Customer Reviews

Wilton 99179 1/3 Horsepower Benchtop Oscillating Spindle Sander

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I originally bought this sander about 8-10 years ago, when it was made by Ryobi, exact same specs/size as this unit. I have loved this tool since I got it and have used it on everything from 1/4 mdf to 8/4 Oak always with great results. yes the vacuum attachment makes a little noise but that is sure better than dust all over. I order all my sandpaper from Grizzly for the 4 1/2" spindles and find them to fit fine, have never had one slip or be to small to go on. Am currently buying another one for a Christmas present.

This machine is a good value. I wish it had come with some finer grit drums. It has good on-board storage for what came with the machine except for two washers that have no home.

I Bought this sander about 6 months ago based on previous reviews. It has done every job I have asked of it, and then some.

Granted, I'm a weekend warrior that has not a bad shop. However, I'm no Norm (You fokes know who I mean) so occasonaly I need to put equipment into use in say .... creative ways. The couple of times I needed to do this I held my breath, and sure enough the sander came through like a champ.

If I were a pro using this every day, day in and day out, I would have moved up one or two steps to the Jet or Delta (at almost 3x the price). However, for light regular use or more moderate occasional use it has worked out very very well.

Several issues of note:

1.) The sander has a "plastic" (the base is plastic and the top is covered partical board, as I recall) feel. Don't fret when you first get it - use it before making any judgements.

2.) The center insert did not quite fit flat. A few adjustments and I got it the way I wanted. However, other reviewers found it a bit more disturbing. Just something to note you should watch out for. One solution I've already implemented for larger pieces (be practical, this sander is not ment for very large heavy pieces. However, I've sanded some crecent table tops by extending the top and implementing support, so don't be afraid of it either.) is to drill a hole in plywood or partical board and place it over the surface. This extends the work surface and avoids the problem at the same time.

3.) When a dust collector is attached the sander has an odd "wooosh" sound for each stroke. Not bad, and dust collection works very well, but some people may not like it for that reason alone. Otherwise the sander is quite quiet. One reviewer removed the plate used for suction (I believe) when not connected to dust collection and this solved the noise problem. I have not tried it but resolution may be that simple.

4.) Spindle storage is a little odd (a little loose) on mine. Again, nothing big just a little off.

5.) Lastly, one caution...use the proper grit sand paper and don't be afraid to make a couple of grit changes. Keep in mind this is a 1/3hp sander. I found starting one or two grits lower (don't start at 100 or 120, start at 80 or even 60) the tool works much better then trying to plow a lot of material with a higher grit. Let the tool do the work - but make sure the took can work for you by having the extra grits on hand.

Based on price alone, I have to give it 5 stars compaired to the alternatives. Even with the few oddities it is worth every penny.

This is one great machine,it has all the features of the more costly machines and for a much better price.Well worth the money I paid for it.

With an Amazon promo I paid just over a hundred bucks for this sander, and for that price you shouldn't have huge expectations. But this little gem works great, has awesome dust collection when hooked to a shop vac, and is very quiet.
It arrived fast, and worked out of the box with minimal assembly. Could not be happier with my purchase.

I have been a loyal Delta tool user but after reading the reviews on the Delta spindle sander I decided to take a chance on this one. It has proved to be a very handy and reliable device.

I love the Wilton Bench Oscillating Spindle Sander! The thing is plastic but I got to thinking that there would be some problems if it were made of metal like other tools. I have a single section in my shop for sanding tools and need to have the ability to swap it out with my Wilton belt/disc combo sander--if it were metal it would be much harder to move. The only drawback is that the top is made of chipboard and covered in a thin heat-activated plastic sheet that can pull up if you aren't careful or if you think that it is just a protective covering and give it a tug like I did (easily heated in place with an iron). I will be having some fun with this one!

This edge sander does a very good job when using large spindles but it is difficult to obtain a tight fit on the sleeve of small sleeves such as the 1 inch. They will tend to creep up if the nut on the top is not very tight. When using this sander, one should always connect a shop vacuum to the dust port to prevent dust buildup blocking the port. All things considered, a dependable machine with a few quirks.

I've had this sander for about six months and have given it a pretty good workout in that time. I've used it for edge sanding curved pieces and as a thickness sander with a fence clamped to the table. I've taken some fairly heavy passes with it and never bogged down the motor. Obviously this is the same sander as the Grizzly with different color plastic.

When tightening the nut don't bother with the two wrenches, just hold the drum and use one wrench. I added a piece of dowel next to the drum storage area to hold the unused washers. And I keep a nail with the machine to use to lift up the insert plates, stick it through one of the air holes.

On the downside I could not get the 3 inch drum to work. There is a large metal washer that goes at the bottom of the drum. For the 2 inch and smaller drums this washer is larger than the drum and thus the sanding sleeve can't slide down. In theory when you tighten down the nut the drum should expand and thus keep the sleeve in place. But in practice I just couldn't tighten it enough to make that happen on the 3 inch, the 2 inch and smaller this is no issue. Perhaps I have an oversized sleeve or undersized drum. I never persued the issue and find the 2 inch drum just fine for my needs.

Because the top is laminated there is a plastic ring that the metal table inserts sit in. This protects the edge of the laminate. So there is an extra source for things to be out of level and I have had issues with pieces that are just the right length to get caught on the rim and sand a depression into the work. I also had to shim up the metal inserts a bit to get them level with the plastic ring. I've thought about covering the whole table with a piece of 1/8 inch ply with just a hole for the drum in it.

The shaft was not quite perpendicular to the table when I got it. There's nothing in the manual about adjusting for this. A little investigation showed that the entire mechanism is attached to the bottom of the table with 8 screws. Loosen one side and shim as needed. Bit of a tedious process of flipping the thing over to check, but only needs to be done once. I'm a little concerned about the holding of the screws into the particle board over time.

The dust collection works well, but the noise is really annoying. It's not the volume that's a problem. It's that large washer going up and down. Imagine someone putting their hand over the end of the vacuum nozzle and taking it off again, once per second. Annoying. I tend to just hook the vacuum up and only turn it on once in a while when I shut the machine off to get out the dust that builds up.

The price has gone up quite a bit since I bought it, but so has the price on the Jet. I still think it's a good value.

Good product for the price; and does a relatively good job. The reason for only 4 stars is that the sanding sleeves don't tighten up adequately.