I Think DeWalt Won this Battle

[dnschmidt]

When Milwaukee introduced their M18 belt sander I said to myself why the hell would you make a sander that has a 3" X 18" belt that is completely non-standard. I typically buy most of what Milwaukee makes but the odd belt size, when I have a **** load of 3" X 21" belts for my industry standard Porter-Cable belt sanders, just turned me off to the idea.

Well, I just watched "The Tool Show" and apparently DeWalt is introducing a 3" X 21" cordless belt sander. Think I might have to consider that.

 

[readhead]

3x18 is very common. I have two of them. Handy in tight spaces.

 

[The Cobbler]

3x18 is a standard belt, maybe not as common as 3x21 . the 18" belt will probably have longer battery life than 21 "

 

[mike93lx]

3x18 is the far better size for a battery tool, and is standard, as others mentioned. Sanders eat up a ton of power and that's a lot less area contacting the work at any given time

 

[Renegade1LI]

I bought the ryobi 3 x 18 and it really is not worth it. The belts are readily available but it's slow and lethargic. I may try the dewalt but this might be one of those tools that has to have a cord.

 

[mike93lx]

I bought the ryobi 3 x 18 and it really is not worth it. The belts are readily available but it's slow and lethargic. I may try the dewalt but this might be one of those tools that has to have a cord.

ryobi cordless or corded? i have the corded and its pretty decent.

 

[Renegade1LI]

ryobi cordless or corded? i have the corded and its pretty decent.

Sorry, cordless, it's ok for small jobs but really lacking on power. The other issue is you constantly have to adjust the tracking, but it's was 99$. Hopefully dewalt does better, using it with a flex volt battery may help with run time. I do like the 90 days to try it out and see.

 

[signcrafter]

As stated 3x18 is just as "standard" as 3x21. They have been around for many years. All the major stores sell belts for both sizes. I know my 3x21 porter cable corded sander is a power hog, not sure how good a battery version would be. I have many m18 tools like the chainsaw, 9" cut off, impacts, etc that are just as powerful as their corded/gas counterparts for the most part. So maybe the 3x21 sander would be the same?