Customer Reviews

Makita 9911 5.6 Amp 3-Inch by 18-Inch Variable Speed Belt Sander with Cloth Dust Bag

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Need a lightweight, powerful sander with few frills and many positive features? Makita's inexpensive sander fills the bill nicely. I had some very rough walls and ceilings that I needed to paint and wallpaper, I was becoming increasingly frustrated as to how I would smooth out these walls, until I found Makita's sander. The unit is ruggedly constructed of premium quality plastic, thus it is very light, has a vacuum bag that really works, plenty of power, easily switches belts, and is quiet and runs more vibration free than I'd have thought. But its lightweight aspect allowed me to run it for hours up the walls, over my head, without wearing me or my tiny wife out, and without burying us in dust. It truly is a marvel and appears to be up to years of heavy duty work. I was looking at much more expensive metal (heavier) sanders, but this one did all I could ask and more. Its lightweight price also makes it a very good deal!

I researched a lot of belt sanders before deciding on this unit. I checked out various sanders at my local Home Depot and talked with some local contractors.I narrowed down my choice to this or the Porter-Cable. In the end I decided on the Makita for the following reasons:1. The Porter-Cable is simply too heavy. I use this sander in the vertical as well as horizontal positions. It is heavy enough to be substantial and has a powerful motor, but is still easy enough to use with one hand in many different positions.2. The dust collector is in a very unobtrusive location compared to the Porter-Cable, in addition it really works. There really isn't much dust produced when using this sander.3. The flat back allows it to be clamped to a table and used as a parts sander. The variable speed control really comes in handy here.4. Price wasn't a big concern for me, I was going to buy the sander that fit my needs. For someone who needs a medium duty belt sander that will be used in a variety of job I recommend this one highly! Some other larger/smaller units may be better at specific jobs, but this one is really a jack of all trades.5. The motor is good, not a monster, but powerful and able to sustain heavy sanding for long periods of time without excessive heat. In addition, the brushes can be easily replaced.6. Belt tracking mechanism worked flawlessly. One person in one of the reviews here complained about belt tracking. If you adjust the belt carefully it stays on track for a looong time. Maybe that person had a defective unit, or more likely, a belt that wasn't perfectly square. There is no way a non square belt will track correctly no matter how much you adjust the tracking screw.Congratulation to Makita on a job well done!

This sander comes in very handy for dressing up the edges of wood trim to the ends of a door. It is light weight and I like it best because it sands flush to its edge. This tool gets a thumbs up in my book.

I like this tool because it is powerful, yet light-weight. I bought it for smoothing rough edges on custom window treatments -- where it performed as I expected. I decided to put it to a much tougher test by refinishing an oak table top. I had the table completely stripped in about 20 minutes. Of course, I had to do the finishing work by hand, but the hard work was done. I found changing the belt to be super simple and I've not noticed any tracking problems. I was surprised by how well the dust collector works -- it exceeded my expectations!

"IT'S A BELT SANDERS JOB TO REMOVE LARGE AMOUNTS OF WOOD FAST"--WELL YES AND NO. IF YOU NEED TO DO THIS, OPT FOR ONE OF THE 3" OR 4"X 24" MAKITA'S OR PORTER CABLE'S. THESE MACHINES ARE BIG,HEAVY AND HAVE ENOUGH POWER TO SEND YOUR PROJECT OFF INTO NEVER-NEVER LAND.IF YOU DO SMALL,DELICATE JOBS OR EDGES AND FRAMES OF CABINET DOORS,OR YOUR JUST TIRED OF ACHING ARMS AND NUMB HANDS AFTER A LONG SANDING SESSION THEN THIS SANDER MUST HAVEBEEN SENT FROM HEAVEN ABOVE.IT HAS ALL THE USUAL EXCELLENT MAKITA FEATURES,BALL AND ROLLER BEARINGS,FIT AND FINISH GREAT DUST PICK-UP, POWERFUL AND SMOOTH MAKITA MOTOR WITH SPEED CONTROL. DO YOUR SELF A FAVOR AND BUY ONE, YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU DID.

This sander is incredible. For the price I'm not sure it can be beat. Lightweight, but incredibly powerful, the sander does well on all types of wood, even dense exotics. The belt is easy to take on and off and I haven't ever had any problems with the belt wandering in the many hours I've used the sander. I would like to note though, that while this is a great tool for up to medium projects, a larger sander might work better on big jobs. The dust collection on this sander is amazing. I hooked mine up to my dust collector. With the dust collector on, I can work with no mask, and truthfully it hardly leaves behind any dust... Perhaps 3 tablespoons after an hour of sanding!!!

It has been almost a year since I purchased this sander and I must say that it impresses me more every time I use it. It's light, powerful, relatively quiet, with good belt tracking. And as other reviewers have pointed out, the dust collection is outstanding, even when using the supplied dust bag. Most recently, I used this sander to edge new hardwood floors and even went so far as to use it for the initial sanding of almost 200 s.f. of oak flooring, using 50 grit belts. Although I did break down and purchase a 4"x24" Porter Cable (a Makita 4"x24" was not available locally) to complete the remainder of the floor, the Makita performed flawlessly, even under heavy pressure. It simply would not stall, regardless of the pressure applied. Another good feature of this sander is its compact design which allows you to get into tight quarters. I was able to sand completely flush to the right side of the sander and to within approximately two inches of the front. The 4"x24" Porter Cable would get to about 1/4" on the side and 6" in front. I highly recommend this sander! It's one of those rare tools that leaves you wanting nothing more, because it would be almost impossible to improve. Real quality at a fair price. I just wish I could say the same for the 4"x24" Porter Cable.

This belt sander really does the trick. The ergonomic placement of the handles is absolutely perfect, which provide superb control. Say goodbye to those gouges caused by the rollers and edges of the belt. This sander is light enough that it could be used on walls and even ceilings. The dust collection bag works better than I could have imagined. The belt stays in place and does not require any adjusting. That makes this one very easy to use. I was pleased to find out how quiet this sander is compared to others I have used in the past.
I would highly recommend this sander over other sanders in the 3-inch class.

I wanted a belt sander for quickly removing a lot of wood, but I also wanted it to be light enough to use vertically or overhead if necessary. Belt changes are easy and it is not too noisy. The dust port does clog easily unless you connect it to a shop vac. I would get the fixed speed version of this sander for a few dollars less since most only use a belt sander for aggressive sanding.

I bought this sander for my small shop because of the price and size. It comes with a nice belt and collects the dust well. I have connected it to my fien vaccuum which works great. No problems with the belt tracking even out of the box...plug and go. You will make some noise with this but the power on it is good for what I need. Not to heavy yet powerful enough to remove material. For medium work I recommend this sander to anyone. I have read the reviews and reseached and must agree after buying and using it to make our bedside and coffee table