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Black & Decker KA300
by brittle1906 Review of the Black and Decker KA300 Sander/Grinder I purchased this Sander around 2 years ago for my other half. At that time we were re-fitting our narrow boat and converting a panel van into a motorhome. Both jobs involved affair amount of woodwork and sanding down large surfaces prior to varnishing. These jobs were ... taking a huge amount of time and effort, so this sander seemed to be a sensible investment. We have put the sander to great use and have both used it. We are currently converting another (larger) van into a motorhome, so once more the Black and Decker sander is coming into its own! **The Sander** The Black & Decker KA300 sander is designed for use on vertical surfaces making it ideal for areas such as doors and walls. The sanding plate of the KA300 is oblong in shape as opposed to the triangular version the company also produce. As mentioned above, mine has mainly been used for sanding down sheets of marine ply before varnishing, this is a tedious task usually but the Black and Decker made short work of it. We recently re-decorated our spare bedroom and used the sander to remove several layers of paint from the wide wooden shelf that runs round the bay window ledge. It worked a treat and I was really pleased with the results. Although I have used this sanding mainly for sanding wood, it can be used on plaster, plasterboard and similar surfaces. The weight of this sander is around 1.5kg which is quite a bit lighter than some of the models we looked at before opting to buy this model, but even so, your arms do ache somewhat after a relatively short period of use. Personally I think this is due mainly to the vibrating action of the tool rather than the actual weight. The sander is fitted with a very sensible length 2 metre cord and features grip handles at both ends making it easy to hold and use. The sander also features a dust extraction facility, however in practice I have found this less than efficient and tend to simply wear a mask when sanding anything. Operation of this sander is simple, it has a basic on/off switch and as it operates at only one speed, there is no need to worry about changing speeds. You simple hold the sander against the area to be sanded and move it in a gentle up and down action going with the grain of the wood where ever possible. The sander has an orbital action meaning that it vibrates in small circles, or "orbits." I have used other power tools in the past where I have almost felt that the tool was going to 'run away' with me, but not so with this, it is easy and simple to use. Another plus for me is that that is not deafeningly noisy the way some power tools are. The sander uses sheets of sandpaper which need to be positioned across the platten (base) of the sander. These are held in place by means of two spring loaded metal clips. To be honest, I cannot replace these myself and have to get my other half to do this for me. I don't know why I can't do it, but I just can't and I end up with the sandpaper askew or worse still creased. The size of the sandpaper is known as 1/3 sheets and they measure approximately 92mm x 230mm. The papers are slightly larger than the platten making it easier to overlap and secure the paper. The papers come in various grades of density and you choose which ever is suitable for the job in hand. As a general rule of thumb, the finer the finish required, the lighter the sandpaper sheet. My Black and Decker sander came with a starter pack of sanding sheets, I believe there were a total of 10 sheets, in three different grades. . **Specifications** Ergonomic handles Power: 135W Voltage: 230v Weight: 1.5kg Speed: Single Sanding actions: Orbital Paper size: 92 x 230mm Platten size: 91 x 189mm 2 Paper attachment Clips Cable length: 2m Guarantee: 2 years **Conclusion** I purchased this Black and Decker sander from B&Q and paid around £25 for it. In my opinion, this was money well spent and the tool is still in good working order after several years of use. The sanding papers are widely available and although Black and Decker do recommend using only their own brand of papers, these can be a little pricey from DIY stores. I have bought these online for considerably less than the RRP and I have on occasion bought a cheaper version from a rival company with no ill effects. The tool is described as a Sander/Grinder, however as we have not had cause to use it for grinding purposes I cannot really pass judgement on its efficiency when used in this way. I consider this to be a useful addition to your power tools if you do a lot of light weight sanding and would recommend it to others. I am awarding the Black and Decker KA300 sander a 4* rating, dropping a * due to my difficulty in replacing the sand paper sheet. Thank you for reading. İbrittle1906 January 2013 N.B. My reviews may be found on other sites under the same user name. Read the complete review |
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Black & Decker KA198
by blissman70 I like to do a lot of the little jobs around the house, no, not 'those' little jobs, I leave that up to the dog. I mean those little DIY jobs that crop up every so often. Those jobs that the so called 'trades people' seem to find charging a small fortune to do the same job so funny. To do that job I like to have the right ... tools, be it a screwdriver, a hammer, or those more powerful tools that plug into the mains and could drag you along the floor if you let them get away from you. At the end of the day if you have the right tool for the job then that job is a whole lot easier, making less hassles, less mess and less chance of ending up in your local A&E. So, over the years, I have amassed rather a large, and may I say a fine, collection of tools of all ranges, hand, battery and mains, with some being for one particular type of works. One of those tools that is designed for one particular type of job is a sander, as you can't use a sander to put up a shelf, although you can use the sander to smooth down the surface of course. Anyway, one particular sander that can smooth the surface but can't put up the shelf is in fact not only a normal sander, it is in fact what they call an orbital sander, which doesn't mean that it goes into orbit. It means that it is a circular head sander instead of the standard rectangular head sanders that you normally see. It is one of those orbit sanders that I am going to mention here. One that I have been using for a few months now, quite regularly, with the amount of work I have to do around my house, especially repairing the 'accidental damage that the kids cause. Thi sander is called the KA198 random orbital sander from the well known company called Black and Decker. Before I go into the ins and out of my feeling towards this sander I firstly want to tell you a few of the facts and figures about it and what it looks like... It's your normal orange and black colouring that you'd expect from the people at Black and Decker, with the black colouring covering the top section, a bit of the back handle and a ring around the middle, together with the dust bag area and the rubber section where the mains lead goes into sander. The rest of the machine is that lovely orange colour so you really do know it's from Black and Decker. It's a good size, being about 260 high by 130 deep and about 175mm wide, (this includes the dust extraction nozzle and the handle area, but not the dust extraction bag as that would add about another 150mm onto it too). The whole things weights in at a mere 2kgs, which is pretty good going to the power this gives. It has a power kick of 13000 rpm, with no in between. By that I mean it goes from 0 to full power in a split second, or less. On the top there is a black semi-soft rubber feeling section which is in the exact place for your palm to press down on when you're using this sander. There's also the same sort of textured grip on the handle so that you can get a sort of two prong sanding attack to smooth out that lollipop stick. Just above this handle there is the mains lead that sticks out of the top so that it doesn't get in the way of the machine when it is doing what it is supposed to do. Right at the front, nearer the top, and is just the right place to get to with your finger or even your thumb. This switch, or more, these two switches are simple to use, with one having a '0' on it, meaning off , and the other having an '1' on it meaning, yes you get it, meaning on. There's no in between, no speed selection as it's a single speed machine so it's either on or off. On the bottom there is the sanding sheet area, being a circular shape, hence the orbital name that this sander has, with this area taking those 125mm orbital sanding sheets. 'Technically', it has three places that you can hold in order to comfortably use this sander, with each area having a black soft rubber feel to make it easier to hold and feel more comfortable in the hand. Those areas are the top, for putting most pressure on the job at hand. Then there's the handle area, to give you more backwards and forwards action for those wider jobs. Finally, the third holding place, there's a black ring around the area just above the sander sheet area, just where the bottom of the sander begins to dome in on itself. This again is for getting more pressure on the job done but not as much as holding the top section. You'll get used to which way you hold this the more you use it. The sanding area has several extraction holes which allow the dust to be taken from the sanding area directly through to the extraction bag which is at the rear of the machine. It has a good 2 metre plus mains lead and two soft grip areas where most hand pressure will be. On the rear there is a rather handy bag extractor system, which is really a mouth shaped gap that helps suck the dust away as you sand that piece of lolli-stick. The good thing is that you can add a bag to this mouth or, if you really want to suck away the mess, you can attach the straight part of any standard size vacuum cleaner piping section. Is it easy to use..? Yes, it's a dream really and can take off either a thin layer of what you don't want to a bit of a thicker layer, smoothing away all the roughness to make that piece of wood as smooth as silk. It's just a matter of slipping on a new sanding sheet, which is easy than putting on your under pantalooms, although don't be using these sanding sheets as under pantalooms as things my feels a little uncomfortable indeed. Once it is attached, the sanding sheet, not your under crackers, you then plug the mains lead into the wall socket, take hold of the sander in one of the three black soft grip areas, flick the on switch, the one with the '1' on it, and away you go, you should be sanding away like a beaver with very short teeth. When the dust is flying about you can then decide which method is best to keep the mess from getting in your eyes. Opting for the dust bag, the vacuum hose or, of you're like me, just let the dust make the mess and get the wife to clean up after you've finished. That's it. It's as simple as that to use. It is actually made easier to use with the three grip sections as they offer a different kind of pressure so that you can tackle different types of sanding jobs. The top one does allow you to get more pressure with the rear one giving you a chance to get at the wider jobs, such as large panels. Then there's the lower one which sort of lets you do both pressure and area work. If you get what I mean... My Opinion... Firstly, I have to say that, to me, it looks like a weird looking kettle that would not look that out of place in s kitchen of the future, although I would not recommend trying to pour water into this as it may just damage the electrical components. It's like the designers were looking at an orbital sander which was sat next to a sheet sander that was sat onto of a multi sander which had a hose pipe stuck up its rear end. Then, after a few glasses of port, and a lot of head scratching, they came up with this, which turned out to be one of the better sanders in the 'mid size' range. The power button is in exactly the right spot, right on the top front of the machine, making it so easily accessible even in the most 'dustiest' of places. Depending on which soft grip area you're holding depends on whether you use your thumb or fingers to use the switch, but either way there's no struggle to do so. As for the actual power. Well, the motor can take some serious hammering, being capable of sanding away for long period without fluffing once. The rear handle is a good size, even my over sized hand can get through the opening between the bottom and top and grip around the handle itself comfortably enough, and with the soft feel there's really no worries about getting blisters or even cramp. Changing the sanding pads is nice and easy, being as quick as pulling off a band aid and replacing it with a fresh, clean one. This is what Black and Decker call their Quick fit pad system, which really is quick, using the hook and loop method. Talk about quick, although this depends on the sanding paper you have slipped onto the head of course, but this can rip through a rough surface in a matter of minutes, unless you hit a screw head, then there's trouble as the paper rips in places. It does vibrate in the hand a little bit but that's what you'd expect from a sander of any type really, and as the grips are as comfortable as holding a rubber ball the vibrations as the motor spins around doesn't really make you feel as though you want to stop sanding. The dust bag attachment isn't too bad, but it won't suck all the dust away if you haven't attached your vacuum cleaner hose to the end. Even then there does seem to be a small amount of sawdust floating about in the air, but as long as you wear a dust mask you shouldn't be breathing in any debris from your piece of art. In all, if you want to smooth out those rough wooden surfaces that you're working on in order to create that perfect piece of work. Or even if you want to get rid of that 25 year old paint that seems to have become embedded on your skirting boards. Then you can't go wrong with this sander as it will happily chomp away at what ever you put in front of it. It won't cut through wood, it won't shave off slices either. What it will do is gently shift the roughness from the area that this passes over without damaging anything underneath it. So, how much will it cost to sand away those stubborn rough bits..? It's as cheap as chips... (where on earth did that saying come from..? Answers on a post card please)... anyway, the cost of this orbital sander is about £50, give or take a fiver or so. Is it worth the money..? Yes, most definitely if you want a sander that can handle more than sanding a lollipop stick then this is well worth getting your hands on. İBlissman70 2013 Read the complete review |
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Dremel 4000 - 4
by blissman70 I like to think of myself as a person who has the right tool for what ever job is asked of me. Stop right there!! Not that sort of tool..!!!, I mean tools as in something like a saw, or a hammer, or even a screwdriver. In order for me to have the right tool for the job in hand I have bought, been given, borrowed or somehow comes ... across a rather large collection of tools, some good one which cost me more than my wife would like, (if she knew), and some that were low cost yet still managed to stand the test of time. But each tool is there for a purpose, although not all for the purpose that they are intended for. Anyway, one lovely tool I have acquired, although to be honest, I can't for the life of me think how I came across it but I think it may have been a gift from some kind, is a rather useful little tool which does more than one job. That tool I am talking about, or more writing about, is a lovely useful tool from Dremel, a company that I like and trust as I have used many of there tools and found them to be quite good indeed. This tool is in fact called the Dremel 4000 rotary tool kit, which means that it is more than just a tool, it is a kit. Before I go into the tool itself, (this doesn't mean that I intend to strip down the body work and physically go into the tool, if means me explaining more about the tool). Anyway, before this I want to tell you why this is called a tool 'KIT' and not just a tool. The reason is that apart from the tool itself there are several little bits that come in the case, those bits being used for sanding, grinding, polishing, sharpening and drilling. The pieces being... * Flez shaft attachment * 45 accessories, which consist of such things as sanding rings, grinding discs, buffing pads, drill bits, etching points, stones buffers, wire wool discs, stone discs buffer points, polishing heads and others, with all of these accessories attachable to the main unit using the rods and wrench provided. And to keep it all in one place you get a rather fetching little carry case. You also get a few bits of information about the kit, which are quite useful in a way, but obviously not as useful as the tools themselves... You get.... * Instruction manual * Poster and sheet of all the bits and pieces and what they do and where they fit, (if you want to put this up on your wall, although the wife complained when I put this up in the bedroom). Does it look the part..? Yes it does really At the rear, where the cable connects to the unit, there is a speed adjustment dial which is easily turned with one finger, making speeding and slowing of the motor so simple. As you come forwards along the top, there is the on off slider that switches the motor on or off, hence the on/off name. then, right at the front, almost, near the shaft, there's a locking button that, when pushed, releases the shaft so that you can get to the housing cap and the collet, then change the adaptors on the front. And to keep the engine cool when it is spinning away with the speed of a thousand gazelles there are a couple of vents along the bodywork which seem to fit nice and snuggly making the unit look quite nice indeed. I nearly forgot to mention that there is a rather handy hanging hook which turns out on the back end so that you can hang this up on a hook in your workshop, as I do. What type of things can I use this on..? Many things really. If you want to engrave a name or something onto metal or even glass then this will do the job, (all you have to supply is a steady hand). Or if you want to shine up that dull looking piece of silver, then buff it up with this. Maybe you want to smooth out that rough piece of metal to clear off the burr so that you don't catch your fingers on it? This will do that for you. Then there's all those kitchen knives, lawn mower cutting blades, scissors and more that have lost there sharp edge? Well, there's an accessory that will bring all those edges back to the sharp state they need to be, and will take away any of the rust that is there too. In fact, there's very little that this lovely little tool won't do when it comes to those small jobs such as sanding, polishing, drilling, buffing, sharpening and more. Is it easy to use..? Well, to be honest, it can be a little 'fiddly' when changing the bits, especially when it comes to using some certain attachments, such as the grinding discs which need the locking arm put into place and pushed down in order to grip the disc properly. But once you've used each bit you soon realise that it gets easier the more you do it, (which is like most things in life... unless you've reached a certain age and it's all starting to fail, with things not obeying simple suggestions and flopping about like sock in a wind tunnel). Once used to it changing the pieces is a simple matter of loosening the collet nut, which is what covers the collet itself. This is done by one hand pressing the shaft lock button whilst the other one, with wrench in hand, turns the collet nut one way, (depending on which way you're holding the machine). You can then take off the collet nut if you need to change the collet itself, depending on which piece you want to use as some collets are designed for certain pieces. Once the collet is in place, you then put the collet nut over the collet and twist it onto the thread, then, when the piece is in position, you simply tighten the collet by turning it the other way, and away you go. More importantly, is it any good..? It is one of the best little multi tool gadgets that I have come across for quite some time and it has many many uses that other, shall we say 'larger' tools are more... (posh word alert)... cumbersome. The motor kicks a fair bit of power, giving up to 35000 rpm with variable speeds from 5000 rpm It's nice and light, being less than 20 oz which means that it can be used with one hand, either in a vice grip or, as I tend to like to do, as if you're holding a pen. A rather thick pen but a pen nether the less. It has a cable length of about 6 metres which means that you're not restricted to a plug socket that is miles from where you need to actually be. All the accessories are very useful indeed and I have used every one of them for one reason or another, with some still managing to do a great job even after being used over and over again. I have had to replace a few of them due to normal wear and tear, such as the sand paper rings and the wire wool which really took a battering as it trounced away at metal, getting it as smooth as possible. But replacing the worn accessories is dirt cheap and can be found in most hardware shops. One particular accessory is the flex shaft which has come in pretty useful quite a few times, especially when it come to getting into places that the main unit just can't get into. This shaft simply locks onto the end of the main unit and, with the help of the long flexible piping, it extends the capabilities of this rotary tools remarkable role. Is it safe..? Hmmm, this is a tricky one as the actual cutting/sanding/etching heads do not have any form of covering so, if you're not careful, you could do some damage to fingers or the like. But if you use this tool responsibly then this is as safe as any other tool. In all, as I think I've already said, this is a very useful little tool indeed and offers those that like to do more 'delicate' work a chance to do it without having to worry about dragging out several different tools to do the job in hand. It is easy to hold in one hand, leaving the other hand free to hold what ever you're working on, although if you're not using some form of clamp to hold this work then do be careful that you don't catch your hand with the accessories on this tool. So what would one expect to pay for this tool then..? As I said earlier, I can't actually remember how or when I came across this tool, ( I only hope that I Haven't borrowed it off some one who is going to ask for it back one day... ow dear), so I don't know how much I paid for it. But I do know that, after a quick uncle doogle search I found this selling for a range of prices, from £70 to over a hundred pounds, (for example, Amazon are selling it for about £75 at the moment, which is not bad value for money at all. Is it worth buying..? Yes, without a doubt, it is well worth paying £75 for, even going as for as paying £85 as it is one of those tools that, once used, realising the capabilities of this tool and knowing what jobs you can do with it, you'll wonder why you never bought this before. İBlissman70 2013 Read the complete review |
Grinder / Sander |
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1 review Manufacturer: Dremel / Grinder / Sander / Product Type: Multi Tool |
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Manufacturer: Bosch / Grinder / Sander / Product Type: Multi Tool |
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Manufacturer: Black & Decker / Grinder / Sander / Product Type: Multi Tool |
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Manufacturer: Makita / Grinder / Sander / Product Type: Stone Polisher - "The Makita PW5000C Stone Polisher has the following features / Variable speed trigger / Soft start / Constant speed under load / Double insulated / Technical Specifications; Pad Size: 100 mm / No load speed: 2,000 - 4,000 rpm / Arbo... |
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Manufacturer: Bosch / Grinder / Sander / Product Type: Multicutter |
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Brand: Triton / Grinder / Sander / Product Type: Belt Sander |
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1 review Brand: Sparky / Grinder / Sander / Product Type: Angle Grinder - "Angle Grinders Type: 175-230mm Grinders / Professional quality grinder with high power motor / Suitable for 230mm blades / Supplied with anti-vibration side handle, lock nut spanner, blade guards and 9"" diamond blade / Features: 2000W; Adjust... |
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Brand: Sparky / Grinder / Sander / Product Type: Angle Grinder - "Angle Grinders Type: 115-125mm Grinders / Professional quality grinder with high power motor / Suitable for 115 and 125mm blades / Supplied with anti-vibration side handle, lock nut spanner and 5"" diamond blade / Features: 1300W; Tool-Free Gu... |
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Brand: Sparky / Grinder / Sander / Product Type: Orbit Sander - "Random Orbital Sander / Supplied with hole punch plate and sanding sheet / Features: 320W; Variable Speed; Hook & Loop; Dust Extraction Facility; Rubber-Coated Grip; Push On/Off Switch / Specifications: Sanding surface W x L: 125 x 125mm / Orbi... |
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Brand: Scheppach / Grinder / Sander / Product Type: Linisher - "Stationary Woodworking / Wet/Dry Grinder with blue oxide grinding stone, rigid plastic body and removable water trough / Perfect for HSS tools / Supplied with angle setting gauge and jigs for irons and chisels / Features: 120W Induction Motor; 2... |
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