AirVANTAGE 6" Palm-Style, 2nd Generation Industrial Advanced Electric Sander Central-Vacuum with Low-Profile Pad (3/16- Hook & Loop)

I have a mobile auto body and paint repair shop for cosmetic damages. I use no air tools as carrying a compressor that is suitable to run them is too large for my van. After 8 years of using a dewalt sander, and researching other sanders I finally decided to pull the trigger and try this out. The price tag caused lots of hesitation but compared to the $600 mirka this seemed like a better option. I wish I bought this sander 7 years ago! Used it for the first time and it is better in every way by orders of magnitude. I went with the 3/16 throw. Cuts through material in a fraction of the time. It’s smooth, ergonomic, quiet, and as low profile as a good air palm sander. I love every bit of it. I’ll see how it holds up long term, if it lasts I guarantee I’ll be purchasing the 3/32 version for my finish sanding.

Identical in design to the more expensive surf prep sander just a different color scheme, fits all their attachments. Probably works best with a vac attached to keep it cool. Also ideal is universal hole pattern sandpaper or mesh. I probably should have purchased the 3/32” (2.5mm) orbit rather than the 3/16”(5mm) orbit because it works so well you just put a more aggressive paper on it for rough work then switch to a finer grit for finishing. My 3/16” orbit did do a fine job sanding stain grade maple though and maple can be tough to get an even stain especially if the sanding job was sub-par.

My review is from the perspective of replacing my PC 5" random orbit sander (382). It still works and does a good job. But I was looking for a new sander because the vibration from the PC was causing my hands to go numb fairly quickly. They would feel like pin pricks for 30 minutes after sanding. Mission accomplished. This sander greatly reduces the amount of vibration. A bonus is that it appears to be much faster removing material as well. It leaves a very nice finish.I would give it 5 stars but I am not impressed with the dust collection. 2 reasons. 1 - it does not collect dust that well. Dust seems to collect under the sand paper. Sanding screens are better but still more dust than expected left behind. 2 - I have yet to find the right adapter to connect this to my dust collection system. I've been using tape to make and seal the connection and need to spend the time to find the right connection fitting. For clarity I am using this with my dust collection system not a shop vac. Perhaps a shop vac would do better as the air velocity is higher. One last point is this has an on/off switch besides the paddle which is nice as it lets you turn it off to change grits without triggering the sander.I did look at Festool and Mirka but picked this as it seemed so similar at half the price.All that said I'm glad I bought it.

This is the best sander I've ever used and as far as I can tell it's a clone of the Mirka DEROS. I was between this and a Festool brushless sander. After the first few hours I'm glad I spent the money. I like it better than the ETS 125 or the Rotex.This model seems to be built for a Festool dust extractor. The green hose threads into the swivel fitting, but I did have to remove the rubber fitting at the end of the hose. The included clips also nicely fit over the stock Festool hose. It did not work well at all with a Fein Turbo extractor.I've tried this with Diablo Sandnet and 3M Cubitron abrasive and they both provide excellent dust collection.

Stay away if you plan on using this for wood or epoxy work. My unit gets very hot within 20 minutes and will usually shut down within 30 minutes. I talked to the manufacturer and ended up sending it back for them to replace the motor and spindle. When I got it back it was slightly better but still not practical for large wood projects like tables. For nearly $400 I hoped for better. At this price range, try and save a little more for a Mirka or Festool. If you are doing body or intermittent sanding this may be ok. It does cut very well when it is working

I use this model at my buddys shop for a few hours. After I spent a few hours sanding I realized I had to have one of these Sanders. It's got plenty of power and speed control. I know I'll never regret this purchase as long as it lasts, I put 5 hours on mine already and it only needs to have a higher flow pad put on it to evacuate all the Dust, I'm completely happy.

It has become my favorite sander. Only complaint is the jump in speed from one gear (setting) to the next. It has alot of top end speed, but not so much mid range. Throttle control, via the paddle, could be better, to combat the gearing issue. That being said, I do love it. I just hope it lasts!

The sander works well and I may not be the most common user case because I start with a very low grit sandpaper for my applications but this sander overheated and turned itself off after about 25 minutes of use on aluminum with 40 grit PSA paper. I have been using standard Dewalt orbital sanders for most of my professional career knowing I should really upgrade. I bit the bullet on this one and was very disappointed and ended up having to use my old beat up Dewalt to finish the job. I don't have to airpower needed for a standard DA sander so I was excited to find a pro-style sander with a dust collection port but it can't handle much use. I am glad it turned itself off so that the motor didn't burnout but it didn't fit my needs. I decided to use it with my final passes using 220 and then 400 grit and it did it again just as fast. I really wanted it work for me so I sent it over to my woodshop for 220 sanding on some cabinets and it worked longer but still got very very hot in just about 30 minutes of sanding just wood with light grit. I'll be returning this as soon as I can. What's surprising is that the Dewalt sanders over the years have never had this problem. I might have to eaither move up to a Mirka or just back down to the dewalts. Not worth the money in my opinion.