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Because the first sander shipped was thought to be lost, a second was sent which arrived in a timely manner. They don't seem to be sure about anything you ask, and in one case, I picked up the phone only to hear a screaming baby who cried on and on and finally a little voice called, "Mom". The trouble arose when the first sander arrived belatedly, slightly damaged. Your customer service reps appear to be young women trying to pick up extra income at home. Anyway, after three attemptswith customer service, I did finally get UPS back here to pick up the damaged sander; and I must say there was a certain element of entertainment to the process. My son-in-law loves the sander.
I'd recommend this to a hobby woodworker. First use it worked pretty good - runs steady, tracks perfectly, doesn't bog.
The Delta's plastic drive wheel stripped gears in the first month and I repaired it. For about the last 3 months I've had to tinker with it before it would start.
Bought this to replace a Delta that I bought in March 2006. They are metal, cheap metal, but metal and the look substantial enough for the 4/5 horsepower motor.
I put it in the dump and bought this Wilton. The FIRST thing I did was open the power transfer box and check the drive wheels.
It is easy to set up and quiet when it is running. Light to moderate use, it will do just fine for you.
I had a Rikon, it never worked well - the tracking was unstable and it did not handle much material. I do small woodworking projects, frames, small tables, crosses and various knick-knacks. For the price range and size, this is it. I gave it away and bought this one based on customer recommendations I read here. In my opinion - and i use the heck out of this thing - it is as much as you will find for the price and size.
The product is of amazingly poor fit and finish. The sad thing is a number of people have rated this product highly, which is an indication that the American consumer is getting used to the inferior quality coming from China. When you open the box you're greeted by a peculiar, noxious paint smell, and it all goes downhill after that. I just got it delivered today. I'm putting together a shop in the garage and have bought several power tools from amazon recently. I was considering a number of bench tools from Wilton, like a grinder and a drill press. It probably works as a sander, but I refuse to pay $170 for something this junky. The spindle adjustment is similar story, with a screw with cheap plastic knob and a plastic arrestor nut pushing on a piece of bent sheet metal to adjust the spindle.
Companies like Wilton need to be sent the message that selling products of this quality with their brand names on them will destroy their brand image. The foul smelling paint came off on my hands and smeared my bench. I ordered this sander based on Wilton name, power rating, and customer reviews. Even at this relatively low price it should not be of such bad quality. The cast metal base looks like it was hammered together by an amateur blacksmith. The tensioner lever is a piece of crooked, probably hand-bent sheet metal with a chunk of cheap plastic attached to it as a handle. I have bought a number of tools from Hitachi and Bosch recently and I'm very happy with them. After this experience I will not touch anything that says Wilton on it just in case.
After all, that's all that really matters, right. Started with a rough cut using band saw, but got it perfect by trimming down to the pencil line.
Nice and heavy, accurate table angles, great dust diversion, easy to "fine tune" pieces even with heavy grit belt. ABsolutely great machine for the price.
Needed to cut a perfectly round 4" disc. Received the piece within a few days of ordering, had it assembled and ready to go in about 45 min's.
Practiced on a couple pieces of scrap pine, and 10 minutes later, first project was under way. Great product, great deal, and I'm happy.
:-)G Schaeffer
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