Customer Reviews

Black & Decker MS500 Mouse Sander/Polisher

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I wish I'd read the posts warning about the cost of the paper before I bought the Mouse. It's a very useful little tool, and it's easy to think of uses for it. Unfortunately, each use means a trip to the store for paper or pads. The paper is horribly expensive, and it's not feasible to substitute for it. I've used my Mouse on only about a dozen minor projects over the last year but have easily spent 3X the original cost of the unit on paper and pads.

This is a useful and well-made sander, but it only uses Black and Decker paper that costs [a lot of money] for 5 sheets (if you can even find the paper - it is here on Amazon.com, but usually is hard to find at a hardware store), making it too expensive to use a lot. Orbital sanders with standard size disks or palm sanders that use 1/4 sheets of regular sandpaper are much more economical - about one tenth the cost. It has performed well the times I used it, but I almost never use it due to the expensive paper (that lasts no longer than other paper - you will use up several sheets on a small project).

This is a versatile sander/polisher (depending on what type of abrasive naterial you velcro-attach to the hook and loop base) that can tackle small jobs such as refurbishing furniture as well as medium-heavy ones including removing old paint from small sections of a house's exterior!

Advantages include its light weight, making it easier to handle for long periods of time; a pointed tip for sanding in tight places such as where wood meets at 90 degrees; and the ease of changing the sanding material. It's also priced well; however, you should look at the similarly priced kit on Amazon.com that also comes with sanding/polishing materials.

The disadvantages are relative to your job. It's certainly not as powerful as the typical orbital sander, and therefore will be slower and more tiring for large jobs such as exterior paint removal (after the surface has been prepped by chipping away at old paint). In fact, I generally wouldn't recommend it paint removal/wood sanding at all except that the Mouse's lower weight can be convenient when you're on a shakey ladder sanding the outside of a second floor and want a light, versatile tool.

Sandpaper: THere have been a lot of complaints from reviewers about the price and availability of the pre-cut Mouse sandpaper. I think this is no longer the problem it once was: Black and Decker is lowering its price, and 3-M sells a nicely competitive material that fits the Mouse (available at OSH). With a coarse (say 60-grade) sandpaper with a smallish target zone, you can sand just as well as with a larger orbital sander (for example, the "old-model" Black and Decker R100.) Therefore, for small areas with areas needing precision, and for sanding way up on a ladder (when getting it done fast is a priority) the Mouse does a surprisingly better job than the more powerful, traditional sanders.

Another potential disadvantage of this model is that it has fewer features and less versatility than other Mouse versions. For about another $10 you can get the Mouse 560, which has a more supportive grip (might be nice, but I didn't think the grip design was a problem with the Mouse 500), and some sort of extension for doing detail work in tight spaces. This last feature seems worth the extra money if you're going to sand/polish in tight spaces. The Mouse 500 is fairly tall; for example I was unable to fit the sander between an exterior wall and a fence.

For somewhat more money (current sale price is about $60), the Mega Mouse 700 4 in 1 Sander/Polisher uses interchangeable bases and has a dust collector of dubious utility (see the mixed reviews here at Amazon.com). I think that unless you reallly know that you need the 700's features, either the 500 or the 560 will nicely fit your needs. Overall, you'll be happier with your purchase if you understand your needs and the sander's benefits and limitations (compared to full-sized orbitals), and be sure to buy the correct grip for the intensity of your job!.

The Mouse is a great sander for small use. It is easy to switch diffferent grit paper all u have to do is aline the paper to the mouse and press down. I just got it and boy does it do a great job. I love it. I am 14 years old and it is so easy to use it isn't that noisey either. It is the BEST SANDER i ever used. ive used a lot of sander before and this is the one I like. thats why I gave it 5 stars.