Porter-Cable 340K 2 Amp 1/4 Sheet Palm Grip Sander

by Porter-Cable

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Designed for home woodworkers and serious hobbyists, Porter-Cable's orbital palm sander is a great tool for quick-finish sanding tasks such as sanding between coats of paint or preparing a surface for stain. The square pad lets you access corners easily, and because the paper folds up and over the pad's edges, you won't mar any perpendicular surfaces you might bump into when working in tight spaces. Clamp levers secure the sheets in place, and the sander works with either regular sandpaper or self-adhesive sheets.

This sander comes with a hard-plastic canister reinforced with extra rubber O-rings, ensuring that the canister won't pop off--a problem with early versions of the tool. It's a smart design, and makes for easy, no-mess dust collection. It's much, much better than the common alternatives--cloth bags that seep or paper bags that can tear. A handy punch plate for making dust-collection holes in the sandpaper is included. This is a pretty smooth-operating sander, with fairly minimal vibration, but if you're planning big projects that will require a lot of finish sanding, you might want to consider a more expensive professional unit with a heftier construction and less vibration. --Jon Groebner

From the Manufacturer

Porter-Cable 340K 2 Amp 1/4 Sheet Palm Grip Sander

See all Product Description

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 8.5 x 7.8 inches ; 2.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 pounds
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00002PV6E
• California residents: Click here for Proposition 65 warning.
• Item model number: 340K
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #208,902 in Home Improvement (See Top 100 in Home Improvement)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 67 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for when you can't take off your head, January 25, 2000

By 

"james_roche" (seattle wa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Porter-Cable 340K 2 Amp 1/4 Sheet Palm Grip Sander (Tools & Home Improvement)

If you've ever been in a sanding position where you can't feasibly get your head out of the way (like ceilings for example) this is a great purchase. The dust collector saves a lot of clean-up, and eliminates the inhalation of saw dust or paint flakes.

One thing that could be improved is the paper punch. It's easy to lose, and there's nowhere to put it when you're not using it. On the other hand, it's a great way to both measure the paper correctly and get the holes right, so maybe it's not that bad.

Another thing that I just thought of is the great way that the sander grips the paper. It has little wire clips that are very versatile. When I was running out of paper, it took a little ingenuity to fit the scraps of paper, but I got them on and it did a great job.

It's great for little jobs, I highly recommend it!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great tool, May 5, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Porter-Cable 340K 2 Amp 1/4 Sheet Palm Grip Sander (Tools & Home Improvement)

I bought this tool 6 months ago, and it is very useful. Ifind that the clips work very well. much better than the dewalt, whosclip snapped on me, and also the all ball bearing construction unlike the roller bearings found in most dewalt tools.It is very light and fits in your hand nicely.It has lasted me quite a few sandings so far, having no problems or bizzare noises so far.The dust collection also works great.It sucks up about 80 percent of the saw dust and the rest is scatted away from the work space.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars reliable and easy to use, December 19, 2002

By 

S. Bradford "scottfbradford" (Arlington, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Porter-Cable 340K 2 Amp 1/4 Sheet Palm Grip Sander (Tools & Home Improvement)

In retrospect, I'm not sure why I bought this sander. It is meant to be used as a finish sander to sand between coats of paint, varnish, etc. or in preparation of painting. For large areas it works well in this regard. However, for smaller jobs, it is easier to simply sand by hand rather than get this tool out, load it with paper, and punch dust collection holes in it. I prefer my 6 inch random orbit sander because it can be used for more aggressive sanding as well as finish sanding. The only advantages of this tool are its lighter weight and ability to sand in corners. If you wish to own just one sander, then I would get a random orbit type.