Makita Triangular Extended Finishing Sander BO4565K

Great looking corpse – I bought the Makita BO4565K 200 W sander from Bunnings to restore a weathered Jarrah bench seat to its former glory. It worked well - the fresh new looking timber appeared much more quickly than it did with the Ryobi palm sander I'd been using before. But after only about 10 - 15 hours of work the motor sounded laboured and shortly after it stopped working altogether. So I took it back and replaced it under warranty with another Makita BO4565K and went back to the same job. The same thing has happened again with the replacement Makita - again after only about 15-20 hours of work - the motor sound changed, then it ground to a stop. Meanwhile the 100W Ryobi palm sander that I'd been using before I got either of these Makita's is still going strong - but the job takes longer because it doesn't work as well. But at least it keeps working - even with its smaller motor. It took two Makita's to sand one bench seat, and I still had to finish it off with the Ryobi.

A great little finishing sander which still goes after months of hard work – Sanding isn't something that most people enjoy. However, whether you're a major DIY-er, or doing the one-off-painting, building or woodworking project, chances are you're going to do some sanding at some point. As a very enthusiastic wood worker, and DIY repairman around my home, I can say that I've put this sander through it's paces. I've used it on everything from sanding gyprock walls, wood paneling, and even ironbark sleepers for garden beds. However, this is a FINISHING sander, and that means that it is designed to do lighter, smaller, and harder-to-reach work, rather than heavier duty sanding tasks.

Now if you're new to sanding, you may be confused about which sander to get. Now, ignoring the multitude of bench or stand-mounted woodworking sanders, I'm going to limit it to the hand held power tool sander types.

1. The Belt Sander:

This sander uses thick sheets of sand paper, with the ends glued together to form a ring or belt. The belt width and circumference should match your sander's specification or it won't work. Belt sanders remove a LOT of material (especially with coarse sandpapers like 40, 60, or 80 grit) So keep it moving or you'll have a dug a hole in the wood within 5-10 seconds, particularly on softer woods. The belt sander is more for covering large amounts of area (like doors, maybe even floors if you don't have a floor sander). As long as you ALWAYS keep the sander parallel with the wood grain, and move quickly, the results can be fantastic. However, they can be very heavy, and hard to balance on thin edges of planks of wood.

2. Disk, Orbital and Random Orbital sanders. Basically seen as a middle-of-the-road sander. Less aggressive than belt sanders, disk and orbital sanders usually have circular disks (between 100mm-and 150mm in diameter, attached by glue or velcro) which spin in circles or orbits). While cheaper, the down side of a pure disk and orbital sanders is that they leave circular swirl marks on the sanded wooden surface. Random orbit sanders move in a more complicated manner and they don't leave the swirls, leaving a better and smoother finish. Naturally random orbital sander are more expensive. I own a random orbital sander, and if I had to choose just one, I'd buy a random orbital sander. Also, please note, that a larger disk size can speed up your work significantly. There's a 43.4% increase in area between a 125mm and 150mm disk, think how much time can be saved on larger projects if you were 43.4% faster! Smaller models do have a place though, especially in tighter spaces, and do suit people on tighter budgets.

3. Finishing sander:

Ok, so we're back to the category for this sander. Finishing sanders are typically the smallest powered type, and they're fantastic in creating smoother surfaces (and can go up to 240 grit paper), are ideally suited for smaller projects, and for use in the harder-to-reach places. Being lighter than most, it makes work on vertical surfaces MUCH easier. I mostly use this one to make or restore chopping boards, picture frames, and final sanding tasks on timber furniture.

Finishing sanders, by definition, are designed to create smooth finishes, and are used at the end once the heavy sanding has been done. You COULD sand a large scale or very rough surface with it, but you'd be there for a long time. I started with this sander, and as a beginner sander, taking very little off the work piece, it's very forgiving. However, once I started working on much larger projects, my next purchase was a belt sander. So while I do recommend this sander for it's intended purpose, it's certainly not suited to everything.

This sander does a great job. I've owned it for roughly two and a half years, and probably done about 300-350 hours worth of continuous sanding with it. If at all possible, I would suggest that you attach some sort vacuum or dust extraction as the dust is particularly fine. A dust mask is also highly recommended. Anything to reduce the dust will make sanding far more pleasant and healthy. It also wildly reduces the mess you have to clean up later. The dust bag works as advertised, but that isn't the best solution. The added suction of a dust extractor makes a significant difference.

With any corded power tool, I'd recommend eye and ear protection. While this is nowhere near my loudest piece of equipment, at approximately 81dB (according to Makita's spec sheet), long-term exposure may result in hearing loss... especially on work pieces which may vibrate, rattle, or have hollow chambers within them. So it's generally a good idea for both safety and hearing sake, to anchor your piece with a vice, clamp, or other reliable method of attachment.

Not for the first time, I've thought that the base of this sander reminds me of a clothes iron. (It's used to remove the wrinkles in wood after all) A squarish back with a pointed front works quite well in both sanding flat surfaces, as well as the hard to reach corners inside boxes, frames, and between slatted/spindled components of furniture.

I really like the velcro attachment system for the sanding paper. It makes life so much less complicated than the adhesive-based systems. Although I do find that the rounded triangular paper, does NOT have a flat edge to line up with the rest of the rectangular base... so there's a bit of wear on the velcro base wherever paper doesn't cover. However, the ability to rotate better edges of paper to wherever it is needed gives the paper a bit of extra longevity.

Remember, you have to buy the triangular paper, AND the rectangular paper separately. (You need one of each to cover the entire sanding base of the sander) That means you need two kits for EVERY grade of paper. Which can be a bit of a bother, but that also means you can have two different grades if you'd like. I generally like to have the same, but it has been handy to have a finer and a coarser paper on at the same time for certain occasions.

This is a fixed-speed sander. Which means it only has on, and off. At roughly 14000 orbits per minute (233 orbits per second). At this end of the price scale, that isn't such a bad thing. It's a heck of a lot easier than using the block of wood and sheet of paper, that's for sure. However, after a few hours of use, I do find that the vibrations, while quite well damped-down, start to make my hand tingle for a while afterwards. As such, I'd recommend taking regular breaks, swapping hands, or enlisting a helper if available.

The ergonomics of this sander is very good. Hold it on the top, from the side, from behind, with one or two hands. I think the switch is in a reasonably convenient spot. However, if you're using the dust filter bag, gripping it from behind becomes a bit harder, and certainly more uncomfortable. However, given that I have held it in every conceivable way, horizontal, vertically, diagonally, and even up-side-down for ceilings, I can't complain much.

Overall, if you're just looking to sand small projects, or like to sand in hard-to-reach places, I heartily recommend this sander. It's definitely at the cheaper end of sanders, but for durability and value for money, I'd prefer to have given it 4.5 stars.. but that's not an option here.