They are great, you can pretty much sand without a face mask- but I would not suggest it of course. No more clouds of dust, when sanding decks no more fogs and having the air of the machine throwing the dust up.
Last winter we were sanding inside the building, it was about 25 degrees out, sanding the non-skid off a deck generates alot of light, fine dust. The same day the fire marshall comes in and gives me a ass chewing over the dust, we try to keep the shop as clean as we can, mopping, vacuuming- but you cant clean and sand at the same time.
So I had the 3M rep lend me some sanders, we loved them so I bought 3 of the 3M. They were very reasonably priced for a quality tool.
The 3M come with disposable bags- honestly they are a hassle. I ended up buying short hoses from Dynabrade at a cost of $90 each, so my $200 sanders cost me $300.
At a local marine supply show Mirka was there, and low and behold they sell the SAME sander, except instead of red, thier's is yellow. BUT thiers comes much better packaged as it already comes with the short hoses! I ended buying a small jitterbug sander from them, comes in VERY handy when im repairing corian countertops and very handy for sanding along gunwales and other areas a DA wont fit.
Recently I also purchased the Mirka hand sanding blocks, I bought 3 sizes, hand block size, 3/4 long board, and full long board.
I intially tried 3M sandpaper, and it was good, but not great, we have been using Mirka Abralon paper, it costs more per box then other papers, but I can honestly say we use 30-40% less paper because it lasts so long. The mirka guy told me the biggest difference between thier paper and 3M clean sanding paper was that the mirka paper had grit all around the fibers- and I believe it because the paper lasts a LONG time.
The key to the newer systems are the backup pads, old systems had 6 large holes, the new pads have many, many more, and the paper is like a screen, so you dont have to sit there and line the holes up anymore. They also sell pad protectors- which are great because they save your hook and loop pads from wearing out, you replace a $5 pad protector instead of a $25+ pad.
Lastly- run your sander off a shop vac of your choice- dont use those small 2 gallon vacs for any large jobs- but they will do fine for VERY small jobs. Even though you dont suck up THAT much dust, those small vacuums dont like to keep up with the sanders.
These are the only pictures I could find, but you get the idea.
They sell alot of other sanders, but these are the sanders we have been using. They have done thier job keeping the shop clean and the operator of the sander happy because he is not wearing the dust, and for someone running a shop you look alot more professional and you eliminate alot of that fine dust that happens to find its way everywhere. And BTW- the DA sanders are sold in 3 different patterns, for rough work to fine sanding- buy the middle one for a good all around sander.
