Since I wrote my original review for this sander in 2001 (take a look), I have upgraded my table saw, bought 3 vibratory sanders and 3 circular saws. No, 4. I have killed and buried 3 cordless drills. (I have TWO Milwaukees now; highly recommended.) Bought a power mortiser, a portable planer and a drill-press.
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br /This is STILL my best power tool. I STILL don't lend it out.
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br /Biggest project I did in that period was a new kitchen with custom cherry cabinets. This sander did EVERY cabinet, door, and drawer in the kitchen. I went through 4 big boxes of sanding disks in several grits down to 220. I was a sanding fool.
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br /Besides the kitchen, I've built several sets of speakers, a couple of tables, a big garden shed, three workbenches, an "heirloom" cherry sewing kit, a dollhouse, and innumerable cabinets for tube amplifiers. This weekend, I am stripping paint from our old wooden garage doors with 60 grit disks. I guess I've used it quite a bit, since every piece of wood I've bought in the last 9+ years has met my Porter Cable sander.
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br /Now that I think about it, I am on my FOURTH foam sanding disk for this sander, or about one every 2-1/2 years.
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br /Today, I only use TWO power sanders: This one and the FEIN triangle sander. If the work is small, or there are interior corners, I use the FEIN, otherwise I use the Porter Cable. I haven't used a belt sander since I've owned this tool, as I find them tempermental, expensive to keep in paper, and difficult to control compared to the P-C.
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br /I have not had any problems with the switches as described by other reviewers, but ironically I HAVE had those exact problems with the FEIN. I strongly suspect that sanders in general are subject to "fouling" of the electrical switches from all the fine dust. Perhaps I've been lucky with the Porter Cable, or maybe my work position (hand over the switch most of the time) shields it, or maybe very frequent use keeps it healthy. Dunno.
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br /As in 2001 I STRONGLY recommend the 6 inch version of this tool, particularly for sanding large panels; it's much easier to avoid rocking off the edge, and it wobbles much less than the 5 inch version.
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br /At the same time, you have to be careful with veneered pieces to use fine grits and low speeds, because the 6" version makes VERY fast work of most jobs, even with fine grit papers, and you don't want to sand through your nice veneers. Easy does it.
br /OTOH, put some 60 or 80 grit on there and you can chew-through most anything, fast and flat.
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br /Best illustration of this sander is glued-up solid-wood panels (like table tops); do your rough sanding (150 grit or rougher) ACROSS the grain rapidly, both sides, to true the surface. Use a nice long straight edge (like a machinist's 36" straight edge) to find the high spots. Then finish with the grain using fine papers. Works fast, works great.
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br /Five Stars in 2001 + Five Stars in 2005 = 10 Stars.
br /I fully expect we'll get to 15 stars in 2009. See you then.
br /Right now, gotta go sand some more.
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I bought this sander to use as a car buffer, primarily. This is exactly the same unit that is sold as a car buffer as well. I then went out and bought a nice set of pads, with the backing plate included. So, this way I have both a full sander and a full buffer. The Random Orbital buffer is wonderful for car paint, I can do anything with it. However, recently I have been using it for a lot of sanding. Primarily refinishing wood, but recently for sanding concrete floors. The tool will work all day, and not give me any issues. This is my first Porter Cable, and they have certainly established a great reputation for themselves with me. Highly recommended.

A friend recommended this sander to me. He is a highly skilled craftsman (Shipwright) and a self confessed "Tool Junkie" and calls this tool as "the world's best sander, bar none." I have two projects I bought the tool for. One is fairly rough requiring the evening of 2X4s glued together, stock and filler removal. The other project requires fine preparation of a large area (4' X 8') for spray painting. The sander works very well. It removes stock and primer without gouging the surface and leaves a clean smooth surface. It is much easier to control than the random orbital Bosch I borrowed. The sandpaper attachment system (sticky back) is far superior to the Velcro type on the Bosch. One caveat! Start the sander with the sandpaper on your project. Once it gets going full speed, it will act like a body grinder until applied pressure slows the RPMs down and the random orbital action becomes effective. I recommend this tool! It is the best sander I have used.

I have owned this sander for about five years,and it is my best tool, period. I DO NOT LOAN IT OUT TO ANYBODY. Have made ply and solid-wood furniture, refinished furniture, made two wooden boats, sanded parts of every room in the house, and repaired my 10 meter sailboat with this sander. Have sanded maple, cherry, oak, fir, pine, cedar, beech, mahogany, plywoods of all types, and glass/carbon composites including vinyl ester and epoxy resins. pHook-and-loop is a fancy-pants system. Forget about it and use the adhesive paper. Get yourself a cheap tool box and store the sander and boxes of several grades of paper in there. Once you own it for a few months you'll be shocked at what needs a good sanding.pBE SURE TO BUY THE SIX-INCH VERSION if you are serious about your work. The extra inch of diameter means less wobble, very flat large surfaces, and faster material removal when that's your goal.pI bought Porter Cable because of its reputation with the pros, and because we have a service center a few miles away. However, haven't been in there except to buy more Porter Cable.pVery strongly recommended.

I purchased this sander when I was restoring a 38 foot wooden boat. I used the sander with disks ranging from 40 grit to 400 with absolutely wonderful results. With heavy grit paper, the sander strips layers of heavy paint down to bare wood in minimal time. I also used the sander to strip a mahogany transom that had multiple layers of varnish in lousy condition. The sander removed the varnish without problem. When finished with stripping, the finer grit paper sanded the wood without leaving gouges. I recommend this sander completely.

I own/operate a log home restoration company. After blasting a home, we hand sand the entire exterior using random orbit sanders. I've used the Porter Cable primarily for the last year. I've gone through 6 sanders during this time and each one has had the exact same failure.....the on/off switch. I've torn them apart and cleaned them, but if you look at the switch design, it is incredibly flimsy and poorly designed. The motor is great and the machine is great if they would FIX THE *^*%@ SWITCH! I'm currently looking hard for another brand to replace these faulty sanders.

This machine does a fantastic job of making my cars look their best. My only complaint doesn't even involve the machine it'self. But, the fact that I had to search all over for the accessories to use the machine. Once I got everything together I am trilled with the results.
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br /Curt DoBraska

I bought this to polish and wax my 45' Boat. Special pads apply the polish a second pad applies the wax and a third bonet polishes the wax to a beautiful shine. This past spring I used it to sand the bottom of the boat. Extremely impressed with the waxing and sanding ability. As you might imagine, you need a lot of time to wax a large boat and this product cuts the effort in half. I also use it to polish and wax the cars. Best sander/polisher I have ever owned.

I bought the 7336 for the exterior of my motorhome. It is one hell of a machine. I use less cleaner and wax than in past, no swiral marks. I should have bought the Porter-Cable 7336 years ago.brWhat a machine--- light and quite!

This is a very nice unit. Works great. Would have given it 5 stars but I am afraid that the bearings may burn out relatively quickly. I've had problems with them in the past so I tried a more expensive Bosch unit. What a piece of junk. It burnt out in 2 months of light use (wet-sanding). Repaired under warranty and burnt out again 9 months later with MAYBE once a week use. I'll stick with the Porter-Cable from now on.

For over 5 years, this has been my go-to tool, whenever I needed to do some sanding. It puts palm sanders to shame and my belt sander back in the box. I have also used it with a wool bonnet to polish my car, at lower speeds.brI would have rated it 5 stars except it is starting to die. The variable speed dial only revs the machine up half way, which is too slow for sanding. I plan to buy another and hope that Porter Cable (and Milwaulkie!) will start using better switches and variable speed controllers. brBTW, I have also used the dust collection kit that Porter Cable sells for this sander and would rate it 2 stars.

I purcheased this polisher because of meguiars.com meguiarsonline.com After you purchase there products this polisher will provide swirl free results to your vehicle. This machine will NOT hurt, burn, fade your finish at all!!!

I use this product to polish and wax my car and I am very happy with it. The multi-speed settings allow you to make sure you don't over-do-it and keep control. Its fairly comfortable to use and you don't fatigue too quickly with prolonged use. My car has never looked better.

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 7336 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!

Porter-Cable 7336 6-Inch Variable Speed Random Orbit Sander Only
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br /After borrowing this same sander on different occasions from two of my friends, I decided I needed to buy my own. Just as I expected, it works great! It is easy to handle, easy to change discs, and if you need it in a tight spot, the handle comes off in seconds.
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Excellent sander. I use it for flattening pannels and sanding kitchen doors. It easily goes from very aggressive sanding to slow/fine sanding. Takes a bit of practice to get a good sanding technique and for holding the machine. Probably won't use the 5" dewalt again. It is just so much slower (even with the PC on fine grit at low RPMS).

Have yet to have a problem with mine. Used it to strip down an old VW bug years ago. Still working to this day.

this is a very nice tool. it removes stock quickly yet no swirls are apparent. i have the smaller porter cable RO sander but find myself using this one more. this is a well balanced, relatively vibration free tool. for you car nuts, it comes with a buffing attachment so you can use it in that capacity too

I have had the 7336 for 10-13 years and I too have stopped using my belt sander. It removes stock rapidly, yet is easy to control which is great when being used by unskilled employees. I have had problems with the switch. I think it gets fouled with the dust as I "fixed" it one time just by blowing the switch with compressed air for 30 seconds. I think I'll buy a couple of switches. They appear easy to replace. Last note: a 5" disk is only 70% of the size of a 6" disk, so you have a lot less abrasive on the work surface. btw, I have large hands and don't grip the tool too tightly - no problem with my wrists...

I have had one of these for quite some time, having acquired it during my apprenticeship in custom furniture shop. I love its power and speed of finishing, finding it quite capable of putting a flawless surface on glued panels.pHowever, I used this tool to the point of acquiring tendon damage in my wrists. Following multiple cortisone injections in both wrists (boy, that hurts!), I had to have surgery on my right wrist to repair the damage. I took my tools to my physical therapist, and she declared it the culprit. My mentor borrowed it for 6 months, and had to return it because of the wrist pain.pThe barrel design of the body causes an unnatural strain on the wrists. Its a powerful tool, but minimize the operating time.pTake if from someone who knows wood, tools, and pain.

I had this thing for awhile before I really started to use it. I bought it based on the reviews I read here. I used it to sand spackling off plaster walls, about 5 rooms worth. Then the motor ground to a buzzing halt.
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br /The variable speed dial became nearly impossible to move toward the end of its short life.
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br /I'll buy another sander, but it sure won't be a Porter Cable.