Porter Cable has a new 20V Max cordless sander coming out, model PCCW205B.
The new 5″ random orbit sander runs at 12,000 OPM, and features a “high performance dust collection system.” A dust collection bag (canister?) is included, and connects to a multi-port adapter that accepts different diameter standard vacuum hoses and connections.
Advertisement
Porter Cable draws attention to the sander’s low profile design, also saying it’s easy to control and has low vibration.
MSRP: $60 for the bare tool
First Thoughts
There’s not a lot to say about the new Porter Cable cordless sander, at least not a lot to judge it by. It seems to have a single speed motor, which is okay. Sometimes I like variable speed models, but it’s not always needed. Maybe Dewalt is working on a cordless sander too, and variable speed vs. single speed is a differentiating factor, as with their compact routers.
Porter Cable has come out with a $60 12,000 OPM 5″ random orbital sander. What are you thinking?
The yeti
Won’t be available in my town . Won’t be ordering it online .
fred
Ho Hum So far I’m not a big fan of cordless sanders. Maybe OK for punch list jobs and light duty – but I would not add one to my stable of corded sanders – and certainly not to the pneumatics we had in the shop. In a different class (certainly based on price) are the new Festool cordless sanders that offer a cord/cordless option.
Stuart
I find there to be lots of times when a cordless sander might be preferred over my Festool and dust vac combo.
It seems like this sander might be a good complement for quick field tasks.
I have mixed feelings over the new Festool Hybrid sanders. The designs seem to be compromised, and the battery packs proprietary.
fred
I’m not likely to be buying any Festool cordless tools – and have not looked at the designs for their new hybrid sanders – so I’ll defer to your assessment. I just thought that the idea of the hybrid (battery/cord) had some appeal – to give us more options. Maybe the implementation will always be a worst of both worlds sort of thing but I’d like to see more tool designers working on the idea.
As far as the appeal of cordless sanders – I guess they are selling otherwise new models would not be coming out. For me buying one would just be another case of too many sanders gathering rather than making dust. When I need a ROS – I still prefer to bring one of my corded ones so I know that the job will get done.
John
One point that may be missed is that the Ac module is universal on the hybrid sanders as well. That means now you can buy the bare hybrid sanders tools instead of thr “kit” which doesn’t include the ac or battery and have a significant savings. Buy 1 “kit” and the others bare tools.
firefly
“Ho Hum” That gave me an instant chuckle. I always love fred choice of word.
Fm2176
Seems okay, but if I had to choose a new system to invest in for a sander it would be Ridgid or maybe Ryobi. Porter Cable is coming out with some decent enough tools recently, but it doesn’t make up for the fact that they offered little besides drivers and saws until a couple of years ago.
The Ridgid ROS is brushless, variable speed, and part of a cordless system that has many more tools available than PC. While I love my DeWalt stuff, that is the only SBD brand I find worth investing in at the moment.
Doresoom
I’m pretty sure the Ridgid Gen5X ROS is brushed.
Fm2176
True, I confused it with the router I bought at the same time. From what I understand, brushed tools are still preferred for applications that generate a lot of dust.
Cr8on
If SBD had put a little more effort in to PC a couple years ago, I would have kept my PC stuff. Having gone the way of DeWalt I still needed some niche tools that Ryobi makes so I added them, had PC made similar tools(at the time) I’d gladly have kept them.
Rman
I live lakefront. Only tools I use are cordless on my dock
I know gfci but you never know when they could stop working
This tool is good for doing the sides of my dock above the water. Also know with a small plastic removal the B&D 20 v max batteries will work. Hopefully Lowes will get this before it snows.
fred
Sounds like a great application for cordless. I have a small ornamental fish pond on my property but that probably doesn’t count as its not big enough for a dock or bridge. For maintenance at our place in Florida – the HOA takes care of the outdoor stuff – and my decks down there are all composite, SS and aluminum so not much sanding needed .
joe
I’ve owned the Makita 18v cordless sander for several years now. It kicks ass. It is my go to sander. Only problem is that people ask me all the time to use it. I work in a fabrication shop and unless I have hours of sanding to do, I use my cordless. Also the battery lasts surprizingly long. One of Makita’s best / most underrated tools
Brian A
Wish Milwaukee would come out with one, use to use my Ryobi corner cat all the time before completely moving on to the red team.
ktash
Nice idea, and good price especially if low vibration, but like others, I’m not invested in Porter-Cable, which used to be a viable brand. I might get one from other brands like Ryobi, Bosch, Makita, depending on cost. It would be nice to have one to do those small jobs especially outside. Not sure I need it enough to warrant the cost and shelf space, though.
In general, sanding is an hours-long process in woodworking. Only corded works for that.
ktash
Also glad to see them paying attention to dust collection and multiple port size. That’s actually a big deal. I’ve just been sanding some already installed cabinet frames to bare wood for refacing and port size was my biggest headache. The square port on the Makita sander is why I never use it. Too bad, since it’s a nice size and a good sander otherwise. Luckily I bought a small-diameter, light, sander hose with a stretchy port connection and it worked for other sanders I had, including the PC baby belt sander. That thing is a dream for a job like this. Very little dust with the right hookup.
My point: Lugging the hose is the biggest problem and being able to connect to a proper sander hose will determine any future sander purchases.
Joe
Framers use cordless sanders all the time , power is limited or non existent. OSHA hates cords everywhere so do we.
CT
I’m hoping that when SB&D eventually revamps the Craftsman lineup they will just be clones of Porter Cable with an expanded offering of tools similar to Ryobi. If they make Craftsman another battery design then PC is toast.
Raoul
Why aren’t there universal battery interfaces? I think the smaller companies would benefit by collaborating on a such universal batteries as they would probably get people that invested in competitors battery systems. I’m invested in Dewalt batteries therefore I buy Dewalt cordless tools and don’t even think about other brands. It’s a shame really c as use there are other brands tools I like but I don’t need the headache or cost associated with multiple different battery systems which would just be redundant.
Stuart
Predictable performance, at least in my opinion.
https://toolguyd.com/why-wont-power-tool-brands-standardize-their-battery-packs/
fred
We’ve had this discussion before. On the one hand it would be nice if there were standardization of battery voltages and interfaces much like there is with most nations specifications for the acceptable ranges on AC voltage and frequency – plus standards for plug and receptacle configurations. Battery power gets complicated because cell chemistry, number of cells and configuration sets the voltage. The underlying battery chemistry has changed form NiCad to NiMh to LiIon – and may change again if advances are made. Perhaps because of this state of flux , or because cordless power tools are by no means as widely used as mains-powered electric devices (e.g. lights and appliances) I know of no government or standards organization worldwide that has found a compelling reason to set cordless battery/interface standards. So this is an area where free trade and choice (or confusion depending on your view of things) abounds.
This might actually encourage tool companies to innovate. That might result form their trying to garner market share by promoting their tool batteries, chargers and interfaces as different (larger, smaller, lighter, smarter, more powerful, longer lasting, faster charging, backward compatible, safer or anything else they can think of) than their competition. All of this could have an impact on first time buyers or newly formed businesses. But for those already invested in lots of cordless tools – jumping ship is a tad more difficult. With original equipment batteries priced so high, and aftermarket batteries still of dubious quality or cost/benefit, we have observed a desire on the part of tool buyers to pick a battery platform and then stick with it. That spreads the cost of battery ownership over a larger stable of tools.
This form of brand-loyalty has not been lost on the tool companies They, therefore, would seem to have no incentive to come together (if they even could without violating some restraint of trade ordinance) to standardize things.
Raoul
Governments and standards organizations wouldn’t come up with standards on tool batteries, the manufacturers would have to organize and come up with them. I’m just saying that the smaller tool manufacturers could organize and market their standardized battery interface as better than yellow or red’s and also offer the user more freedom in their choice of tools. I for one would buy into it. Also, many if not most of the arguments for not doing so are pretty much moot at this point since the battery manufacturers are all using standardized cells in their battery packs. Sure there are a few different configurations which would warrant a few different standardardized battery pack interfaces but the chemistries and voltages are standardized with a few outliers.
fred
It would indeed be nice. What I find interesting is that even within a single parent company the manufacturers have not chosen to standardize interfaces. So TTI’s Ryobi batteries , Ridgid batteries and Milwaukee batteries are by no means compatible. Maybe SBD’s B&D and PC batteries are closer together – but Dewalt’s don’t seem to be – and who knows what SBD will do with Craftsman as they move forward.
I do agree with you that the idea of some of the other brands buying or using a standard battery should have some appeal for many consumers. But I don’t know which brands would or could (are their restraint of trade issues) band together to get this accomplished. If we did have something like the “Battery Behemoth Company” supplying standard batteries and chargers to be used in house brand tools (I’m thinking Kobalt, Hercules, Masterforce etc.) and then add on some other smaller manufacturers (e.g. Hitachi) that might broaden their collective appeal.
Another alternative for the smaller players is to emulate what Graco did – with their using Dewalt batteries in their new cordless sprayers.
ktash
It’s not standardization, but Ryobi having all their batteries interchangeable made a big difference to me in purchasing Ryobi for many of my needs, including gardening. So, back then I could continue to use the blue Ryobi tools that were nicad and use the green Lithium batteries. I have a bunch of their newer stuff now and they will continue to be an option for this reason. Also the 18g nailer, worklight, etc are reasonably priced and seem to hold up well for me (hobbyist, diyer, homeowner). Yep, I know their design is an older design, but I’ll never complain about that.
I do have other brands, but those are usually for specific higher end tools that I use a lot, like drills. I don’t expect Ryobi drills to ever match the professional Makita drills, and that’s ok.
John
The funny thing is that there is a standardization of battery voltages – all the major manufacturers have “18v” lithium systems that are the same voltage (dewalts 20v system is the same voltage as well). Same thing with the “12v” systems. But it seems like they all see it as a benefit to be locked in to one manufacturer’s system.
fred
Yes I guess that 12V and 18V standardization is something more than a coincidence. I understand that voltages relates to simple math – adding together the voltage output of individual cells – but why stop at these particular points? Is it something to do with who makes the motors? I’m not sure about the Hilti 22V stuff – but that doesn’t seem like it will start any new trend. The Flexvolt stuff and more cordless/engine-less OPE pushing demand for higher voltages may, however. set up some new “standard” voltages.
ktash
I meant to say that Ryobi is committed, as far as I know to keeping all their batteries interchangeable with all their tools. I wasn’t very clear about that.