I have to say my favorite corded orbital sander is either the Bosch or Dewalt. Yes, Festool is great, but a little out of my price range. Speaking of price range, Ryobi has a new cordless orbital sander available. If you know Ryobi, you know three things about them. Ryobi is designed for the homeowner, they are quality tools for a reasonable price and they are exclusive to Home Depot. Now I can’t say I have much use, desire or experience with cordless sanders except the Ridgid. Not that I am knocking Ridgid, because they make some great tools, but I am just not a fan of their cordless sander. So when I found out that Ryobi had a cordless sander, I can’t say my enthusiasm was peaked. But after all, we are here to show you tools available on the market today, so I ended up giving this one a shot, plus Jason brought it over. I have to say to my amazement, this sander was actually pretty cool and not at all like the Ridgid.
This sander is well designed, while you do get vibrations, they are kept to a minimum. I love the over-molded grip and the design of the whole tool. This one is very easy to handle and control by either using the top grip or the middle grip. The battery doesn’t seem to get in the way as it does with the Ridgid. The sander delivers a speed of 10,000 OPM and does a great job for a 5″ sander. In regards to weight, it weighs about 2.5 lbs, which isn’t too bad. I know what you’re thinking, how is the runtime? Actually the runtime is pretty good. Now if you’re sanding all day, I would go with a corded version, but this is great for those quick sanding jobs. The runtime is about 35 minutes with a P109 battery. As with most other sanders, this also uses a hook and loop pad system, so yes your existing sanding disks will work with this sander. Also as with other sanders, you can hook this up to a dust collection system using the port. While it does offer a locking switch, it does lack a variable speed. You can either have the unit on or off, but not in between.
Now this product is new to the market and not available at Home Depot as of the date of this post, but for those who have this line, this sander would make a nice addition. The idea of having a portable sander that not only feels good, but is well priced is hard to beat. Plus you have a 3 year warranty.
Nice to see manufacturers adding tools to the line up not previously produced. Personally I would have no use for this, I’ll stick to my corded model. I can’t really think of an application where I would grab a cordless sander. Still pretty cool though.
These sanders are now available at Home Depot. Ran across one last night in Lubbock, TX.
FYI for anyone looking for a p109 battery, there isn’t one. It is actually the part # for the 2-pack of p108 batteries. I’m thinking that’s what Eric tested the sander with
Great to see a cordless version, I’m a fan of cordless everything.
I own the Makita 18v 5″ orbital and it’s a great little sander. I use it several times a week on the jobsite. For the jobs that it can do, it’s a great piece of kit, and a great addition to any installer’s lineup. I would trust the Makita far more than either the Ryobi or Ridgid. I can say that with confidence as I’ve owned the little blue devil for over a year, used it often, and packed it in my tool bags, dropped it on the floor, and got it damp more than a time or two.