Usability
As most other makita products this sander has an impressive ergonomic layout.
Compared to other sanders this makita won't hurt your hands after sanding for an hour, the case while plastic is pretty solid and well designed. There are several handling positions for each application. You wouldn't think the side knob would really help, but it really does especially on large projects.
Dust extraction qualities
Dust collection works surprisingly well if connected to a shop vac which I highly recommend. And here comes the challenge: How to get your shop vac connected to the small dust port of the sander.
Solution: You have to get the right dust port adapter. The Makita part no is 195547-8. It is a 22 to 39mm adapter where you can connect a 40mm hose at.
Power
Before I got the sander I was unsure if 300 watts with a 125mm or 5 inch plate would also work for larger projects. My approach was to go for a versatile sander which manages a wide range of projects with a preferable low weight (the BO5041 has 1.4 Kg or about 3 pounds) since weight is what you want to avoid on a hand tool.
But so far I can tell, I have used it on most of my furniture projects and I can say this sander does an awesome job. If you turn the speed up to the highest level, the removal rate is sufficient enough to have great results also on larger projects. Even for those larger projects, I prefer the BO5041 over my BOSCH BELT SANDER since the treated surface is way more even.
Durability
I have used the BO5041 for about 100 hours now on most of my furniture projects with all kind of sanding discs. There is absolutely nothing to complain about, the plate still fastens the sanding discs like it was new.
Value for money
The Bo5041 is sold for 80$ or about 120€ for the EU version. In my opinion this is a very fair price for this tool and its quality.
My Tip: If you don't care about a MakPac (hard case) you get it for about 90€ which saves you about 35€. In general I like having my tools stored in an original container but with this tool you don't have any accessories, so I just found a good spot in my workshop to store it.
For more details you might have a look at my unboxing video above.
Please note: I don't receive any compensation for this review or video from Makita, I am just telling about my own experience.
If I could contribute a little to your decision for buying this tool I would be stoned if you use one of the amazon links below for your purchase. This doesn't effect you in any matter, but enables me to get a small compensation from amazon for your purchase.
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