpaper lasts considerably longer than with a finish or palm sander (at least for me).
br /
br /As with all Porter-Cable tools, it is no-nonsense and well-made. On the down side, it's a bit fatiguing to grip with my medium-sized hands, the dust-collection hood is only moderately effective (although all remaining dust is directed downward), and extended use causes my hands to tingle for several hours afterwards. These criticisms are only minor, and do not diminish the sander's utility; moreover, they may apply in varying degrees to all random-orbit right-angle sanders. I do suggest the use of shock-absorbing gloves and breathing protection with it, however.
br /
br /In summation, I recommend this sander highly. I have used it daily in the restoration of our 1888 Victorian, and have found it perfect for nearly every situation.

This is the exact same package as Griots Garage sells for $50 more. All you need is a couple of foam polishing pads from Meguiars or any auto detailing site and you are ready to polish your car to perfection. Just check out this link for complete directions on how to use one of these things and you will be polishing like a pro in a day! There is NO COMPARISON to the job this tool will do and hand work. Not even close. phttp://bimmer.roadfly.org/bmw/forums/detailing/forum.php?postid=1430487page=1

I won a Dewalt DW421 in a contest about 5 years ago. I traded it in and paid the difference to upgrade to this sander. The first 2 or 3 failed out of the box with motor and/or gear problems. After finding one that performed properly I put it to the test. I have used the 97366 with the dust collection system to sand cultured marble sinks and smooth walls that I had recently plastered. The dust was minimal while using my shop vacuum. It performs very good to excellent in sanding both soft and extreemly hard surfaces. This is one of the best investments I have made in my shop!

I use this sander primarily to strip paint of the bottom of my sailboat and it works great. Vacuum dust collection is required by the marina and this works fine as well. However, there will still be dust in the air and the combination of sander and vacuum is noisy so a good dust mask and ear plugs should be used. I have been using the sander for 3 years and it has not given me any problems. I use mostly 60 and 80 grit disks which make the tool moderately aggressive at removing paint, but not enough to mar the surface. I also keep the variable speed setting at the highest level, so I have not found this feature very useful. The only drawbacks are that it is a little heavy for overhead use and the cord/vacuum hose makes it a little cumbersome to maneuver. If you are going to own just one sander, then this is the one to get. It is more aggressive than the pad type sander so that it can be used for moderate paint removal, but can also be used for delicate finish work as well.

I borrowed this sander and did not want to give it back! It was quite powerful yet easy to control. It sanded effortlessly and I have tried many other random orbit sanders. The dust collection is worth the extra investment. I hooked it up to my relatively weak shop vac and after awhile, I realized I didn't even need my dust mask. I would buy this immediately but for the fact I have 2 other sanders on order that I have yet to receive and try out. I only hope they are half as good.

I just finished sanding my oak kitchen floor with this sander and the sander worked flawlessly. It didn't bog down once after sanding all day. The dust collection and the HL pad worked very well. One of the best tools I have purchased. It complements my PC 333VS sander.

This sander is great in the beginning. It works like a well built machine, and then, it happens. For some reason, this thing gets out of balance and ceases to do a good job. It wobbles all over the place. My shop owns 6 of these that were all bought at the same time, now after one year of daily use, 4 of them are unusable because of the counter-balance.pPROSp** Can apply alot of pressurep** Very strongpCONSp** Gets out of balancep** Brushes hard to changep** 2 hand sander

It's another of the collection of tools we use to make our renovation projects easier. Picked it because of our mostly good experience with Porter Cable. It does awesome work. And, the dust collection system, which is absolutely essential for our work, just about does away with dust completely. That's a great plus for indoor projects such as refinishing wall paneling, hardwood, etc., where you can't have dust going all over the house and you'd really rather not have to tape up plastic everywhere.pUnlike other writers, we've found the dust collection system to be great when hooked to our portable vacuums. We also like the hook and loop and have had zero problems with it, despite this sander's power. It's a big improvement over our five inch sanders for larger projects. That one inch difference is unbelievable. We're going to buy more of them.

I have owned this sander over three years. The six inch sander gives an excellent finish. I use an shop vac for the dust collection and it does a very good job on the dust control in the shop. The sandpaper grits I use are 80,100,150 220. I can use the sander one or two handed but two handed works best. I would recommend this sander to anyone.

This sander is exactly what they say it is. Dependable, fast, strong, powerful, and best of all a true random orbit. I recently used it while making baseboards out of stock lumber and after a few passes the wood is ready to paint. It's a little bit of a pain to have to make sure you have the right number of holes and the right types of sandpaper but worth it since this sander really rocks. For example, take a look at Amazon's list of accessories. The link says "6 hole" but the picture shows 5 holes. As in life, once you master your holes you can do anything. As far as the vacuum attachment goes, it doesn't link up directly to my Sears shop vac, but it does easily connect to other vacs that I have and makes a 95% dust free sanding environment a reality. If you want power and dependability and low vibration and a real quality tool, spend the cash to get this one.

I have a 15 year old model that uses sticky discs instead of hookloop and no vac attachment. I have many hours on this sander and it has fallen off the work bench to the concrete floor and the ground many times...nothing has ever broke; This sander takes a licking and keeps on ticking. I had to replace the pad once. It has been extremely reliable and does a great job of swirl free sanding. It really slings out the dust,so a vac-setup on it would be great,which the new models come with. I highly recommend this sander!

I was disappointed with the performance of the sander. It was difficult to control -- it usually hopped, skipped and jumped across the piece I was trying to sand unless I only used the edge of the disk. The sanding action was not as aggressive as I had hoped. I have pretty much reverted back to using my belt sander for rough sanding and my Dewalt ROS for the finish work. I also found the unit uncomfortable to hold. The vacuum hose seemed to be in the way. I actually wind up holding the vacuum hose and the screw-on handle while operating.

I am a builder I have been using the 6" random orbit sander for about 10 years. I own 3 units now and have worn out 3 units in the past. I use 60 grit paper for fast cutting of paints,epoxy or rough surfaces. I use 80 grit paper for surfaces to be painted. If I could only have one sander it would be a 6" random orbit with a vacuum attachment.
br /

this puppy is a smoking gun, in other words it's great!! heavy duty sander, fast and smooth. hook it up to your vac and cut down on the dust.. buy it!!

Do refinishing of old barn siding and use this sander for initial sanding of boards, mostly white pine lumber.pHave purchased approximately 8 to 10 sanders and they last for couple years but must constantely take apart and clean slide path of off on switch as sawdust accumulates in this area and unit will eventally be unable to be turned off. pDo not use dust collection system, instead use in house dust collection system.pOther than that have had excellent service, with only occassional bruch replacement.pAny suggestion how to improve off-on switch operation.? pCharles Angstadt

Purchased sander to remove boat bottom paint. Worked well, but seemed to lose power in the afternoon. I think this may have been to low voltages in the boatyard. (It was hot and there could have been a power 'brownout' - I have not yet used this at home.)
br /Be aware you may have difficulty find 6" hook loop sanding disks locally. My local Lowes does not stock this size.
br /

PC 97366 has so much vibrations that I had to give it gift to my enemy.. Horrible... then within a week , I got a Xmas Gift of Home Depot Card and I used it to buy Rigit Sander from Home Depot for $139... ( I SAID , I CAN RETURN IT IF I DON'T LIKE IT )
br /
br /WHAT A SURPIRISE THEN... THE RIGID IS SUPREME SANDER WITH ZERO PAIN IN HAND AND AWESOME GERMAN BUILT ... GREAT BUILD QUALITY AND 3 YEAR WARRANTY... YOU CAN'T MISS THAT...
br /
br /
br /
br /I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW GOOD RIGID SANDERS ARE... BYE PORTER CABLE...
br /
br /
br /
br /

I am very disappointed with this sander. I thought it would work great for sanding large table tops. Instead I have found that a large belt sander (4x24) followed by a finishing sander does a much better and quicker job. I have the Porter Cable 4x24 sander and the Porter Cable 330 finishing sander.

The difference between the 5" and 6" Porter Cable random orbital is night and day. The 5" is very controllable, perfect for finishing, capable of slightly aggressive sanding if needed. The 6" is an "animal". Hold on tight! This is an extremely aggressive machine, with a coarse grit, it will send a shower of particles flying in all directions. Can be a little challenging to control, I found it needed a slightly different sanding technique. Very happy with the purchase, it is a perfect addition to my sanding arsenal when heavy wood removal is needed. The dust extraction does not seem very effective - have it hooked to the shop extraction system, maybe would be more effective with a shop vac which has higher suction. Overall a great machine, but you need to know what you are buying.
br /If this is your first sander and you are hoping for a `one tool fits all', it is probably not the right choice.
br /

The sander has performed well. The dust collection system, the primary reason I purchased it, works reasonably well. It does not collect everything, but vastly better than having nothing. Also, at half the price of a Festool sander, it's a good buy!