Porter Cable 7800 Drywall Sander With Dust Collection Hose

I'm a general contractor. We do our own drywall work on all of our small to mid-sized projects, so this tool is used regularly, although, not on a daily basis. This is a phenomenal tool!!! It makes sanding drywall almost easy and dust-free. With a little practice and a good vacuum, you can sand drywall and not even have to use a respirator. My best results were obtained using my Hepa shop vac, which I liked better than the Porter Cable unit made for the sander. The Porter Cable unit was better than a regular shop vac, but even with the time delay it allowed too much dust. Too much dust makes for unhappy customers, or worse,,, unhappy wives. The little inconvenience of having to switch off two tools, is more than made up for, by the extra dust removal I get from having the vacuum run while the tool is slowing down and you're moving it around, or setting it down. The factory system ties the vacuum to the switch on the tool and turns the vac off in a few seconds. For best dust control and quality finish, keep the tool in contact with, and flat to the surface while in use. Tipping it and sanding with the edge of the pad does result in very fast removal, but you severely sacrifice dust control. Keep it moving, and apply very light pressure, letting the tool do the work. Every time you pull the tool off the surface while it's running, you create a dust cloud, so always keep the tool in contact and flat to the surface, even when you turn it off while it's slowing down. This thing works amazingly fast. I can sand an average room in minutes,,,, so while you're first getting used to it, you have to be very careful to not oversand. The key is to keep it flat, and keep it moving and let the tool do the job. I've used 220 grit and slower speeds to get my best results, without having to beat myself up keeping up with the tool. I've seen my subs work with 100 grit and go full bore, but they work at 100 mph and I'm stuck at about 60. I've had one of these for a couple of years now. My 1st one was stolen and I was lost without one,,, only took one job, done by hand, to go buy another. Disadvantages: Home Depot used to rent these, but the average home owner was burning them up. I would venture a guess that they would not stand up to abuse. We've had 2 now, but other than having to replace a flexible hose at the end on one, they've been trouble free. Once again, let the tool do the work and apply very light pressure. The factory foam pads are expensive and difficult to locate. I've switched over to the velcro pads. They're fairly reasonable and most Home Depot's carry them in their tool rental sections. It doesn't work well on inside corners. For best results, I've used it to feather to within an inch or two of the corner, and finish sanding with foam sanding blocks. For the field sanding however, this tool cannot be beat. In short, until they come up with something better, I won't be without one.

I had rented a Porter Cable dry wall sander a few years ago and it saved me a lot of time on a large room that I had sheet rocked. Purchasing this off ebay was a good move. The price was good and the machine was as descriped. It as alreadly saved me hours of sanding on the present job that I am working on. It will pay for itself soon. It is a great maching and is easy to use. If you keep your vacume filter clean there is not much dust in the air.

porter cable 7800 is the best tool i have ever used ive had 3 of them they realy do help its a lot better then the dummy stick.weve done finishing for the last 13 years 7 I LOVE THE SANDER BUT LIKE EVERY BUDDY ELSE I HATE SANDING

Great tool, bit of a learning curve, time saver. I feel hook and loop pads are best. Does not suck up dust as well as I would like but maybe because Im using shop vac and not a porter cable vac

the sander makes the job faster, cleaner . if you ever sanded sheetrock before you know it's dusty . NO DUST it's great