Craftsman  6 In. Sander/Polisher

First off, I recieved this as a christmas gift. If it was up to me I would of purchased a dewalt polisher. This thing sat in my garage for four months till the weather got nicer. I decided to pick up some 3M compound and start detailing my truck. In less than 1 hour of use this thing started smelling funny. I figured it was "breaking in" or something to that effect. As I continued using it the polisher began to stutter and then finally completely crapped out. I thought possibly the unit overheated. Waited an hour or so for it to cool down. Still nothing.... What a piece of garbage! Brought the unit back to sears and explained the situation to them. Since it was a gift I did not have the receipt. They told me there is NOTHING they can do!!! Wow! so much for Sears tools. Is this what Made In the U.S.A. means today? If you are thinknig of buying this product I would think twice. This is the definition of a P.O.S., and a company that does not stand behind there product! Regards, ****** off Sears Customer

i used and loved this tool for over twenty years. the first one i bought was NOT called a sander polisher...IT was called a sander/grinder. both tools worked excellent, when new...but your new sander polisher has been changed in some way VERY much for the worse. either you have started using smaller, cheaper brush heads on the motor, or you've changed the way the cooling fan ventilates the motor. whatever you have changed was a very bad change...

since my first tool,(which i used heavily, and professionally for OVER 20 years) finally died of old age i have had to replace it with your new, vastly inferior version about once a year...and most recently you've changed something which has caused me to have to replace teh tool after as few as 4 hours of hard use as a sander.

if the tool cannot take the dust it produces in the act of sanding why do you even make it? i suspect, that as a polisher it would last for another 20 years....but with whatever cost cutting changes have been made to it, the tool cannot long function as a sander. it begins to smell funny, then it begins to stutter, and finally it dies all together. on my most recent one it died in less than 4 hours. a new record of cruddyness.

i would not keep buying the tool, if i had not become addicted to it during the 20 years i used the first enarnation of it... it works like no other tool i have used WHILE IT IS WORKING...the problem being it just self destructs.

i'd be VERY CURIOUS to hear from one of your tool designers about this tool. i cannot be the only one having this problem with it.

yours truly,

an ambivilant customer, aka matt melena

I purchased this polisher for a specific use but have found it very handy.  It did the job I bought it for and more.  It has a good balance and weight so it's easy to use.

I purchased this for finishing my garage and polishing the car. If I had the extra money then I would have purchased the dust free sander that received great reviews and is under $40. My husband loved it for polishing the car. The original bonnet that came with the item is better than the one sold individually.

I like being able to polish or sand my own items. I've already buffed & polished mnay autos with great results. Little known fact is larger pads will also fit & function on this model.

The size doesn't wear me out before I can get the job done and it always works as expected.

************** used to be my 1st stop , but trust me Sears for power tools is now my only stop.    

I haven't used this polisher/sander as a polisher - but as a sander, it has done an excellent job for me on several projects. Most recently, I used it as a sander to strip my entire patio cover. Coupled with 40 grit sanding pads, this tool worked like a champ. The only gripe I have is that the trigger-lock will only work with the tool at full-speed (which on a big job like my patio cover - becomes a little bit of an issue). Sanding with this unit is more efficient at lower speeds, and it would have been nice to lock the speed in at a lower RPM. Otherwise, it's a GREAT value for the dollar.

The bad thing is it uses the bonnets which are horrible. Ended up manufacturing a bushing so I could adapt a velcro backing plate to it. It now serves it's purpose otherwise it was worthless.

For the price, the tool itself works very well. The bonnets are useless like every other reviewer said. You can however, buy hook and loop strips with a sticky backing and place them on the original backing plate and then use foam pads or wool pads that accept hook and loop. This works surprisingly good and is cheaper than buying a hook and loop backing plate that doesn't exist. ;)

Bonnet comes apart after only a couple minutes use. Sears needs to come up with a hook and loop back plate and foam pads to make this a very good buffer. No aftermarker back plates are available because it has an odd ball size spindle. As it is, it will sit unused in the garage until quality pads are made for it or I get rid of it.

the only thing that i have against the polisher is that the pads fly apart way to quickly. the polsher should come with a big buffer like pad thats a little more reliable. other than that it is the best buy nationwide for anyone looking for a polisher.