Astro Pneumatic 3037 Air Belt Sander (1/2" x 18") with 3pc Belts (#36, #40 & #60)

Nice tool. I originally bought it to clean the weld seam out of square tubing so the pieces would slide smoothly together. It has proved to be useful in places where nothing else would fit other than a file, and it works so much better than a file! Much more useful than I would have thought.Ron_T

Works great for the price. Exactly what I needed for my auto repairs.

I initially bought this tool to work off-site, however quickly discovered my small portable compressor could not keep up. Really this is no surprise but it's useful to know you'll need a decent air supply for continuous usage.The tool itself is excellent, very powerful, and works beautifully. This is now a valued member of my workshop air-tool set. There is no trigger guard or lock, so this is not a tool to leave lying around while connected to an air supply (also quite normal for this class of tool).The tool comes with the necessary allen keys for adjustment of the belt angle relative to the motor. As expected, the tool does require the use of air-tool oil before and during extended operation. The belt speed is variable and easily adjusted on-the-fly.Definitely would recommend this product, especially when paired with Zirconia sanding belts. Chews through metal and wood very easily at low grit and does nice detail work at high grits.

The nose wheel melted and jammed in the tip of the sander. Go ahead and buy a metal nose roller when you purchase this tool for longer reliability.

The BlueP version the Snappy guy has on his truck is more than four times the price and is still made in China I so decided to try this one first. At $100 I figured I'd be happy if I got 6 months out of it. I've used the blue tool extensively as an auto body professional but never talked myself into buying one for myself. Here's my side by side comparisonNoise - Blue wins. The Astro absolutely screams while you're tearing into metal.Belt Wear - Blue wins by a margin. I received the newer version of the astro that does have a rubber wheel instead of the older steel wheel but it still goes through belts just a bit faster than the blue tool.Belt Change - Major win for Astro. Press the tip back towards the body and it locks in place.. old belt off, new belt on, release the tensioner, and you're ready to go. The Blue has no lock feature. You must remove a dust cover then wrestle with the tensioner spring as you slip the belt off and a new one on. Not an impossible feat but far more difficult than the AstroSpeed adjustment - Astro. While both tools are easily modulated with the trigger, the astro has valve at the back of the body to set the speed. This is great for cutting on large body panels with lots of spot welds. Instead of balancing the speed by hand on every cut, just find the right speed and have at it without worrying about cutting to deeply or putting a ton of heat in to inner panels.Belt Drive - Astro again. The drive wheel on the astro has very high shoulders on either side that prevent the belt from sliding back and forth on the wheel. I've found this to be a problem on the blue tool especially when pressure is applied at the tip, the belt will slip and then slide off of the drive wheel not only disabling the tool but shredding the belt. This is a non-issue on the astro.Angle Adjustment - Both tools require an allen key adjust the angle of the belt but I have found the Astro to be a bit faster on the adjustment due to lock bolt placement (when I can find that key).User Protection - TIE. The Blue tool has a dust cover over the drive wheel that also protects the user from accidental contact with the spinny wheel of pain. While the shoulders on the Astro drive wheel offer adequate protection from pinchy ouchness and lost fingernails I could still see something getting in there and taking a ride around. What brings the astro back for the tie is the mudflap. In overhead and out of position spots the blue tool will spit metal dust right back at your face at alarming speeds and sometimes you just have to sit there and take it or grind blind and risk missing. The little flap on the astro deflects a good amount of this backblast and makes those trouble spots much less painful for the user.If this tool were $200 this would be a 4 Star review but the fact that I can buy four of these before the blue tool or the dynabryde earns the extra star. Also worth noting, having the blue tool rebuilt out of warranty (I believe 2 year) costs the same as a new astro AND the astro has a 1 year warranty.Will update review after 1 year. Used full time for auto body repair.Update: January 2021After 3 years and 7 months I finally broke it. The body and air motor are still solid but one too many drops on concrete cracked the tensioning collar on the arm. Like I said in my original review I would have been happy 6-12 months but got 3 1/2 years out of it and I am HARD on my tools. If I were more careful I dont see why this wouldn't have lasted another 3+ years. I've already ordered a replacement. If you need one, get this oneImportant note: It looks like the wheel replacements are now easily available on amazon but were not when i first bought. This tool accepts the 3M replacement arm assembly (Part no. 33588) which includes the middle bar, front adjustsble head, and a new wheel. If you run into any issues with side to side runout in the arm I recomend ordering the 3m unit which should be available through your shops supplier or can be found online.

For the money you can’t beat this thing! Been using for months in a structural steel welding environment with zero issues. I keep it well oiled and it runs strong saved me a ton of money over the Dynafile I was going to buy.

So, I accidentally ordered this tool but I am glad I did. I owned no air tools but, I needed a sander like this one and it didn't 'click' what I was buying. Opening the box I was like "oh, an 'air' sander means it's powered by 'air.' Well, well what should I do?" Most normal people would just return this and call it a day, not I.Bouncing around the back of my brain I knew that air compressors were on sale at Home Depot, so I drove over and bought one with a hose and nozzle set. Then I spied a set of Huskey air tools with impact wrenches and an assortment of other stuff—I ended up buying that too.So, now I own air tools.But, this particular tool is incredible, it has a very satisfying sound when you turn it on and the variable speed is great. You need to be careful with this thing as it chews through everything it touches and there is no shortage of things to use this for.If you are on the fence just pull the trigger on this one. It's great.

Works awesome! Tons of power for what it is, it absolutely screams and has the best belt changing setup in the game. LOVE this tool. Not the cheapest but still a very reasonable price for a high end tool. You will find yourself looking for things to use it on.