Link: http://HarborFreightReviews.com

Item: 4 x 36"/6" Disc Sander
Item number: 93981
Retail price: $99.99
Regular sale price: $79.99
Target price: $59.99 (with coupon)
Best price: $49.99 (with coupon)

A stationary (AKA bench top) sander is a great addition to anyone's shop who does any amount of carpentry or woodworking. At the target price, it's very affordable for even occasional use. This sander uses 4 x 36" belts and optional 6" discs. The latter even includes a miter gauge for angled shaping and sanding.

If you're not familiar with bench top sanders, be a bit careful with this one. With a 1/2-hp motor it will reduce your pieces of wood down to the WRONG shape faster than you can say "oops" (see insert below). And of course, like all power tools, keep your hands, hair (for those with long hair), shirt sleeves, etc. well away from the moving surfaces especially any exposed pulleys or gear shafts.

When using the disc to even out (i.e., "square") long pieces of wood, be careful to take the wood stock down slowly. Otherwise, you will find that each 6" sanded section is smaller than the section that you were trying to match. I find it best to GENTLY slide the long stock back-and-forth across the sanding disc, constantly checking the working portion against the reference section on the piece. More than once I've been impatient trying to even out an irregular shape and over 'cut' the stock off the higher end of the piece.

We waited quite awhile for this item to hit our target price (observed on-sale once earlier), but when it did we were quite happy with this addition to our home shop. It greatly simplifies sanding and shaping pieces for a lot of our projects. Be sure to take the time to set this sander up properly as you assemble it. Adjust the belt tension as necessary to insure it runs straight, and square up the adjustable table and miter gauge with a steel or aluminum square. Otherwise, you could find yourself hastily sanding a piece before it's really ready to use (You'll be surprised how soon you can find use for this tool.).

Bottom line: A great buy at the target price for anyone doing woodwork.