Powermatic6" x 48" Belt and 12" Disc Sander, 1-1/2 HP, 115/230V 1Ph (Model 31A)

As of November2013, I've only had my sander about six months. In that time I've learned:* ASSEMBLY- Assembly was simple. I spent around an hour and a half, including adjustments of tables and tracking, then was able to plug the unit in and run it. For the most part, assembly could be figured out without the directions, but are still important for setting gaps between support tables and the belt or disk for safe operation.* QUALITY- The unit operated without any vibration.- I had no trouble with any parts missing or being misaligned.- Belt tracking was good. After setting tracking, it remained where initially set. NOTE: After moving the belt by hand to roughly set position, it was simple to finish the minute adjustments by pulsing the unit off and on. The combination of steps avoids tracking damage to guards. NOTE: Buy good quality belts. Bad glue joints cause thumping, as the belt goes around and presses between the platen and against your material.- See "CONS," regarding the cabinet, below.* NOISE LEVEL- This unit ran reasonably quiet. Most noise appears to come from movement of air and the belt running over the platen.* DUST COLLECTION- Connected to my little 1-1/2 HP dust collector, dust collection was reasonable. Some dust does escape, but much of that has to do with the collection system attached to it. Even with good dust collection, you should wear a nuisance mask for any significant sanding operations. When I hook my 3hp collector to this, dust collection improves vastly.* POWER- Before upgrading to this unit, I had a $150.00 sander. It proved useful over and again, but was easy to bog down when working even small (e.g., twelve inch long) boards, on the belt. That is less a problem with this unit. However, after some use, I've found this unit is not difficult to bog down too.* EASE OF USE- Changing the position of the belt between horizontal, vertical or any position in between just takes seconds. Just loosen the lever, pull the knob, set the position, then lock the belt in position using the lock and, if setting to horizontal, vertical or at forty-five degrees, using the positive stops. My little sander required an act of Congress.- Taking the end cover off is just a matter of turning a thumb screw and flipping it out of the way.- Changing belts just requires backing off the belt positioning adjustment and three thumb screws.- Removing end guard for the belt quickly, for couture sanding, is a critical part of the value of this unit. To do so only requires loosening a couple thumb screws.* VERSATILITY- Being able to remove the table and stop to run boards the full length of the belt is also a critical part of the value of this unit. However, see the "CONS" section.* CONS- As others noted, in use, the belt table leaves only about half the belt for use.- Repositioning or removing the belt table for other uses is not a quick process and requires an Allen wrench. [For that reason, I may fabricate a table dedicated for work to be done at ninety degrees to the belt and which will attach with knob type bolts.]- The cabinet could use a reinforcement on the bottom. My cabinet saw has a three or four inch trim piece, with rounded edge, and juts out on the bottom. This adds a lot of rigidity to the base. This base is straight, so can't be moved by dragging it, or the sides flex too much and could be damaged. If this were mounted in a mobile base, the flexibility of the base would no longer be an issue.

This sander is a magnificent beast.For ten years I used a puny Harbor Freight combo sander: 1 horsepower, low belt speed, horrible belt-tracking adjustment mechanism, ultra-flimsy construction. It was cheap ($200), but frustrating to work with. This spring I decided to upgrade, and the choice came down to this Powermatic unit or the Jet 708599K model. The Powermatic is somewhat more expensive than the Jet, but you do indeed get what you pay for. I dug up the owner manuals for both units online and browsed them for pictures and details, and the Powermatic won out. The casting are all seriously heavy duty, and unlike the Jet, the motor is an industry-standard configuration; if I ever want to replace it (e.g. with a 2hp 220V motor), I have that option, whereas the motor on the Jet is not so easily upgraded. As it happens, 1.5 hp is enough for the metalworking that I do, but if you're in the habit of aggressively sanding down really big hunks of iron, I can see where more power is better.Be advised, it's HEAVY. It arrives on a freight truck (delivery by appointment) in two boxes, each weighing about 125 pounds. It can be assembled by one person with a healthy back; the most difficult part is lifting the main casting up onto the base, as that casting weighs perhaps 80 pounds. Once that's in place, you can install the tables, bringing the whole thing up to its fighting weight of about 250 pounds.There are no wheels. If you never ever want to move it, that's fine. But if you think you might want to move it around someday, you'll want to buy a wheeled base (either Powermatic-specific, or general-use) for it, or else make your own.

We run several 6x48 sanders commercially and have always favored Powermatic models, having ones from 70's, 80's and 90's. We have a couple from the 80's that were finally wearing out and were concerned about what to replace them with. The ownership of the Powermatic company has bounced around many times, landing last with Jet. Given its connection to Jet and with production taken overseas (after this model evidently being discontinued for a while), we were not confident we were going to get the same quality machine we were used to.However, so far we are happy with the machine. It runs smooth and the fit and finish is very good. Some details, such as the size of the table are better than the one we have from 1998. Why not 5 stars? The last star will only be earned if the sander gives us at least ten years of good service. Our others have usually given us 20 years of service, than again they used to cost $1400! I wouldn't mind paying that again if they still made them in the USA.

This is a very good sander and the only thing I have problem with is not collecting enough dust. The belt is moving very fast so it tends to throw a lot of dust in the air. I think the sander collects maybe 60-70% of the dust. I added a piece of Baltic Birch to the lip on the front of the sander where the dust gets sucked in, this helps direct more dust into the sander. I have three PowerMatic tools in my shop and I like the quality and amount of cast iron in their tools. The disk sander is very aggressive but I have a very rough disk on now. It rounds corners very well. I would buy this tool again.

The Item arrived yesterday slightly damaged, with two quarter sized paint punctures and a small dent on the bottom of the base. I do not want to return Items it weighs 288 lbs and I have already assembled it, but would not mind a reduction in price. I do have photo's of damage.

The unit is very solid and works fine. My unit's base had peeling paint in the top left inside corner. I chipped the loose piece and cleaned. The rag came away dirty. This means that they did not correctly prep the metal. I then just spray painted it as it won't show inside. It shows poor QC. Hopefully this is all I will ever encounter.