I have been a wood worker for 30 years and decided to try out the new 1/4 Sheet Sander that Milwaukee recently added to their line. I am amazed by how good this sander feels in your hand, Milwaukee obviously put a lot of thought in the grip. It has everything that you would like in a 1/4 sheet sander --- soft start, plenty of power, vacuum ports, pad cushioning and break. Do yourself a favor and try one of these sanders out, you will not be disappointed!

The rear clamp for the sandpaper interfers with the dust collector so that it is very difficult to change the paper. The front clamp is so tight that it takes a good effort to clamp the paper to the pad.

I'm the pickiest handy dude on this planet.
br /I read the positive and negative reviews and chose to buy this sander anyway.
br /I do not regret buying this sander. Other major brand sanders I compared are 1.7Amp 1.6Amp 2.0Amp 2.4Amp
br /Heres my honest review. Enjoy.
br /This sander is made with high quality materials and has a comfortable rubber grip and runs quiet and smooth.
br /This sander has a 12' long all rubber power cord and lots of power. It removed wood very fast for a finishing sander 14000 orbits and 1/16" orbit diameter.
br /Being a more powerful sander I needed to grip it a little more than my other bagless sander yet needed less downward pressure to actually sand.
br /A very minor issue....The rear paper clamp lever contacts the rectangular dust chute if the paper clamp lever is perfectly centered. My sample sandpaper installed in approx one minute.
br /There was no issue with sandpaper coming loose or tearing.
br /Helpful tip...
br /Buy good quality sandpaper and throw out old brittle junk sandpaper.
br /Even better news people. The cardboard box says....It accepts self adhesive paper. Yea!
br /The cloth dust bag has a round coil spring shaped wire inside so the bag don't hang flat. It captures sawdust well and twist locks on and does not fall off like earlier designs on other cheap sanders.
br /Even better news people. The cardboard box says intregated vacuum ports for 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" attatchments. Yea!
br /This is a superb sander combined with a hard plastic case for the money spent and the 5 yr warranty cant be beat.

This a great little 1/4 sheet sander, all the quality you have come to expect from Milwaukee. Note that getting the sandpaper into the locking slots is not easy! Take a lot of time to change papers. That not withstanding, it is a great value for the price.

After 1 project, the front clamp/clip just won't hold the sand paper anymore. Like everyone said, it is too very difficult to get the sand paper onto the machine.

I bought this sander and read the manual on how to load the sandpaper. It seems that if you remove the plastic off of the sandpaper clamps and then understand that the handles are actually lift bars to open the sandpaper clamps, then you will be able to load the sandpaper easily and you will be very happy with this sander. The documentation must have been written by a technical writer and not someone that actually used the product. Otherwise it seems to be a great sander. Just what the doctor ordered.

My new rating is one star.
br /Update- After using this sander several times, I found the clamp giving me the same problem another reviewer had - the clamp would not hold the paper while sanding. I called Milwaukee service and they told me to use two sheets of sand paper. Though not the answer I wanted to hear, I tried that, which made it difficult to load the paper, and the paper fell off while sanding. This is going back to Amazon. There is obviously an engineering/mfg defect with this model.
br /This 1/4 sheet palm sander works easily and powerfully. For those having problems clamping the paper, hats off to Brad (other reviewer) who noticed that there are plastic guards that come off the clamp allowing easier insertion. Additionally, potential buyers should know that this is a kit - it comes in a hard plastic case with three 1/4 sheets of sandpaper as well as a hole punch. The marketing guys at Milwaukee tool should improve their product description to give all this info. so that Amazon/Milwaukee doesn't have to sell these at a substantially lower price than their competitors', and this is a Milwaukee with a five year warranty.

From day one this tool did not work for me, after bringing the toll in for "repairs" it still did not work. The paper will not stay in the clamp. Never bought a tool that did not work for at least a week.

I didn't read the owner's manual, so I didn't have the same problem as those that did. I do not know why the clamps had plastic covers over the teeth, but they came off easy enough. I haven't had it long enough to know how it will last, but it seems to be a big improvement over the previous model (which I still use after ten years).

The sander works great but changing the paper is a PAIN! The rear clamp interferes with the dust collector making it hard to operate. Seems like someone should have caught this MAJOR design flaw during production of this item... Anyway, it seems like there are comparable products out there without these problems so I'm returning this one.

Wish I had read the reviews first on this one, made an impulse purchase while buying some other stuff at the local big box retailer. Haven't even sanded with it yet and it is already back in the box waiting to be returned tomorrow.
br /
br /Basically I have the same qualms as all the other reviewers. The rear paper clamp is blocked by the vacuum port which makes changing the paper very frustrating. Also it is too noisy and vibrates too much compared to other sheet sanders I have used (PC and DeWalt).
br /
br /Interesting to note that Milwaukee is now owned by Techtronic (Chinese company who makes Ryobi). This definitely feels more like a Ryobi product than Milwaukee.

And I bought this sander because my old trusty Porter Cable 330 died after 25 years of use. This does not compare to my old one granted my old one cost about [...] bucks now. The sander is very hard to feed the paper onto and you can only get 2 sheets on at a time. It leaves marks on the wood that my old did not.
br /Well what to do, I'm going to buy a new porter cable 300, and you can have this one for the cost of the shipping so I can keep on shop somewhat clean!
br /

This was a very good buy at the $30 sale price. Inserting the sandpaper will not be as easy as some, but once you understand it isn't a problem and it comes with a three year warranty! The sand collector is such an improvement over the old removable bags.

Excellent sander, however the paper changes are the poorest I have experienced. Very difficult to open and insert new sheet.
br /

This sander packs a lot of punch for a palm sander, sometimes that is a good thing, but sometimes it tries to get away from you. The sander is so agressive that it tries to counter rotate either the workpiece and/or your hand away from it. This much power almost requires a two-handed grip. Part of my problem is a mild case of carpal tunnel syndrom which makes me very sensitive about how much single handed grip I need to use with a tool. YMMV.
br /
br /As to the clamps ... I never use them on any of my palm sanders. I buy rolls of 4" adhesive backed paper and use them on a 3M roll dispenser frame thingy. By far the easiest way to go with a palm sander.
br /
br /Now I own three palm sanders, and this Milwaukee is the one I pick up when I want the most agressive action and a fairly stiff backing pad. Different tools are ideal for different tasks.
br /

I own this sander. I have worked on wooden boats, fiberglass boats, homes, furniture, etc. since 1988. I have used many different sanders, needless to say. This thing is a beauty. The supposed difficulty changing paper is no problem. Put the sandpaper in the rear clamp first, pushing down on the lever as you feed the paper in. Do the front the same way. A time saver is to load 3 sheets at the same time, then just rip off the spent sheet and you are good to go.

El único inconveniente de esta herramienta es al montar la lija, el sujetador de la parte del guarda polvo obstruye esta acción por lo cual se tiene que poner de un lado y después del otro, pero en lo general es una herramienta muy buena a un precio increíble, solo es cuestión de practica para poder montar la lija sin contratiempos.

I like the tool. The paper release on the rear is a design flaw and does require some effort but it is not insurmountable. The tool works well other than that. Again I like it and the price on Amazon was very attractive. I would do it again.

We've used this tool for several projects, and it's great for finishing. I wouldn't want it for very rough work, but refinishing furniture, making models, and such go very well. The hand grip is comfortable, and we found it easy to change sandpaper sheets.

I have always been a big fan of Milwaukee tools and own many. I have several palm sanders including DeWalt and Porter Cable. My Porter Cable finally died after a few years of heavy use and I purchased the Milwaukee 6020-21 1/4 sheet sander since I liked the direct vacuum hose attachment.
br /The design is terrible. It is nearly impossible to get the sandpaper below the clamps, it almost takes two people. The vibration is awful, the unit is noisy and too heavy. I tried it for 5 mins and packed it up to return to Amazon. In the dozens of tools I bought from Amazon, this is my only return.
br /Frankly, I was shocked at such a failure by one of the finest tool makers on Earth. Nobody is perfect. Better luck next time.

As a professional woodworker teacher, I was disappointed by the inaccurate description of this tool as a RANDOM ORBITAL sander, which it is not.
br /I never sanded anything with this sander, because I have already have several orbital pad sanders and a 5" porter Cable Random Orbital sander, and thought this little Milwaukee unit would be a welcome addition to my stable. Wrong!
br /As always, Amazon was good about paying for the return . . . . But do NOT waste your time on this tool, if you too are considering it on the basis of it being a RANDOM orbital machine!