Belt, disc, spindle & drum · review
A 100 mm (3.94 in) portable belt sander with a decades-old part number, priced within €10 across the whole of Europe.
The end of it A known quantity at a known price, wherever you are. Just do not let it near a veneered surface.
Every figure is a manufacturer specification, read off the listing itself, and the judgments are ours — drawn from how the specification behaves in this class of machine and from what long-term owners consistently report. Where a figure is missing, we say so rather than fill it in.
A portable belt sander taking a 100 × 610 mm (3.94 × 24 in) belt, part number 9403. Makita lists three characteristics: high stock removal, excellent balance with an ergonomically shaped handle, and low noise. No motor rating and no belt speed appear on this listing.
A saw makes chips you can see and sweep up. A sander makes particles fine enough to hang in the air for hours after the machine is switched off, and those are the ones that reach the deep lung. Hardwood dust is classified as a carcinogen in the European Union, which is why every machine in this class has an extraction port and why connecting it is not an optional refinement.
The port is half the answer. Extraction at the tool catches most of the dust and never all of it, so a mask while you work — and, in a small closed shop, something moving the air afterwards — is the other half.
A belt sander of this width is one of the highest dust producers in a workshop, and it is usually used freehand rather than at a bench with extraction plumbed in. Whatever the machine’s own collection arrangements, a mask is part of using it.
That is the honest description of a 100 mm (3.94 in) belt sander. It levels a glued-up panel in minutes, it takes a door down to fit, and it will destroy a veneer in seconds. The three things that keep it in line are keeping it moving, keeping it flat, and never setting it down while the belt is still turning.
Low noise being listed as a feature is worth noticing: this class of tool is loud, and Makita naming it suggests the model was designed for long sessions rather than short bursts.
| Belt | 100 × 610 mm (3.94 × 24 in) |
|---|---|
| Part number | 9403 |
| Motor rating | Not published on this listing |
| Belt speed | Not published on this listing |
| Amazon reference | B0000223IY (identical on 6 markets) |
| EAN | 0088381025621 |
Because it removes material quickly and it removes it from wherever it is resting. Tip it and you dish the surface; stop it while it is in contact and you leave a hollow. The technique is to start it clear of the work, keep it moving with the grain, and let the weight of the machine do the pressing.
A flatter result. A 76 mm (2.99 in) belt tracks in a narrower path and is easier to tip; 100 mm (3.94 in) spreads the contact and bridges small undulations, which is why it is the size used for leveling doors and panels rather than for detail work.
Less than usual. On a belt sander the working figures are belt width, belt speed and mass, and this listing gives one of the three. Makita has sold this model under the same number for a long time and the rating is easy to obtain — but it should be on the page.
A listing is not an offer: the reference exists on these stores, availability changes daily.
8.3/ 10
A known quantity at a known price, wherever you are. Just do not let it near a veneered surface.
Leveling glued-up panels, doors and floors — flat work at speed
Amazon reports what buyers took in the month before this page was last checked: at least 100.
The figure is a floor, rounded by Amazon, and read through Keepa — it says what buyers picked, not what a maker claims.
Specifications: the manufacturer sheet for woodworking machines and the matching Amazon product page. Prices and availability: Keepa. Every figure on this page names its source.
12 V · Ø 125 mm (4.92 in) · L-BOXX 136 · no price, no barcode
A bundle we cannot price, cannot verify and cannot find in any market but one — which is the whole review.
Best for: Nobody, until the listing carries a price and a barcode
5 in pad · 3 A · 8,000–12,000 OPM · counterweight · dust-sealed switch
The only random orbit sander on either half of this shelf with a price on its listing — and it publishes an orbit range.
Best for: Finishing a surface before a finish goes on it, with a DEWALT extractor already in the shop
≈ $79
Belt and disc · bench · €111
The cheapest belt-and-disc combination here, and the machine that stops you sanding curves by hand.
Best for: Sanding to a line on small parts, where hand sanding is slow and imprecise
≈ $360
Prices quoted in these summaries are dated readings. The live price is shown next to each product.
