The Makita sander was the easiest sander to control in Andy Engel’s tool test and it did not move the workpiece. The light and wieldy tool is a good choice for jobs off the bench but it produce an odd, whiny noise when sanding.

To measure the sander’s aggressiveness, Engel sanded a poplar board for five minutes and measured how much wood was removed. The Makita sander removed eight grams of stock over the five minutes but when the vacuum was attached it only removed seven grams.

Engel also sanded clear Plexiglass to compare the sanders’ scratch patterns. The Makita sander had an excellent scratch pattern. In general, Engel found that the machines with the most uniform scratch pattern tended to be the most aggressive. With vacuum attached, the sander collects 100% of external dust.

Fine Woodworking Recommended Products

Festool Cleantec CT 26 E HEPA Dust Extractor

The clear winner here is Festool’s CT 48 Dust Extractor. It has amazing capacity relative to its size, and unmatched suction power. It packs in a number of subtle but very helpful design touches, like a clever foot brake and easy hose and cord storage.

Buy at Amazon

Festool Rotex FEQ-Plus Random Orbital Sander

The Festool Rotex is a top-of-the-line choice. On its coarse setting, it removed stock nearly twice as quickly as the second-fastest model. But that speed doesn’t mean you’ll have to wrestle with it. It’s no huge task to control it with two hands, and its long body gives you plenty of room to find a sweet spot while holding it.

Buy at Amazon

Craftsman Random Orbit Sander

While this sander is among the least expensive models in the test, its performance ranks among the best. The stock removal was excellent, and dust collection was solid when used with a vacuum. It handles really smoothly, too, and has a tall body that fit my hand nicely whether I was holding it from above or around the waist.

Buy at Amazon