WEN 6313 Electric 1/3 Sheet Sander

Exactly as expected

The price is great and it worked very well.

I do a lot of woodworking, especially since I retired. I am currently refinishing my mother's Morganton bedroom set that she purchased 70 years ago. It involves a lot of stripping and very careful sanding of the veneered furniture. I was primarily using a HF Bauer finishing sander. I compared it to the Wen finishing sander. During the comparison, both did the job about equally well except that while I was using it, a large chunk of the rubber pad on the HF sander came off at one of its corners. So, I had to throw the HF sander out at the end of this comparison! It lasted a whole year. The HF Bauer sander costs $44. For that, you can buy 2 Wen 6313 sanders, and I did. Previously, I had a HF Chicago Electric sander that lasted a whole 2 weeks. Here's what I found with the Wen sander:The Wen has the hook and loop (like Velcro) surface permanently attached on its rubber pad. On the HF model, it was only rubber and the 3M Pro sandpaper would have its non-slip surface melt onto the rubber pad while using it and changing paper on the HF sander would pull off small amounts of the rubber pad, until the pad and therefore the sander were no longer usable. The hook and loop surface on the Wen should prevent that from happening. But here's the problem with that: The distance around the base to the paper clamps is slightly longer because of the thicker pad, so it's a bit tricky getting the 1/3 sheet sandpaper on this sander. The paper needs to be pretty much centered. There is less than 1/8" of overlap on the front and back sides when the paper is clamped in. The paper has to be pretty tight and the clamps can tear it on its lateral edges. However, in no case did the paper come off while I was using it (as others have complained) and I used the sander long enough to wear out several sheets of sandpaper. The Wen is light, easy to control, about average in noise (but always wear hearing protection when using sanders, etc.). The cord length is the same as the HF and both are too short compared to my Sears Craftsmen sander.Overall, this sander is not perfect. Paper loading is a bit of a challenge, but it's not really all that difficult. It works well as a sander and the price is so low for these that buying more than one may make sense for you. That way, you can keep one as a backup, or use them all with different grit sizes loaded in each. Wen products have quality control. HF - not so much. $44 vs $20 - for me, buying the Wen is a no-brainer.

Nice finish sander you won’t be disappointed!

works great price I don't use it much so it should last for me not sure about and everyday usage it is pretty solid but just a basic sander worth the $20

a electric sander for how much? this is a great project sander.

Not a great sander but ok for the price and does ok on small jobs.

Like others who have commented, I have several sanders of different types. My brother 'borrowed' my 1/4 sheet sander last year and I decided to move to a 1/3 sheet tool for a new workbench project. I own mostly DeWalt and Kobalt power tools and prices for a 1/3 sheet sander were 2-3x what this sander cost. But I was hesitant to buy a cheap Chinese product - it turns out that Wen power tools are made in Illinois and have been for over 70 years. I just hadn't heard of them before Amazon. My old palm sander doesn't have ejection holes for dust, so I didn't think about that feature. I used porous, anti-clog sandpaper to remove a bad paint finish from a nice piece of ply. The whole process took less than five minutes, but what surprised me was the dust collection. Those holes moved the paint dust right into the collector and filled it lickedy-split! I didn't even need a mask, it was so efficient! Three days later, new paint finish rolled on like butta. And the sandpaper is reusable, so I couldn't be happier about the cost-effectiveness of this sander. The handle is comfortable and the motor is strong enough for paint removal, so I'm good. If this tool only lasts a year, I will still have gotten more than my money's worth. Go Wen!