Hand held belt sander good or evil??

[rec]

Still trying to determine that.....ha ha
Broke out the ole craftsman belt sander left to me by my father.
3'x21" belt. I put a 80 grit belt on it and whoa it definitly removes material like
right now. I think this will be good for the edges of my cabs where the boards come together. Mine are not always perfect. I also bought 120 grit belts, I think these my be safer for me to use.
My 2 cents

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

I almost never use my belt sander. Random orbit is the way to go, with which I use 40 grit discs.

[petegt]

I have sanded the edges and the corners of my tat with a belt sander and it was easy to do and came out well.

[Benj Ross]

Much like guns and people, belt sanders dont ruin projects, people ruin projects. If you can control it, it is a great tool that you use for a lot of things. For many applications I like to screw a belt sander to the bench and handle the workpeice instead. Just take it nice and slow and it'll do ya right.

Benj

[bzb]

I use belt sanders on two things: 4/4 table top glueups and concrete.

Personally, I wouldn't take a belt sander to 1/2" plywood. I'm with Bill on the RO sander - plus they are really good at dust collection.

[rec]

I think it is usable I just need to get used to it
80 grit is a little too agressive