A Game Changer in Cordless Sanders

[duneslider]

looks like a good deal. I haven't used a cordless sander before. Any real drawbacks to one? I have an old porter cable that I just replaced the pad on. Works fine but I have been interested in the cordless. Realistically, how much run time do you get out of a battery? The convenience of cordless is really drawing me in.

 

[Trapps]

looks like a good deal. I haven't used a cordless sander before. Any real drawbacks to one? I have an old porter cable that I just replaced the pad on. Works fine but I have been interested in the cordless. Realistically, how much run time do you get out of a battery? The convenience of cordless is really drawing me in.

Too soon for me to comment on runtime, but it looks and feels promising. It probably won't replace my tailed sanders, but it will make a nice compliment to them.

However, it seems perhaps tool specific - I have several tools that have not seen the light of day since I acquired the battery powered version (7¼ circular, oscillating multi-tool, power drill). I only see this increasing as the cordless options are so good and getting better. I admit having extra batteries is almost a requirement for unlimited run times; especially in the power hungry tools like grinders and saws.

 

[duneslider]

I sometimes (a lot) don't sand things because I am lazy and don't want to break out the corded sander. I will just ease edges a little with a sanding block. I am thinking this would get me to sand more often. I am talking just little things around the shop, If I am making something nicer I will do a good job sanding. The cordless convenience is sure nice. I used the table saw and chop saw this weekend and it was surprising how annoying the extension cord was for those and having to swap power back and forth. Anyway, might stop by lowes to take a look.

 

[jar944]

I'll admit I don't see much utility in a cordless sander. I have my sanders hooked up to dust extraction so being cordless and having a dust hose seems contradictory.

 

[Trapps]

I'll admit I don't see much utility in a cordless sander. I have my sanders hooked up to dust extraction so being cordless and having a dust hose seems contradictory.

Oh sure, just bring logic into the discussion why don't ya!

I do more than 80% of my sanding outside - driveway sourced breeze powered dust dispersion. If I'm indoors I use a vac hooked to the sander.

 

[jar944]

Oh sure, just bring logic into the discussion why don't ya!

I do more than 80% of my sanding outside - driveway sourced breeze powered dust dispersion. If I'm indoors I use a vac hooked to the sander.

I don't do anything outside, so in that case I could see the utility.

 

[Ton ton]

I would love a cordless sander but I am going to wait for the price to come down.

 

[duneslider]

I would love a cordless sander but I am going to wait for the price to come down.

The sander, battery and charger is 120 bucks, that's a pretty good price. Bare tool price is 120...I guess if you already have batteries and a charger the price might end up coming down a little but I doubt you will see a bare tool price under 100.

 

[Malaworkerbee]

I picked one up last month.

Its a thousand times better than my dewalt 20v and milwaukee m18 sander.
Its a million times better than my Ryobi

yes I have a problem buying tools. But this one is so damn smooth it barely vibrates my hand at all. The free batteries were a bonus.

 

[neophyte]

I'm not bashing Bosch, I just wish they would get their head in the game so to speak because when they do release a tool its top of the line. They just seem to never update the existing line.

Bosch pulled back from the consumer tool market, particularly in the USA, around the time Amazon started expanding heavily into markets other than books/dvds/cds/etc.
Up until then, Bosch gad US manufacturing and assembly of power tools for both the Bosch and co-owned at time Skil tool brands under the S-B Power Tool Co.
Once the internet and discounting associated with Amazon started, Bosch started moving production of a lot of items to Chine and Mexico, and Malaysia, and sort of withdrew from the professional power tool market, and left the niche the Bosch tools had sort of placed at to Festool.
Bosch has a weird corporate structure, that is sort of set up as a charity and or tax dodge, and there are industry consultants who tell them were to invest, and apparently Bosch must have been told to move away from the pro tool market.(Bosch continued making specialty tools for the Industrial market, but those seem to be separate tool divisions)
Bosch seems to be getting back to there old tool niche nowadays, but there competitor saw to the SawStop got blocked from US sales( while still being sold in Canada) so maybe they’re not enthusiastic about the US market.

 

[DAustin]

For some reason I saw this as Colonel Sanders. I guess I'll have to go get chicken now.

 

[todd_fuller]

I’m curious how this compares to something like a Festool ETSC or ETS EC.

 

[Showkey]

I would love a cordless sander but I am going to wait for the price to come down.

Had an older Metabo and two Porter Cable random orbit corded sanders.

Had a large wood floor refurbish project that required light sanding, 3M pad ( red/gray) and wax-oil polish with 3M white pad.
Purchased the Milwaukee M18 Random Sander ……….I would say the M18 was a night/day comparison on material removed and dust control. So much so prior I would use 180 grit paper for spot sanding ……had to switch to 220 grit to avoid over sanding.

I check the specs on the Metabo Vs Milwaukee and the obits distance and rpm were similar……..so not sure why the big difference. Maybe the Metabo is just tired ???

Porter Cable are older and are used for more heavy material and one has variable speed for paint buffing. PC will leave swirl marks in wood in certain situations.

prior post on the M18

The M18 Random Orbital Sander

My sanders of choice in Texas are a Festool Rotex 150 (the best all around sander I’ve ever used) and the Festool ETS 125 (fantastic finish sander). I love them both, but also realize that their pricing doesn’t often justify their functionality. For my Hawaii shop, the cost/value relationship...

www.garagejournal.com

 

[CallumRD1]

Does anyone have any experience with adapters for running Milwaukee M18 batteries in Bosch 18V tools like this? I'm reasonably happy with my M18 cordless sander but I'd be curious to try the Bosch as I like their corded sanders quite a lot. I'm not interested in adopting a new battery system when I already have so many M18 batteries on hand.

 

[dnschmidt]

Does anyone have any experience with adapters for running Milwaukee M18 batteries in Bosch 18V tools like this? I'm reasonably happy with my M18 cordless sander but I'd be curious to try the Bosch as I like their corded sanders quite a lot. I'm not interested in adopting a new battery system when I already have so many M18 batteries on hand.

It wouldn't work. Lowes is giving you the battery and the charger free so what's the problem. The sander is so low to the work that any additional height to the battery, such as an adapter, would place the battery below the pad as the battery is positioned basically just slightly above pad level.

 

[acer66]

Does anyone have any experience with adapters for running Milwaukee M18 batteries in Bosch 18V tools like this? I'm reasonably happy with my M18 cordless sander but I'd be curious to try the Bosch as I like their corded sanders quite a lot. I'm not interested in adopting a new battery system when I already have so many M18 batteries on hand.

You still get a free battery/charger with the Bosch.
Maybe get it and worry about an adaptor later?

 

[CallumRD1]

It wouldn't work. Lowes is giving you the battery and the charger free so what's the problem. The sander is so low to the work that any additional height to the battery, such as an adapter, would place the battery below the pad as the battery is positioned basically just slightly above pad level.

Really? The product photos show a lot more clearance than that:

 

[acer66]

Really? The product photos show a lot more clearance than that:

Found this adaptor online and it looks like with a smaller battery it could work.
I would wonder how much the different position of the battery would influence the balance of the sander though.

 

[dnschmidt]

These adapters can be quite high. Also, that's the single layer of cells battery used in the photo. The tool was designed to enable all of Bosch's batteries to be used on it including the double layer cells. With the double layer cells it would hit the work if an adapter was used. It would also change the balance of the tool which is it's best feature. The real point is why worry about an adapter if Lowes is going to give you for free a proper battery and charger?

 

[duneslider]

I used some gift cards I had and picked up the sander and battery and charger. I used it on some board and batten trim in a small half bath. I am sold. This will be my go to sander now, I will keep the PC I have if I ever need to be sanding so long a battery won't last but I really don't do that very often. I like that this sander stops almost instantly when you hit the power button. None of my other sanders do that, maybe nicer sanders do but I have a few sanders and none do this.

Due to what I was sanding I can't comment on the dust collection but it seems the same as everything else I have used. Again, I have never used a festool sander and I hear they are nice. Dust collection isn't really a huge deal for the occasional sanding that I do.

I really like the sander. I wish it was a makita so I didn't have to have another charger around but at the end of the day I may end up looking at some bosch tools when I need a random tool that won't get used very often, like an oscillating multitool or something like that. I think this sander will do about 95% of the sanding that I do and is very convenient to use. I have several other bosch corded tools that I like a lot (jigsaw, power handsaw, circular saw, radio). I'm thinking a cordless jigsaw would be nice to have...

 

[duneslider]

So, aside from my Impact, drill, and circular saw the bosch sander has been used more than any other cordless tool I have. I use it all the time for little things that I normally wouldn't sand because I didn't want to drag out a cord. Yesterday, I used it to sand down the rust on a hitch that wasn't sliding in very well. I have used the sander surprisingly a LOT more than I thought I would have.