Customer Reviews for RIDGID 6.5 Amp Corded 3 in.W x 18 in.L Heavy-Duty Variable Speed Belt Sander with AIRGUARD Technology

The sander is well priced and works exactly as it should. The belt tracking is easy to adjust and I have had zero issues with my sander in 2 years of use. I wish the motor had more oomph to speed up big jobs so that is why I am awarding 4 stars instead of 5.

Great sander and an ever better price. Works as expected without issue. The belt adjuster is easy to use which makes it a better buy

easy to use; does the job; great price

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

Burnt up in 5 minutes of use

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

The very first day, within a couple of hours, the dust collector/vacuum stopped working. The rotation is slow and clunky, the belt travels far too much, and it chews through belts like nothing I've ever seen before. The front roller needs to be wider. Right now when the belt travels, there's nothing under it because the front roller is too narrow and it causes the belt to fray. The belt then frays and gets caught in the inner parts and is hard to get out.

Rating provided by a verified purchaser

I'm returning this item. The motor changes speed after several minutes of use Bought it in a pinch, sorry I did.

Works great but needed much coarser belt

Needing a tool to adjust the belt runout is less than desirable but plenty strong enough to do the job.

Got the job done quickly

I’m asking myself now why I bought the second one… The first unit It lasted a couple years with light use. During light work on finish prep it suddenly began to run rough. Like a belt path obstruction There was no obstruction, so I tried again and immediately acrid smoke poured out from the motor housing. Second unit .. same failure in just a few DAYS use. The cooling fan failed and then blocked motor rotation. But the LIFETIME GUARANTEE! Well read the fine print before relying much on it.

The soft or slow start is annoying and the power is inadequate for other than finer grades of sanding belts.

I used an early version of this at work, and I was impressed with it enough to buy one for my self. The ease of changing the belts is great and the control of the dust is outstanding. It is not heavy or bulky. I would buy it again.

Bought this to sand door bottom when tile flooring was installed. The door was hanging up. The sander reduced the door bottom in a matter of minutes and I was able to hang a free swinging door. Easy to use and well built. Life time guarantee to boot.

This is a pretty good sander, way better then the Ryobi one I purchased then returned for this one. It does the job but wish it spun faster, I just did not want to spend hundreds of dollars for something I will use a couple times, so this was perfect.

I bought this one to replace an old Craftsman unit. I've been using it to remove paint off a patio cover and so far it has worked very well. In general I like it. It is a bit heavy and it does seem to get hot after a while but It hasn't quit working. The dust bag works but not perfect. For the price, I think it is a decent unit.

Purchase this unit because it says Heavy Duty. Use this sander to remove old paints from the deck. It starts off great, dust collection works, stripping paint much faster than my orbital sander and I thought that's great. I will get the whole deck done in a day. After 15mins, the duct collection start to plugged up. I have to tap and loosen the clog. This pretty much the routine every 15 mins until the debris starts to accumulate internally. I manage to use a plastic tie to clear up the machine and runs a vacuum while set the sander at full throttle to suck everything out. Then in my 3rd hour, the sander start vibrating and making a loud noise. After close inspection, the pin that holds the tension roller start wearing out. In short, I took the sander back to Home Depot for a refund. Now I am looking for another reliable unit to finish my deck.

Broke down after 10 min of use

Not very powerful and didn’t meet expectations

The adjustable speed feature is amazing. Light enough to use all day and changing the sanding belts are so easy highly recommend

Truest enjoy this belt sander. It’s light weight, good size and the soft start is a nice as well

Using belt sander to clean varnish off cedar siding. The belt tension goes slack and chews through belts quickly. The dust bag gets clogged up and is difficult to unclog. The motor began smoking and I exchanged for a new one. Hopefully the replacement holds up longer.

Has a High Spot on its platform... caused marring to the wood I was trying to perfect. Had to stop using it.