10 Amp Corded 8.5 in. Variable Speed Handheld Drywall Sander with Sandpaper, Dust Hose, and Collection Bag

I used this for 5 minutes and am so shocked by the results I had to write a review. It was super easy to assemble. Practically assembled already out of the package. I turned it to the minimum speed and then placed it on the ceiling and it took that nasty texture right off my ceiling so fast! I was amazed, shocked and how quickly it all happened! I did a my dining room ceiling by hand, and that was tedious work. Judging from this test area, I'll be able to skip skim coating all together. And lets talk about the dust. It was VERY little dust that was on the floor after I did my small section. I'm going to try it with my shop vac too and see which one is a winner. It was definitely worth the $75 I paid and more! I am currently redoing my kids playroom. I am 38 and 130 pounds....if I can do it, you can too!

I wish I'd had this Wen 8.5 inch Variable-speed Drywall Sander several years ago when I was drywalling two different art studios for my wife. I remember spending hours hand-sanding the first studio walls because I had never done a major drywall project before that. I had done a few wall patches and touch-ups to cover nail holes and such, but never an entire room from scratch. This sander would have made quick work of any drywall sanding project. The Wen 10 Amp 8.5 inch Drywall Sander is quite heavy (6.5 pounds) so it could be tiring to hold for long hours of sanding work. On the other hand, it sands a big area so fast you might not need to hold it for long hours. It includes a shoulder strap to aid in supporting the sander's weight, though that seems more useful as a way to keep the sander handy by letting it hang at your side when not in use. It comes with a dust collection bag and attaced hose that fits over the sander's dust port but the bag is pretty useless without a shop vac to create suction. I had to contact the Wen Customer Support folks to find out how to use the shop vacuum adapters that come with the sander. They don't fit the sander's dust port but they will fit the dust bag end of the dust hose. In order to attach the adapters to the dust hose, you have to pry the dust hose off of the dust bag with a knife or very thin bladed screwdriver. It looks like there are tabs to help compress the pins that keep the two parts together, but they don't actually do anything, This seems like a pretty poor design to me -- many old vacuum cleaners used a spring-loaded pin and matching hole in the accessory to lock the two parts together yet allow them to be easily detached. The suction at the sander is adjustable via a dial on the sander base. The motor of the sander is quite powerful but uses carbon brushes that wear out after prolonged use and have to be replaced. Thoughtfully, the manufacturer includes a spare set of brushes and instructions for how to replace them. However, many manufacturers of drills and other motor-driven tools have switched to brushless motors that don't require periodic repalcement of the brushes. I'm not sure why Wen decided to use this older motor design. The variable speed is a nice feature which allows you to adjust the sanding speed to match the requirements of the material you're sanding. Though designed and marketed as a drywall sander, I see no reason why it could not also be used in sanding wood too under the right conditions. Wen includes a nice assortment of 8.5-inch sanding discs that attach to the sander with velcro-like hook and loop material. The ones that came with my sander were pretty warped because they had gotten folded over in packaging, but I was able to flatten them out by setting a weighted box on top of them for several days. All in all, this is a good product that works as intended. With a few design enhancements, it could be a great product but that would probably increase its cost.

The WEN Variable Speed Handheld Drywall Sander it the tool I was looking for. No more hand sanding or using my 5” rotary disk sander. This is cutting my time on sanding due to 8 1/2” disks. The body does come with a auxiliary handle and shoulder strap to help take away the fatigue when doing long sanding jobs. The motor is variable speed motor that will go from 1500 to 2300 RPM. There is a control excess dust with you can adjust the variable air flow dust extraction dial. The flexible dust vacuum hose is 7 ½ feet in length. It attached to dust bag or a dust collector. It come with the dust bag and two adapters for the dust collector. It comes with two of 150, 180, 240 and 400 grit sanding discs for different sanding requirements. At my HD store they do not carry the sandpaper discs in stock, you will have to order it online. It comes with a pair of replacement carbon brushes to replace with they are worn out. In using it was very easy to use and with the shoulder strap it made my job a lot easier. The dust collector got most of the dust and into the bag. It is a great product from WEN and it comes with a two-year warranty. I think I might to start loving to sand drywall again.

I used mine for the kitchen celing, worked excellent. I did not even need to connect to a shop vac, I just used the bag that came with it. No dust excaped at all... very satisfied.

works as described,great tool to minimize dust and time sanding

Was amazingly easy to use and really helped remove most of the dust. Major time saver! Only issue is at times it can cause a few minor shocks from all the static created, but well worth it!!!

The sanding function is excellent. But we returned the item after using it for about 20 minutes, and all of us experienced light electrical shocks.

This tool was definitely a time saver, and with having to do a ceiling at 7' 3" with my height I was able to just walk it across the ceiling and be done quickly. Well worth the money no complaints from me.

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

I am very pleased with this sander. I like the variable speed and it does a great job sanding and no dust. The loop backed sandpaper makes it easy to change paper. Just make sure to align the holes in the paper with the holes in the sander. I use it with my shop vac and a homemade dust collector. I also like not having a handle like the more expensive sanders have as I have more control over the sander without using a pole. It's made a job I dreaded almost pleasurable.