Side by Side Comparison of: Black & Decker vs Generic

Worked extremely well for the project I purchased it for. Great belt sander for the price. I have only used it once as of now so we'll see if it stands the test of time.

great product and easy to use -- highly recommend. I don't know what it is -- I was raised thinking black and decker was for folks who didn't really know tools. But I keep finding myself returning other tools and buying their brand -- and being so much happier.

This thing is a beast. We remodeled our kitchen, started with a rotary sander and it wasn't cutting it. Got this and the job went by 10 times faster.

I have a deck which is too uneven to finish with a floor sander. We used mainly 80 grit belts and ran the Dragster for 5 hours yesterday. We set the belt drift once at the beginning and never needed to again. I am online now to purchase a second one for further renovation so that we can have two guys sanding at once.

The dust bag filled several times and kept the dust down to a dull roar.

I feel the sander, the touch of Black&Decker sands as good as any sander I ever owned and I owned some anchors.I find that I can turn that sander in all positions for sanding all angles to complete the jobs.I compared each sander and the fact is this sander can do the same and more and because of the weight factor that you can sand longer with arms extended is something that can be differcult .Bites in and sander does the work.I just completed a large and complete front porchThe 2ND coat of paint is going on 07-31-2013,which is tomorrow.This is my 2nd Dragster sander by Black and Decker.I'll tell you my first sander that I owned for years,the Dragster by Black &Decker broke when I dropped it 4 floors.One piece broke,so I order the part and when I contacted Back & Decker they had the part and shipped it.I did recieve it in short order,but I still bought another one the same day I broke it.
I found out having two,the work gets done in half the time with two guys. Check it out yourself,best way to know tools.

I saw a few negative reviews but, it works fine. jammed wood hard against it and it did not bog down. you will have to push the belt a little the first time you run it to loosen up the packing grease.

works great, heavy, sturdy, portable, video to follow.

Works great and the price was very reasonable.

what a awesome sander, first it does't vibrate around sands everything i need it to do its made from cast metal with a plastic belt cover which is easily removed

Tough little belt sander easy to set up and change belts in the middle of a job, works as advertised just love it thanks.

Good quality tool. Doesn't back down. Used on several projects. Wood, shaping aluminum flat bar, sharpening knives axes tools like machetes and bamboo cutter (special machete) spear tip and steel arrowheads for shop built flight arrows and crossbow builts

Works as described, belt changes are easy. I'd give it 5 stars but the thing gets HOT and doesn't like to be overworked on hot days.

Unique design in that the front roller can cover difficult areas including using the top portion. I like the smaller, lighter design and adjustable handle making the sander much easier to handle.

Great weight and balance. Nose of sander makes it possible to get in tight places. Only pro models perform better, but for those not in the Trades, it is agile and performs to expectations. The average home user would not be disappointed at this price point and ability to complete it's task. As for durability, it has yet to fail me as it is only used occasionally.

Pretty good quality and a good price for it. The size isn't too bad, it's pretty easy to hold and change the belt, but I wouldn't say it's a great high quality item. The dust bag can be a pain to get on/off sometimes and the zipper on it to empty seems almost unnecessary because it opens just as far as the hole to fill the bag. But for a cheap little sander this works well.

Did a nice job sanding my deck in preparation to re-staining and sealing. The dust bag would be better if it were a little larger.

Great little sander, just a little bit louder than I thought it would be.

Works as expected. Very good for simple sharpening.

The main pulley wheel is horribly unbalanced which causes so much vibration. Even after loosening the bolt holding down the tensioner springs so the spring can do its job doesn't help.

It is just right for what I bought it to do. I installed a leather honing belt and use it to hone my carving tools.

I got it quickly, 95% assembled and ready to go. The motor is a little weak you have to help it but once it starts it works just fine. I am very happy with it.

A little smaller than expected should do OK for Light work

This sander is woefully underpowered and it was hard to keep the belt tracking correctly. Might be ok for very light work. Had bearing trouble within the first few times I tried to use 80 grit paper. Would not recommend this sander for any kind of heavy use.

Awkward to use took a few minutes to get the hang of. Belt slips and tears if not on securely on or if you move in any direction other than straight.
Sanded a table that folds into a bench. Haven't used it since. Will probably purchase a palm/orbital sander.

not so good. It works, but it will begin to make a groaning sound like it is going to come apart. It will work again and then sound like it is going to come apart again. So far has not stopped but from the way it sounds it could stop at any time.

For $50 this works fine. I bought it because of the folding front handle and low profile to get underneath my porch banister. the bag catches maybe 2% of the dust. I have used it for maybe a total of 2 hours now. No issues with the belt tracking as other's have mentioned.

Structural durability is quite good. However, driving roller and tracking rollers are ecentric. Black & Decker should have do a lathe job on their roller to balance the wheels. If you have enough facilities to make a new rollers for this beltsander, it's fine to buy it. However, if you don't, you will undergo problems.

It works well enough, but pretty well for the cost.See, I'm torn here. Ordered this up as more of an impulse buy than anything else. And for the price, it works pretty well. But the part that holds the wheels the belt attaches to leans, badly, to the right. It's actually off by a good 10 degrees. This ended up making the belt chew about 1/2" off of the opening from the table (tool support included). And while it works pretty well after drastically increasing the size of the opening, it does mean the belt doesn't actually sit entirely on the vertical brace that stands behind the belt. I did find that this lack of support makes for some amazing rounded corners where the sander should not be able to make them. So there is a minor perk to this thing being warped as badly as it is. So I'm still torn. I like it. But I hate it. But then it's fairly inexpensive so I shouldn't expect much. YMMV.

Ok for price.

had to do some work to it to get it running but once I did, it runs great.

not allot of torque, but for the price it is a great deal. Can always bolt a stronger motor in the same motor mounts later on.

The belts for this sander don't fit it well and they are sanding away the safety guide.

not the greatest belt sander. belt will track correct. guess you get what you pay for.

Had to return it because they no longer made the sanding frame that we wanted to buy, to go with it.

Belt never stays on

Feel like a toy! Not built for hard work

Not good for heavy jobs, its too light and can't handle rough grade sandpaper. Buy the Hitachi, its more money but well worth it.

This belt sander is maybe good for 1 or 2 medium sized jobs. Before I finished the first job it has started to make a loud noise as if a bearing is going bad. I don't think this was a new product. It acts more like a refurbished piece of equipment.

Just received this and firstly the entire table assembly is missing. Next it would not turn the belt at all, the motor was froze up. I had to keep turning the belt until it "broke loose" and then it turned OK. The adjustable plate the belt spins against had two Allen set screws and only one was usable the other was crossed threaded and would not work. I just chose to keep it rather than go through the hassle of returning as I didn't really need the table I just wanted to freehand sharpening knifes with it anyway. It will sharpen the hell out of a knife with 400 grit belt.

I bought this belt sander for a couple knife projects I made and other small projects. I will say the first year it would good, and the second year, (ya not the fast knife maker in the world) this sander lost its ground and started shocking me when ever it wanted. I got my projects done, and now currently looking for a replacement belt sander. You get for what you pay for.

Great for minor repairs or small project's .....not for any knife making ....extremely weak

Decent while it lasted, broke after 3 months. Typical "made in china" machinery.

Pros: It's painted green. The motor operates. Thus far there have been no dismemberments or fatalities resulting from its use.Cons: because Harbor Freight was sold out of this sander, I opted to spend the additional money for the identical item from this company. Shipping was slow. The attachment hole to the bed was not even drilled, let alone tapped. Thus the bed can't be attached. It's as though this was a factory reject.I purchased this through Amazon and this revue does not reflect on them.

Spring load for the belt failed. It should have lasted longer, I was only sanding the floors of the decks

Trigger Shorted out and won't initiate motor anymore. Poor product. Not the quality I am personally used to from B&D. I've got 5 power tools from B&D and all others have held up VERY well, so having this one break on me was surprising.

Plastic on the product broke the first time we turned it on. We didn't evenget to use it !! Purchased as a Christmas gift - but didn't use right away. Now I am stuck with a broken product - past the Amazon return date - money down the drain ......

The sandpaper moves all over the place causing premature wear at the sides and rapid desintegration of the sandpaper. The motor smelled like it was going to burn out quickly. I ended up using my orbital sander instead of this to strip the floor of my gazebo because this was such a pain. Ended up returning it. Next time will buy a better one.

AWFUL NO WAY TO ADJUST BELT, KEEPS SLIDING OFF. USELESS!!! GET A RIDGID!!! THAT'S WHAT I DID.

Arrived missing one foot so it doesn't sit level.no contact information in manual.

40 days and still no package-hope it works

The handle which is supposed to tighten the metal platform was totally defective. Now I must use a vise grip to tighten the bolt each time.This was not an oversight.

Total piece of crap! The adjustment knob's plastic stripped, and the knob fell off, the first time I tightened the belt. I drilled and pinned it. The backing bar cut the belt. I smoothed and shaped it. Now, with less than half an hour of use, pulley bearings are howling. I'll probably end up taking the motor off and using it for something else, and relegating this thing to the scrap heap, which seems to be its design spec.

belt tension unit too tight-had to dissamble machine to loosen tension axle-- tracking knob broke from adjusting screw after first attempt to adlust

motor on belt sander has no power use it in woodworking appication when you use it belt & motor slow & stop