Product Review: Black and Decker Electric Sander

For anyone, especially a woman who'd never taken wood shop in school, who has ever tried to sand a piece of wood or furniture by hand, the Black and Decker electric sander is like a miracle. Sanding wood by hand isn't so bad if it's only a small project like a rough corner of a dresser, but for a large project, sanding by hand is extremely difficult and time consuming, not to mention painful on the hands and wrists.

Over the years, I've had the need to sand a variety of wooden boxes, tables and dressers, and never seemed to do a very good job, because after a few minutes, my hands and arms ached. Once the pain started, I soon gave up. It was too hard and I wasn't up to the task. After buying an off brand electric sander, I knew I'd never again go back to using a piece of sand paper wrapped around a small block of wood. The problem with the sander was that is didn't have enough power to do a very good job, but still, it was better than nothing.

Unfortunately, I had to press very hard to do a decent job and then I had sawdust everywhere. Then one day I was walking through my local hardware store and drifted by the tool aisle on my way to the gardening center. I hadn't intended to buy anything, but I was in need of some sanding paper because I wanted to repaint an old end table. That's when I saw the electric sanders. The old one I used to have had long since broken, and I was going to sand the table by hand, even though the thought didn't make me happy.

I saw several brands of sanders, some quite expensive and some very cheap, but when I came to the Black and Decker sanders, I remembered how my dad had always bought the Black and Decker brand because he trusted it. I found a very decently priced sander that had a sawdust catcher attached. I was thrilled. I would no longer have the sawdust mess scattering around all over the place. I went ahead and purchased the sander and couldn't wait to try it when I got home. When I did, I couldn't believe how little pressure I had to apply to get the table smoothed out nicely. I now swear by my Black and Decker electric sander. Not only was it inexpensive, but it works better than I'd ever hoped. I feel like a professional now whenever I need to make small touch ups or full scale sanding.