DEWALT DWE6411K Sheet Palm Sander Reviews Summary

Usability

Pros:

• "This thing is easy to use and does what it’s supposed to do."
• "Sheet loading and changing is a breeze."
• "The paper loading is way better than the dead one and takes 2-seconds tops."
• "Changing sandpaper is a breeze and it stays where it's supposed to be."
• "It's easy to use; comfortable and not too heavy."
• "It is easy to hold and operate."
• "It is so easy to use! The dust bag has never fallen off and it's easy to empty."

Cons:

• "The on/off switch is kind of hard to use."
• "Putting on the sand paper was a challenge vs the previous model of this Dewalt sander."
• "It's a little difficult for me to get the sandpaper loaded but that's because I don't have a lot of strength in my hands - not the sander's fault."
• "Every time I would set it up and start sanding the sand paper would come loose."
• "The tool used to create holes in the sand paper for the particles to be vacuumed up is also a joke, it barely makes holes in sand paper."
• "The pad where you attach sand paper is not perfectly flat and it becomes uneven when you attach sand paper."
• "Not sure if it's just me or the way I handle it, but it sure wants to move its own way."

Dust Collection

Pros:

• "It collects 95% of the dust."
• "I found the dust collection system to work great."
• "Dust collection is a lot better than I expected."
• "The dust collection bag was surprisingly effective."
• "Dust catcher feature works great when I remembered to pierce the sand paper."
• "Dust collection was great."
• "Best dust collection I have ever seen."

Cons:

• "The dust collector bag attached to the sander wasn't as effective and needs a better design."
• "The dust collector is adequate."
• "The dust port does not collect dust at all."
• "Packaging says this will vacuum the sanded wood dust into the attached bag, but it only gets about 1/4 of it....the rest blows out into the room!"
• "The dust collector really doesn't work."
• "The dust collection system does not work."
• "The dust catcher worked reasonable well too."

Build Quality

Pros:

• "This Dewalt palm sander is made for work."
• "This sander is sturdy and gets the job done. I would buy again if I ever had a need to."
• "We have a bunch of these in our shop and they all work great. We love them. And they last forever."
• "Very well made. Should last a lifetime."
• "Definitely built to last for a lifetime."
• "This product is built to last and can handle an extensive workload."
• "This thing is rock solid. Made sanding down my front door and sidelights a breeze."

Cons:

• "After just a few days, while sanding a piece of wood, no strenuous work at all, it split in two pieces."
• "It now has a plastic piece that breaks easily."
• "The pad clamp is plastic and extends beyond the edge. One fall and I’m guessing it will snap off and render it useless."
• "It started rattling and seconds later the whole bottom part came apart."
• "The only problem I found is that the large Dewalt bag that is part of the products page isn't the one you get."
• "It also has a discharge port that you can't attach a standard vac hose."
• "It's hard to see in the pictures, but the sand-paper connectors in the back are plastic and stick out about 3/4 of an inch from the platen."

Performance

Pros:

• "Have used this product on multiple projects now, and it works very well."
• "The vibratory motion works very well and leaves few marks."
• "This sander will impress."
• "For the $$$ I really couldn’t ask for better performance."
• "This thing just goes and goes. It's been about 2 years and it still works great."
• "This sander is fantastic! It works fast and smooth and is much quieter than most of my sanders."
• "This Dewalt sander amazed me at both how much better it works than other sanders and how smooth and easy it does the job."

Cons:

• "without a doubt the worst sander I ever had, my complaint about this sander is the vibration, after using for a couple of hours my hands were tingling."
• "I bought it to replace another dewalt palm sander. 1st thing I noticed is that its UNDERPOWERED."
• "However 15 minutes into my sanding job it died and refused to start back up."
• "Not particularly powerful. This thing will need an extremely coarse grit (80 or lower) to strip paint, and the sanding pads can get gummed up pretty easily."
• "Does a good job, but when something goes wrong buying a replacement is only about two bucks more than a repair."
• "Every time I would set it up and start sanding the sand paper would come loose."
• "Sander works beautifully with one problem…the 3 bearing “O” ring snap on dust bag is very badly designed."

Design & Ergonomics

Pros:

• "Very nice sander! Works great for what I needed it for! Sands smooth, I like the way you clip the sandpaper to the sander."
• "The ergonomic grip is great."
• "Nice weight for me."
• "The thing that sets this apart from the rest, is the mechanism to lock sandpaper in place."
• "The grip on this new DeWalt is more comfortable; the switch is easier to reach and is protected against sand infiltration."
• "It felt light enough to be comfortable to use, yet had enough weight to do the job."
• "The palm grip is very comfortable and the switch is in a very natural position even for my XL hands."

Cons:

• "The proprietary vacuum hookup is a challenge to get working with shop vacs of various manufacture."
• "The only thing that she wishes Dewalt would do is give more of a variety of color in their tools instead of this bright and ugly yellow."
• "I don't like that it comes in a cheapo canvas bag, would have liked a hard shelled case."
• "I bought this tool to replace a Makita palm sander I have used extensively for years... Out of the box, this unit is heavier, bulkier and really doesn’t feel comfortable in my hand."
• "The only issue is the proprietary dust port."
• "The palm sander is what I expected and what was advertised except the carry bag isn't as good quality as it appeared in the advertisement."
• "A business model that forces customers to buy proprietary products and/or forces them to seek out alternatives to expensive proprietary products is foolish and will ultimately lose me as a customer."

Value for Money

Pros:

• "Good deal, I think."
• "Excellent quality as expected from dewalt, what is surprising is how close pricing wise it is to the hobby brands which are very obviously inferior to it."
• "For the $$$ I really couldn’t ask for better performance."
• "Best price I’ve seen with shipping included!"
• "It was a great product for the right price."
• "This is a pretty good sander for $50 price point."
• "Great deal excellent name brand."