The Best Belt Sander For Fabricating Formica Countertops

I’ve been in the countertop fabricating business for over thirty years. There are several different kinds of belt sanders that I have used. The best brand I have repeatedly purchased for all my industrial tools is Porter Cable.

Now, I’ve tried Makita, Ryobi, Dewalt and Hitachi sanders for making cabinets and countertops, but none of them have outlasted or outperformed the Porter Cable belt sander .

I forgot to add one to the list that I purchased many years ago and I really don’t even know if they are still available, Skill. That was one that I purchased from Wal Mart. It lasted about three months and the petered out on me.

One of my best Formica laminate countertop installers picked a sander up from Sears that he really liked. The reasoning behind his choice was how light it was. This makes sense that a countertop installer would want a lightweight belt Sander because some of the positions that they have to be in when sanding countertops are awkward. Ideally though, most countertop fabricators do not want to have a lightweight belt sander. The heavier the better when it comes to sanding out humps and bumps to a nice flat, even surface

I always like to use the three inch (3″) by twenty one inch (21″) Porter Cable belt sander . Obviously, it requires a 3″ x 24″ sanding belt. The belts are available at any hardware store because they are such a popular size.

Some Formica countertop manufactures prefer to use wider belt sanders such as the four inch (4″) by twenty four inch (24″) models. The reason for this is that they are great for sanding large areas or flat surfaces. They are rather weighty as well, which helps the operator to sand the surface of the countertops in a more uniform manner, flat.

The small Makit belt sander I owned was a three inch (3″)by twenty one (21″) size and really worked great for installing cabinets and Formica kitchen countertops. The reason I liked it so much is that it was very light weight.

As I said earlier, you cannot beat the Porter Cable belt sander
for performance and longevity. It is by far the industry leader used for Formica countertop fabrication.

The Porter Cable sander is not limited to just plastic laminate countertop production. Many solid surface fabricators and granite companies use them as well.