SHOP FOX W1717 1/3-Horsepower Horizontal and Vertical Sander

I was looking for a edge sander and a spindle sander,and this did both. It was hard looking at the product description,and guessing about things, so I took a chance and bought it. I figured that I would have to rework some things (and I did), but for the price I didn't mind. I didn't use it straight "out of the box", because I knew that I would have been disappointed. It seems like an excellent little sander for what it does. It is only for a hobby woodworker,nothing production. First, the stand is too short and lightweight,, so I made a new heaver stand. Also the tables are too light weight and flimsy. I made a one piece adjustable table,,soo much nicer. The dust cover and angle gauge are junk,so you can throw them away. But the body of the unit is heavy steel, and the tracking adjustment works good. I was going to buy a 6x48 sander, but this 4x36 seems to fit the bill. (along with the cost savings) I was also concerned about only a 1/3 hp motor, but I use mostly 3/4 stock, and it seems to purr right through it. Although I have only had this unit for a week now,I really like it. So if you don't mind spending a few hours "fine tuning" things, I believe this is a nice little sander for the money.

This machine is advertised as having 2 1/2 stars. I took a chance on it based on its unique design features. I am glad that I did. I did not have many of the problems other buyers had. The packaging was fine, parts were damage free and it was easy to put together. The power is appropriate for the motor size. I did not give it a full 5-star rating only because the stand is a bit too short for my liking.

I've had it for about 18 months now and use it for edge sanding drawer/door fronts and slide edges in a hobby cabinet shop. I didnt really care for it from the get go, because of its lack of power, but I decided to keep it because i was able to do what i needed to with it and didnt want to buy a more expensive unit. Well, when I use it I often bog the motor down even when only applying light horizontal pressure to the piece I'm sanding with a 120 grit belt. When using it today to sand the edge of 5/8" plywood smoke starting pouring from the motor so I shut it off and called Shop Fox's customer service. The rep. told me I couldn't bog the motor down and that I blew a capacitor. At least they are sending another capacitor under the 2 year warranty. I just don't see how I will be able to sand anything in the future without bogging it down some. Unless you just need to sand the edge of 1/4" plywood, do yourself a favor and spend a little extra on something with a little more horsepower.

I needed a good edge sander or as good as I could afford. Since the tariff war between China & the US, all tools have a bigger price tag. So I looked for used or what ever I could find, which amounted to nothing. I did buy one from a box store, but I couldn't keep the table level with the belt. I make cutting boards, one of the desgins I do is called a sun burst. The edges have to be perfectly square so there are no gaps or seams that become too noticeable. My son suggested a Shop Fox. I looked on line & sure enough here was one the correct size & price. Delivered in 2 or 3 days easy to set up, good table to belt adjustments, able to keep square. I did fine the motor under powered tho & would opt for more sanding area as this modle can handle about 9", 10"would have been better. Another thing besides the HP that I didn't like was if you took off the end cap, then there is nothing to hook your vac too. The end cap was the part where there is an extra table so one could do some contour sanding. Those are the reasons for a 3 rating.

Good value after I had to fix all the bent items caused by poor packaging. It doesn't take an engineer to decide that the large adjustment screw is not strong enough to take a drop from a packaging handler. Check the 8" long adjustment rod in the center of the right side of the sander in the photo shown in this inquiry. It would be a simple matter to remove the rod for shipment...DUH! This one is the second one that I had you send to me. The first one was damaged in a very similar manner. I returned it and you quickly replaced it...very commendable! But, the second was damaged in almost the exact manner. This time I decided to just fix it myself. The effort that I expended was well worth the value of the product. David Bartle

I've owned this sander for around 10 years and it has worked very well for me. It has a reasonable amount of power and sands hard maple well (cherry, oak, walnut are no problem either). If you're trying to remove a lot of material, it will bog down a little. The only issue I have with it is they used brass bushings in the roller opposite the motor. The bushings wear out over time and need to be replaced. However, I've used mine for 10 years and put a lot of time on it building furniture, cabinetry, doors etc and just now needing to replace the bushings/ roller. I was surprised it held up as long as it did for the price. I didn't get the stand with it.

I assembled the stand and was happy with the quality in that it was robust, but when I went to put the machine on the stand, it didn't line up. The stand was 1-1/2" narrower than the sander and there was no way to drill new holes in the sander to make use of the stand. As a result, I had to dismantle the stand, put it all back in the box, and return it to Amazon. Very frustrating.

Much better value than the portable version - being on a stand renders it a standalone machine - no need to place it on a bench, etc. I had ordered the portable version first but returned it as soon as it arrived since I had already ordered the stand alone version.