Customer Reviews

Black & Decker MS800B Mouse Detail Sander With Dust Collection

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

My project is an 18' wooden boat. This is basically a sanding job: putting on (clear) epoxy resin sanding it off, repeat... Then sand again for 3-5 coats of epoxy varnish, sanding smooth between each. The inside is full of nooks and crannies under the seats, between the planks, and the bow (pointy end). I have a regular 5" orbital sander, but its too big for the corners and some of the planks. Hand-sanding seemed the only alternative. I headed to Home Depot, and picked this as the smallest viable looking sander (there was a smaller Ryobi detail sander whose reviews were less good, and looked less convincing for the larger areas i needed to cover). The B&D mouse has certainly exceeded all my expectations, and I have slipped into using it as my main sander for the boat interior, even instead of my regular orbital sander: it is efficient and very effective at edges. For the nastiest corners it has a finger-sized prong that fits to the nose with a screw. This is also much more effective than I expected (could have done with it being even longer, though). Of course you need a good supply of sandpaper. My local Home Depot was deficient in B&D mouse sandpaper, but I quickly found I could use regular 5" (Norton) disks on it, cutting a piece from an old disk to cover the velcro near the base where the disk falls short. You can cut the disk completely to the shape of the mouse's sanding plate, but I find it better just to let the disk fold-up around the edges for extra edge sanding power. For the much smaller finger probe, you have to cut pieces from the disks, if you follow this DIY sandpaper approach.
PROS: very effective, high-speed, great for edges & tight spots; the effective extension tool, low height enables access to smaller spacers (watch out for other versions that are taller)
CONS: sandpaper availability (using regular velcro disks solves this); the extension tools attach via a small philips head screw likely to strip at some point (but hasn't yet); the dust collection is not very effective; the on/off button in the front inconvenient in tight spaces; the base plate is a bit spongy if you are looking for a dead flat surface. This are all minor compared to the efficacy of this product.

This sander worked great for about a month (I used it about 4 times on small woodworking projects)until it broke. The suspension for the sanding pad is not rubber like most sanders, but 3 thin plastic pins that flex at very high speeds when the sander is turned on. I took the sander apart to see what broke and found it to be one of the plastic pins. It melted in half from the flexing. Which didn't surprise me at all because that's what happens to plastic when it flexes repeatedly! Worst design i have ever seen!!! I will never buy another B&D power tool again! Buying this sander is like buying a paper cup instead of a glass.

Pros: Has a strong motor and great ergonomic design.
Cons: Poor mechanical design. This thing will literally destroy itself!

I started out loving it. It was light weight and handled very easily. My project was coming along wonderful. Then on literally the fourth week I had used it, My normally quiet sander suddenly roared! Not only was it much louder but it wouldn't sand without gouging my project! the pins holding the pad to the main body had melted! It's still under warrenty so I could get it replaced but the pin problem is something that's in all of them. I'm just going to eat my loss and get a new and better sander. Save yourself the trouble and get another sander to begin with. It's only a matter of time till yours breaks like this.

You might think this tiny sander will do in a pinch for a small job, but it's not a good idea. It can only use custom B&D sandpaper which wears out really fast and is really expensive. Because the paper surface is so small, it wears out really fast, and everything takes a long time.

My mouse worked well for about two years (although the front section of velcro pad had to be replaced a couple of times as it lost its stickiness and would not hold sandpaper) until it suddenly emitted a series of loud and very dramatic bangs and flashes. The motor had clearly burnt out, despite fairly light use. I would not recommend this product.

It's amazing the junk they can get away with selling these days. This thing is driven by a cheap little plastic gear that is designed for only about 4-5 hours of runtime. After that you will throw it away, as I did with mine. There are plenty of good finishing sanders out there for not much more. Buy this for your child's toy toolbox, but not if you need to do real work.

I thought this product would work out for a simple project, due to multiple wrist injuries I opted to pick up this little sander and that's where the nightmare began and ended in about 15 min. One of the three plastic pegs that holds the base snapped rendering the tool useless. My advice would be to pass on this unit, I too was taken in by the great reviews but it so rare to find something so well designed yet so pathetically engineered. Oh well, lesson learned: black and decker makes toasters, not tools

The first one lasted about 2 years with occasional use. Then when I started to use it on a regular basis, it broke at the weak plastic pins. Bought another because I had bought so much paper to go with it. Lasted about a week on daily use.

I got this unit as a gift recently, and I have been using it primary to sand a guitar body to prepare for a new paint job.

It has performed extremely well in its task. I had an older version of this sander for years before it finally gave out on me. There have been some nice modifications made to the line that make it even better than the original.

First off, I love the dust collection bin. This makes it much easier to work with and also cools the unit better than the previous model. The unit is also slightly larger than the previous model, though not too big to be hand held. It is a little heavier which gives it more mass and makes it better for planar sanding, but harder to hold for long periods of time. The new switch is a much more definite on and off, with separate buttons for each, as opposed to a all in one switch on the previous model. The base is also an improvement as it has more attachment options, and an easier to use attachment mechanism (remove one screw and slide off/on the tip attachments, as oppose to the old version which you removed two screws, twisted it off then reversed the process to put the new attachment on)

With the finger attachment, getting into the tight contours of my project ( a guitar body) was much easier, and the addition tight curved attachment (one of two new attachments, a convex, and concave "finger" attachment) would make even tighter curves a breeze to sand and polish.

There are a wide variety of sanding mediums available from coarse to fine papers, scouring pads, and polishing pads, so there will be no shortage of versatility. The pad is also the same size as the older models so the older pads and papers would work in a snap, just with no holes the dust collection system will be inoperative, but it has little effect on the operation. I suppose you could also just put the holes in yourself too if needed.

It comes in a pouch instead of a big plastic case, which I found as a positive thing, seeing as I like to keep my tools in one area, and not have piles and piles of big bulky plastic cases to deal with when moving tools to or from a work site. I can see where some people would prefer the case though, as a nice way to keep all the sanding paper and attachments together, in an impact safe container, that's easy to lend out or move just that item around with. Its more of a preferance than anything, and helps keeps the cost of shipping down quite a bit (5 bucks for me in Nevada)

The only negative thing I would have to say about it is that its a little too heavy for me, but I am a smaller person, and don't have a lot of upper body strength, so it might just be me. I was able to use it with no problem, but my time was a little more limited. I imagine its something that one would get used to from use after a while though.

Over all I am very pleased with this unit and would recommend it for anyone needing a hand sized sander for small and medium sized projects.

In its original format by Black and Decker, the mouse detail sander is an excellent sander for delicate work. However, some versions such as this one are difficult to use due to the lack of gel pads on the front sides and top. The original Black and Decker mouse sander had soft yellow gel pads on the sides and top making control easy. Without these gel pads, holding, gripping and controlling is difficult if not impossible. Most vendors do not mention this detail but it is extremely important to controlling this sander.