Finally decided to buy this sander, was waiting for others to review it first. Bought it at Home depot, since I needed it immediately for subfloor preparation. It does everything that is promised and it definitely has enough power. Although I found myself using it on high speed. Getting the belt tracking takes a bit of practice but stays centered otherwise. I used it all weekend sanding OSB underlayment for our subfloor in preperation for laminate flooring. It did everything I had hoped for. It did not remove material as fast as I though it would even with 60 grit belts, but this is in comparison with a floor sander, so no fault of the product. Only reason why I rated 4 is because of the sanding shoe that comes with it. I read some other posts on similar sanders and some people had problems with the sanding shoe warping. Well I had that exact same problem with this unit. So I highly recommend getting the graphite impregnated sanding shoe along with this sander. Once the shoe cups in the center, it is essentially useless since there is no more contact with the surface, other than the edges. This thing does get very hot quickly, which would explain the shoe cupping so fast. Light work would probably not see this cupping so soon, but since I was sanding floors, it was immediate. The dust extraction works good, it actually sucks the dust into the bag very well, as compared to other sanders. It is heavy as you hear from others, but this comes in handy where the weight may do some of the work for you by staying in one place. I paid the same price for the sander as amazon had listed, but I also had to pay tax. But got a 10% off lowes coupon from ebay and used it since HD takes competitors coupons, so was less than amazon. Overall I am happy with the unit. Just to give you an idea of how powerful this thing is, it was able to drag me across the room while on my kneepads and I'm 160 lbs. It was kind of fun, when I was done sanding one area, I would use the sander to drag myself to the next room and continue working without having to stand up.

I have had this sander now for 10 years,and have put many hours of use on it. Absolutely no problems with reliability. I have just recently added the graphite platen, which is noticeable improvement in keeping the belts cooler. The purple belts are the best I've tried. Sanding the osb sub-floors inside the house, I removed the dust bag and taped my shop-vac hose to it. This combination eliminated all visible dust in the air or floor, for real dustless sanding. This is a very good no-nonsense sander and I highly recommend it for serious sanding, but if you don't want to risk uneven gouging on mor delicate work, an orbit sander is better suited to the task.

I had worn out the drive wheel that turns the sandpaper on my old (30 years old)Milwaukee belt sander and decided to replace it with something that had variable speed and I thought that "whisper Series" might mean that it was quieter than average. No Way is it any quieter than the Milwaukee.
br /The variable speed is a nice feature and the slower speed keeps the belt from loading up with paint as quickly as it would with full speed. I haven't used it hard enough to experience platen problems since I've mostly used it on the siding of my house and can't put the kind of pressure on it that I could sanding flooring. The platen probably stays cooler at reduced belt speed.
br /The sander seems to be well built and certainly has adequate power. If it lasts as long as the Milwaukee, I'll have no complaints; however I would ahve bought another Milwaukee if they made a variable speed model.

What a work horse! This was an upgrade from my previous 3x18 belt sander which I've been using for over 20 years. As reported by other reviewers, it does create a lot of heat, so be prepared for that, and don't wait for the graphite shoe, it is a must. I've just finished flattening an 8' table top and you'd think that I ran it through an industrial drum sander. It is perfect. The dust collection works as expected, and as it should. Team this sander up with a multi pack from Klingspor's and you've got a combination that can't be beat.

Upon receiving this sander, I was impressed with it's solid construction. For the application I'm using it, I decided from previous reviews to get the graphite replacement shoe. Good choice .. I'm dressing old barnwood timbers for our new house. The sander just floats at the right pressure for the coarse grit sanding belts to work, (40-60 grit). I'm NOT using the dust catcher bag however, since I'm working outdoors, I rigged a 1" PVC conduit sweep, (smooth 90 degree bend), with a short piece of rubber hose and hose clamps to blow sanding dust away from the timber, (and my face). I would say if you have a tough sanding job to do, this is the machine that will get it done!

I own two of these, a type 3 from 1992 and a type 7, the "whisper" model, purchased in 2003. The later model adds variable speed, revised tool body (with flat sides so you can clamp it for stationary work) and is slightly quieter. As noted by other reviewers, you would be a masochist to use either sander without ear protection and a respirator. Both versions of the 362 have great balance and power; both need the graphite platen upgrade. No complaints on the durability of the type 3 - I've lent it out to non-woodworking types and have watched it rocket off the toolbench more than once when I reset the breaker with the tool still switched on :O . It's a little ugly and missing a few pieces but still works great. Not so for the nicer designed type 7. I've seen two of these fail on jobsites (loss of power) and have had 3 failures myself. One shot blue sparks out of the housing on day 3 (warranty replacement) The second ran for three years of intermittent use, then the main armature bearings failed. Three months to the day after that repair, the armature seized up again. P/C will cover the repair, but at this point I have no faith in the tool. Too bad the new model's durability doesn't measure up - in other ways it's an improvement on a good tool.

I've owned this sander for a couple years, but not being a big fan of belt sanders it has spent much of that time wishing I would notice it. Sporadic use made me feel that it was a worthwhile addition to the toolset, but it wasn't really tested until recently. Retired now, I volunteered to install an unfinished red oak floor in my son's family room, and having the time I decided to use the PC 362VSK for the sanding phase. I consider this a serious use of a belt sander. Here are my thoughts so far:
br /
br /The tool is heavy (as we all know), so its weight (combined with the proper belt grit) provides the necessary "pushing down" force. Belt change is easy. Belt tracking is also easy to set and even if tracking wanders (not often) the easily-accessible knob makes it a non-issue. The balance seems to be good. After doing the entire floor (3 grits) it was still going strong.
br /
br /Now for the negative, no stars (not even a glimmer) ratings: the dust collection is pathetic. That useless bag sticking up there getting in the way, coupled to the tool with an ineffective ball thingy that's difficult to use (and has no seal) is..well...pathetic. The dust bag will eventually fill, but this is purely coincidental...not to be confused with a dust collection system that actually works. And as far as I can see the port isn't designed to be connected to a separate vacuum...I duct-taped the hose of my Fein vac to the port and that worked well, but c'mon...duct tape?? (BTW if you take this route also tape the power cord to the vac hose making it essentially one unit...much easier to manage).
br /
br /The other major issue is the sanding shoe...it warps, as another reviewer reported. Mine became convex, so the sander "rolled around" on the platen digging in and not sanding flat. Some time ago I had purchased some carbon impregnated fabric from Woodworker's Supply that was designed to be used on sander platens, so I took the metal shoe off, fitted a piece of this stuff to the cork shoe, and it worked fine. I wouldn't recommend this machine until PC includes the carbon shoe as standard. If you do buy it get the carbon shoe at the same time and send the metal one to PC with some appropriate suggestion as to what they might do with it.
br /
br /This tool can do the job, but out of the box I don't consider it ready for a serious sanding project. You have to figure out how to deal with dust collection because Porter Cable hasn't, and you have to get rid of the metal shoe. It's probably one of the best 4x24s out there apart from these issues, but if mine ever goes to the boneyard I'll be tempted to try the Bosch.

the unit is heavy and the dust collection is weak. but it does have power to spare. the variable speed is a nice addition.

For more than 30 years, begining in the 50's my dad owned and operated a custom cabinet shop. I remember the metal cased ancestors of this tool in the shop and he is still working with them today. I bought this a year ago and am very pleased with it! It is a heavy duty tool, great for sanding glued-up panels or fitting countertops, and yes the complaints about the dust bag have some merit. It will make a bit of a dusty mess. As to the metal shoe warping, you gotta know, this is a belt sander not a floor sander. If you need a floor sander rent one.

This sander is clearly a design cross between a WW-I tank and The Little Engine That Could. It is not a DIYer's everyday sander, I'd say more along the lines of a wood grinder of sorts. It is big and heavy for a hand tool and I do believe the guy who said he let it pull him from room to room. So, lift it up, turn it on, and hang on as you lower it onto your pet project. Tilt it a little and there goes the neighbor-wood.
br /Being new to belt sanders I needed the low speeds to get a handle on this monster. I first saw mine on a discount table at Home Depot, it having been removed from the display shelf. Having no price on it had me asking a clerk if it might be possible to have it priced for me. "Maybe." was the answer and ten minutes later up comes Big Don. "What is the price on this?" I asked. "I don't even know what it is!" mumbled Big Don. "It's a belt sander." I explain. "I KNOW THAT!!" Big Don yells, "I mean I don't know the PRICE!" "I know THAT." I say, trying to stay cool. Big Don goes to look for the display model that I have in my hand and not seeing it he notes the price of the 3"x21". "I can give you 15% off of the $165 price." Big Don says. "What? With no case or dust bag you can't give me 20%?, I plead. "No I can't, if you want more off you will have to talk to the Manager" "Well, OK, 15% off is better than talking to someone smarter than you." I almost say.
br /That was my reason for choosing this sander, but I am very glad it happened, as I am well pleased with it. It is very easy to use (though it takes practice to use it right) and very, very well built. I expect to have it until way after Big Don quits Home Depot and goes to work for McDonalds.