Accessories

Great sander, poor dust collection design
After using one of these, you won't even think about going back to a 1/4 sheet palm sander. The motor is strong and it takes up material fast. It works as well as you could possibly expect something like this to work, which is what one expects from Milwaukee.

The downside is the dust collection. There are no venting holes on the sanding surface, so dust collection is achieved through a device (sold separately) that snaps around the whole base of the sander and vents into an attached bag.

Now, this thing makes a LOT of dust -- as it should, because it works so well. The problem is, the add-on dust collection system is not designed to be attached to a vacuum. The bag connects through a narrow, oval-shaped outlet. In order to connect it to a vacuum hose, I had to basically duct tape a hose onto the weird outlet. This is annoying, when they easily could have designed it with a round outlet that could be adapted to a vacuum hose, and obviously a duct-tape connection it doesn't work as well as a well-sealed connection. This seems like a pretty odd oversight.

In any event it's still a great tool and I recommend it but if you plan to use it for large projects (like floors or stairs), plan on a lot of dust and/or hacking together a vacuum connection.

Milwaukee is quality!
Have one at work, it just takes a beating and keeps on working.

Milwaukee 1/2 sheet finish sander
After agonizing over my choices for a finish sander, reading reviews and comparisons, I settled on the Milwaukee 6010-6 and I couldn't be happier. I couldn't believe how smoothly it coasted across the wood. It uses off-the-shelf sandpaper. It felt heavy at first but when in use it seems to just float. One possible negative is that it requires a extra purchase for a dust collection bag, but I've pretty much made up my mind to go for more sophisticated collection system anyhow. I don't have a basis for comparison of how loud it is but that can probably be found in the specifications..