Makita BO6030 6" Random Orbit Sander

Well I had a Ridgid random sander for about 9 years. It is now broken and if you read all the review for the Ridgid, they are right. It is noisy, for the dust it is so, so, for the performance, was ok before the bearing seize. I bought this new Makita and it's very light, 2/3 less noise, a lot less vibration, no dust and it work incredible well. I like the way the pad it made, you can put Festool paper and 8 holes standard paper(I work with SIA paper). It's a very good product a I'm very happy about the quality of the product. I like to work with pine, birch and maple.

Good solid tool as one would expect from Makita.

Boss hog here

I should In my opinion , the absolute best sander on the market...even better than festool, period.I have owned 3 of these. They do a spectacular job and are smooth as silk to operate. Throw away all tgose cheap 5" sanders, they are garbage and do a horrid job.

35 years cabinet/millwork/carpentry experience. i can finish anything when it comes to woodworking, paint, lacquer, 2 part, poly/varnish, hand rubbed, etc. having the right sander for the right finish is key. this is my arsenal which includes the makita BO6030, BO4900V and 9924DB.makita BO6030, 99% swirl free sander. balanced, quiet, quality and made in UK.makita BO4900V, very impressive! just as good as porter cable (USA model) 505. really like grip on top. primers, sealers and in between coats, i use 320 grit and man talk about smooth!!! MADE IN JAPAN!makita 9924DB i prefer rear handle over top handle. this is my 2nd 9924db, gave my old one to my best friend... still uses it at his cabinet shop. its over 20yr old. MADE IN JAPAN!other models to find, "MUST HAVES!"porter cable 303, 505 and 7336 older models only MADE IN USA, some of the best quality and finishes ever!METABO SXE450 MADE IN GERMANY or old rigid (the orange sanders in pic) sanders made by metabo. not the hitachi metabo new crap. one of the best dual action sanders ever!FESTOOL ETS 125 decent 5" sander for face frames and stiles and rails. i own a lot of festool... meh ok for today's standards, bets china crap, but not as good as old school tools.bottom line BUY QUALITY! yes some of my tools are china crap. ALL companies nowadays uses some parts outsourced from other countries. so when you find tools made in the USA, JAPAN, SWITZERLAND, GERMANY, buy'em buy'em buy'em they will last a looooooong time and make you $$$$$!

I bought the Makita BO6030 6-inch RO sander to augment my Porter-Cable 5-inch RO sander, mostly for table tops and isolated floor-refinishing purposes. That being said, I have also found it useful for veneered plywood cabinet panels, making short work of what the smaller P-C sander is capable of. Prior to choosing this 2.7 amp model, I debated between it and the newer 6.6 amp version (Makita BO6040); and basically, it all boiled down to relative amperage and vacuum-attached dust collection. Ultimately, my decision to buy the older BO6030 was based on a study of the respective motor designs in question (referring to the owner's manual schematics, as given on Makita's website). This revealed that the 2.7 amp model has a single-stage motor, with the center of gravity being located over the sanding pad, where it should be, whereas the newer, 6.6 amp model contains a two-stage motor, meaning that in the latter case, more than twice as much electrical expenditure is required to achieve the same output effect, combined with a possible loss of balance relative to the wood surface! (And probably the same holds true for the new generation of "higher-amp" 6-inch RO sanders by other brands like Bosch.) As to the 2.7 amp sander's vacuum dust-collection capacity, I have found that removing the dust bag and replacing it with a 5' Makita vacuum hose (their no. 192278-0) connected to a universal adapter and a Ridgid shop vacuum and hose leaves little or no dust behind and the entire set-up matches perfectly. My only complaint has to do with the lack of compatible sanding sheets. Six-hole Mirka sanding sheets seem to work fine, provided that one cut a nickel-sized central hole in each sheet with a utility knife; otherwise, one has to contend with an overly-strong suction effect during operation that also slows down the motor. But noting that we woodworkers like to cut things, this does not seem to be a big deal. Overall, this sander is also less prone to leaving "pigtails" than the smaller P-C version is; so I will probably be turning to the Makita BO6030 model as my primary hand-held sander from here on. Buy it while you still can, as it would appear to be on the way of being phased-out (this being evinced from discontinued accessory items, etc.).