Woodworking 31-483 Heavy-Duty Oscillating Bench Spindle Sander, 1/2-HP, 115-volt

This is a really good spindle sander. While I haven't used it much to this point, it's clear that this machine is more than up to the task.But this doesn't mean there weren't problems. The first is that, in my opinion, the styrofoam packaging doesn't adequately cushion the machine during shipment. On my unit one of the feet is bent upwards a little. Nothing I can't handle, but it shouldn't be. The second is that the dust collector adapter simply doesn't fit. At all. The good news is that the hole in it is too small meaning that you can use this very tool to sand away some of the excess material to enlarge the hole and make it fit. Presto. A working dust collection fitting. Dust collection is something I find important.The spare sanding drums sold by Woodcraft for this machine are too short. The sanding drums sold with it are 6" long. Woodcrafts sold for this machine are 4 1/2" long. You'll have to look for the ones sold to fit the Jet sander. Klingspor sells good ones.And last, the machine has places to store the inserts and spindles you're not using, but not for the 3 supplied wrenches. Without a place to put them they're probably doomed to get lost at some point. They are metric sized. What I did with mine is stuck each one onto the steel base with a small rare earth magnet. Now they'll be right there whenever I need them.

Arrived broken

I received my Delta Sander that was great, when I had noticed the box was damaged I started to worry. well its heavy as well, once I pulled it out the box , and set it on a flat table top, I also notice the sander top was crocked, the brackets were bent and tilted sideways. but all in all it looks like a quality machine.

Operates very smoothly and is strong. Minor comment that the table was slightly warped and not flat. Nothing major.

The product itself is very good, and very heavy duty with a cast iron top and heavy steel base. If it were not for the packaging from Delta, I would have rated the product 4 or 5 stars. The motor is powerful and smooth, and the sanding action is very good. It's great to have a tilting top as well for those occasions where sanding at an angle is required. The unit comes with a nice manual, 3 wrenches, plus the spindles, and 4 throat plates for different sizes, including one with an oval opening for angle sanding. The unit doesn't move or vibrate when sanding, and there is nice storage for the spindles on the side. I think this is the best of the bench-top oscillating sanders, much heavier and more professional than the other bench-top units I have seen.The packaging is a different story unfortunately, and is very poor. You'll be lucky if you get an undamaged unit. The unit weighs 85 lbs, and is just packed in (fairly thin) formed Styrofoam and single thickness cardboard. At the bottom where it is needed most, the styrofoam is only about 1/4" thick, and in both units (yes I had to order two) the foam was broken at the bottom and the feet had no protection. In the first unit I received, the metal where one of the feet mount was bent to the point that the unit wobbled about 1/4" diagonally when sitting on a flat surface. In addition to that, the heavy steel throat plates are just inserted in plastic bags (open plastic bags at that) and not secured, so they bounce around inside the box nicking up the paint on base of the unit. Both of the sanders I received were packaged this way and had nicked up paint on the base.I ordered a replacement unit (Amazon was great about this as usual) but the 2nd unit I received was even worse. In addition to the same nicked up paint from the throat inserts bouncing around as with the first unit, the second sander had three chips on the edges cast iron top (not paint chips, but actually missing metal from the cast iron area). Even more problematic, the cast iron top was not flat - when putting a straight edge across the top, it was off by at least 1/16" of an inch edge to edge (i.e. I could see 1/16" inch of daylight under the edge of the steel ruler).Ultimately I ended up straightening the bent foot on the original sander and keeping that one since the cast iron top was at least flat and not chipped like the 2nd one.I really like this sander, but Delta really needs to fix the packaging.

If you need smooth and uniform edges on curved pieces, spindle sanders are hard to beat. They remove material pretty rapidly, but are not as aggressive as belt sanders; and they really excel with convex shapes. There are quite a few lower-cost alternatives to this model, but one of its main selling points is the tilting table, which is more commonly found only on larger and more expensive units.In my experience, the sander is well-built, has plenty of power, and runs quieter than most of the smaller and cheaper units. Dust extraction, while not amazing, does the trick for me. The availability of a 1/4" spindle is also a nice touch - many of the lower-cost units don't come with one, and it can be very useful for navigating tight corners and such.The spindles are 5 1/2" tall, which isn't a very common size, but you can use 4.5" or 6" sanding sleeves.

The only negative is that the way the machine is packaged, from Delta, it must have taken a shot on its corner during shipping and now one of the sheet metal based feet has been depressed so now it wont sit level. Other than that it is as advertised, quick ship and in great shape.

This product was returned. It was advertised as cast iron bottom, but was plastic - plus, it didn't work.