Accessories

very good belt sander
THIS VARIABLE SPEED BELT SANDER IS VERY GOOD FOR THE MONEY.
IF YOU DOING LOTS OF HEAVY SANDING, THEN MAYBE THE DEWALT IS THE WAY TO GO. DEWALT COST MORE AND WEIGHT IN AT 16lb. RYOBI WEIGHT IN AT 9lb AND THAT LIGHT. I'M SANDING THE GARAGE DOOR SIDE JAMBS AND UNDER, SO LIGHTNESS COUNTS. BELT TRACKING IS VERY GOOD, VARIABLE SPEED CONTROL AT FRONT KNOT HANDLE IS WILL PLACED, BUT AT TIME MY FINGER TENDS TO MOVE IT ACCIDENTALLY. PRESS THE SWITCH, THE MOTOR SLOWLY COMES TO LIVE AT SLOW SPEED. SANDER COMES WITH DUST BAG, I DIDN'T USE IT BECAUSE I'M SANDING OUTSIDE THE HOUSE, AND BAG TENDS TO GET IN THE WAY AND INCREASE WEIGHT DUE TO SAW DUST COLLECTION. CHANGING THE BELT WAS EASY, FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTION. INSTRUCTION SHEET IS VERY GOOD AND CLEAR. SO, IF YOU ARE SANDING WALLS, VERTICAL AND UP-SIDE DOWN POSITION, LIGHTNESS COUNTS HEAVILY. UNLESS YOUR ARMS ARE MADE OF STEEL.

Never received
This was meant as a birthday present for my son, but he never got it. I've contacted the company (Tools Now if I'm not mistaken) selling the product thru Amazon, but they haven't adequatly followed up. Now I'm out eighty-some dollars with no results!

Good tool gone bad
I owned the exact look alike to this model and I wore it out. It finally didn't track anymore, so I bought what I thought was another...I couldn't have farther from the truth. The only thing this has in common with my old sander is it looks just like the Ryobi model 321.

This is an example of what happens when non-users get involved in design.
The trigger pull is much stiffer than the original. The motor dosn't start when the trigger is pulled (it sits there and hums for about 2 seconds) so you don't know when you have pulled the trigger enough. The Trigger Hold is protected so well that it takes two strong hands just to start the thing and set the Trigger Hold.

Get the look a like Bosch 1274DVS... it was designed by guys who use the tool.

This is a decent tool
I bought my Ryobi several years ago. It's performed well all that time. The compact design makes it easy to handle. Belt changes are a snap. The flat top lets you flip it upside down and used it as a fixed sanding table fairly easily.

On the flip side, dust collection is not very good. There will be lots of dust on the floor and in the air. The bag fills up pretty rapidly, and it's not easy to clean out. A vacuum helps a lot.

Great value for the money, but if you want Porter-Cable quality, this isn't it.

missing parts - unfriendly customer service
Belt sander works fine. Item was shiped with wrong accessories and manual. I received a cut off wheel ins of dust catcher bag. Called company and they sent a dust bag that dosen't fit. Customer service person was not rude but wasn't warm and helpful. Said they would call back with shiping info and didn't. I had to call back and her response was terse. Still no dust bag (the one they sent didn't work) and I'm not calling them again. There are too many "Good" sites around to put up with this negative service.