"Ryobi Finishing Sander - User Review"

By Ron Stultz

16 September 2009

Summary: Sander sheet hold down "springs" are made of "pop" metal & break too easily.

 Do not buy.

Old Black and Decker "pad" sander dies and so Home Depot for replacement. 3 to choose from: a $30 Ryobi, ? that looks just like Ryobi and costs the same or a $50 Dewalt. A finishing sander is a finishing sander, right? I mean the $30 Ryobi looks fine to me.

So buy Ryobi and use. At first sand sheet change, one of the plastic tabs on the latches used to hold the sand sheet in place is gone! Look around on patio and find it. It has broken off?  How? Why? I did not drop sander. Ok, just use sander without it. Well, yes, possible but not easy and required screw driver. Nope, not living with this.

SO take back Ryobi and get Home Depot to give me another one. This time I careful how I use it or thought I was but yesterday after an hour of use and several sand sheet changes, when I went to change sand sheet again, no plastic sand sheet tabs at all! On ground, broken off again, and this time both sides and in the identical place on each side.

Go to Home Depot and buy Dewalt. Don't have time to spend on Ryobi. Just want to sand.

Now I am an engineer by schooling and at 63 have done more than my share of wood projects and used my old Black and Decker sander for maybe 15 years before it died, so I say this with some confidence. Ryobi has a problem with the metal used in the sand sheet hold down latches. Appears to me that metal in latches is what used to be called "pop" metal or metal that would break or "pop" rather than bend, which is what is happening with the Ryobi.

Now perhaps I just happen to get old stock and problem has already been fixed by Ryobi or perhaps I got 2 from a bad batch and the problem has been fixed. Don't know. All I am saying here is pay attention to how the sand sheet is held down and if there are plastic tabs that stick out and could be caught on wood or anything as you sand, look at some other sander.