I am not sure about you, but a good sander is worth its weight in gold. When it comes to finishing projects of all kinds, a quality sander is what makes the difference between awesome and tedious. Today we take a look at another offering from the revamped SKIL lineup, that has a few things that really stand out. Read on in the Skil Cordless Sander Review.

About The Brand

Skil Cordless Sander Review

Skil has been reborn, and with the Power Tool Powerhouse Chervon behind them, there is no doubt we will continue to see impressive additions to their lineup. Skil aims to be an excellent entry-level tool brand that caters to the DIYer and weekend warrior in all of us. They have proved that tools do exist that are seriously well designed, with advanced features, excellent battery power and still manage to come in at a wallet-friendly price point.

Sanders are one of my most used tools, in fact, I would say it is one of a lot of peoples most used tools. Getting the quality and performance you need is essential. Cordless Sanders have been an extra challenging tool to launch too but we’ve seen some strifes in the last two years from professionally geared brands. But the real challenge becomes, can a budget-friendly manufacturer really deliver a cordless sander worth purchasing? Not to spoil the surprise, but yes!

Standout Features

Skil Cordless Sander Review

The Skil Cordless Sander, model #SR660302 runs on the Skil 20V PWRCore Battery technology. One of the standouts of this line is the PWRJump capability for fast charging and the onboard USB ports for charging/powering small electronics when needed. It really is the little things that stand out on tools like this!

The Digital Brushless Motor optimizes run time and provides incredible power to this sander, up to 11000 RPMs.

The Variable Speed Control allows users to customize the tools speed with 6 settings to choose from.

Something unique about this sander is the addition of vibration with the 3.0 mm random orbital sanding pattern boosts performance significantly.

The 5-inch hook and loop pad offers easy sandpaper changes and the universal size makes it easy to replace paper.

The Dust Collection on this Sander is hands down a huge stand out on this sander. There are 4 large and 4 small holes to draw up dust, and the internal microfiltration filter provides exceptional collection during use.

Value

Skil Cordless Sander Review

Skil as a whole is always a great value. I have tried several of their newly designed tools and have been overwhelmed with their quality and solid performance. This sander though stands out above the rest in a big way. You would be hard-pressed to find a better cordless sander at this price point. You can find this sander on Amazon in a kit, with a 2.0 Ah Battery and Charger, for $139.99.

My Thoughts 

Skil Cordless Sander Review

Skil is quickly becoming a common name in my shop, and I am loving it. As I mentioned earlier, I sand a lot. A significant amount of woodworking comes down to the finishing, and to me, sanding is the most important facet of that. With it being such a priority in my shop, I am always eager to test new sanders that come to the market. It is rare to find a tool at this price point that can really blow me away, but this one succeeded.

So starting with the most important aspect, overall performance, this sander is a beast. I found the addition of the vibration made a huge difference in removal but also finish quality.  This feature is something very rarely seen in most 5-inch sanders at all, let alone a more DIY geared brand, but it was a very pleasant surprise. Even on lower grit applications, there were very minimal swirl marks, but when you stepped up to higher grits, something important for fine finishing is when you could truly see this features performance.  I felt I was able to get a very high-quality finish on a wide range of projects with this sander.

The onboard dust collection. Talk about a blow out feature. Usually, sanders come with a somewhat flimsy dust bag that does an “okay” at best job of actually grabbing dust. Now, to be fair, most professional brands intend sanders, even smaller ones to be used with a dust extractor. Sometimes, it isn’t practical to do so though, and when you resort to those bags, you end up adding a slew of extra safety measures to compensate.

The Skil model though just blew my mind in this regard.  When I initially put it to use, I was shocked how little dust remained. I used it numerous times in the shop, on both hardwoods and softwoods and was thrilled with just how little residual dust ended up on my workpiece, and myself for that matter, but also on the sander. The real test is always in an environment like inside a home though. I brought this sander into my dining room to repair some damage on a window sill, and this is where I truly got to understand just what a difference the design of the dust collector made. Surely I can’t say it catches 100% of the dust, but it is significantly more than I have ever seen in an onboard system.

Moving along, I think the ergonomics are solid. The Skil model sits slightly higher than say the DeWalt Cordless Sander but shares a similar profile to most other Cordless Sanders on the market. The top is easy to grasp, even with smaller hands and the controls are placed well for easy operation. As well, I think the comfort of the sander overall was great, very little vibration was felt in my hands and arms, something I think is a huge factor in a sanders comfort. The variable speeds provide a wide range of options that are meaningful adjustments in terms of power. The run time on this tool is incredible, especially considering it was on a 2.0 Ah battery.

The one negative is the lack of an electric brake. Now, most, and I mean the vast majority of sanders don’t have electric brakes today. The benefit of electric brakes is that they stop the movement of the tool almost instantly. I think these will quickly be a mainstay on sanders when you look forward a year or two. This was not a deal-breaker at all, and honestly, I only have one sander that has that feature, but just a small feature I like that would love to see added on the Skil one.

All in All, this sander is an all-around good tool. When you factor in the price point, especially compared to other cordless sanders, you have a great value and really incredible performance. I loved the dust collection, the addition of the vibration, and the overall comfort and ergonomics of the sander. If you are in the market for a sander, I would definitely recommend taking a look at this model from Skil.