Milwaukee 6033-21 1/4" Sheet Palm Sander

I bought this sander 4 years ago to replace a well worn Mikita palm sander I had for 20+ years. I’ve used it primarily for finish sanding and other light work, and began experiencing several issues mentioned in other reviews- namely the dust cover vibrating off, and the tendency for the pad to eat sandpaper. As I was preparing to use it yesterday, I noticed two of the screws holding the pad in place had worn through the sandpaper. I removed the paper and noticed the pad itself had worn down on that side of the unit and exposed the screw heads, thus causing the holes mentioned. A visit to the Milwaukee website to order a replacement pad was frustrating, as they had no parts listed, and I had the same experience at numerous other sites.
I like this sander, despite its’ quirks, but I can’t recommend a unit that lasted less than a quarter as long as the one it was bought to replace- with no parts evidently available for it.
I guess I’ll be buying another Makita or similar to replace this replacement.

I've had this sander for about a year and it had been nothing but frustrating. First off the kids of the first collector poped off along with two of the plastic tabs that secure it. I think this sander I'd too powerful for the work it was designed for. It jumps around and doesn't track well. The clamps don't hold sandpaper properly causing the paper to tear, making it unusable. The pad under the paper is so thin that one of the screws wears through the paper leaving marks on whatever i am working on. I bought this sander to replace a 30 year old Makita sander that wore out . I'd heard good things about milwaukee tools and thought i was buying quality but this sander had convinced me that i was wrong.

I used this 1/4 sheet sander most often with 120 and 220grit precut sheets. This sander is difficult to control, it seems to try and not track well. I’m accustomed to a much older 1/4 sheet palm sander with less power and speed. But this new Milwaukee was not easy to use. Finally last week the sandpaper clamp (rear) stopped holding the sandpaper in place and the dust collector would neither stay attached to the sander nor would the lid stay snapped on the collector. Very disappointing performance. I had great hopes but this sander is a complete failure.

I just bought 2 of these for a small exterior job and it’s been about 2weeks I’ve had them and the sander paper clamp is just bad it doesn’t hold the sandpaper at all I guess it’s just a faulty part. Overall happy with the power but unsatisfied with the clamp and I don’t know what I can do about it.

In a follow up to Mu3ll3rs review. I bought this to replace the hand me down Ryobi sander my dad gave me. I needed something with more power and this is definitely the tool. I refinished my stair case and this tool did the trick.

I had a few issues with it.

1. The pad got absolutely destroyed at the corners of the tool. This isn't a massive issue, but I need to replace that just days after buying the tool.

2. The dust collector falls right off with vibration or if I bump the baseboards while sanding the stair. Also the slightest bump with the cord sometimes knocked it off so I had to hold the cord up with my other hand.

I only buy Milwaukee. I Love Milwaukee since my days of selling it with Fastenal, but this one needs improvement. I did notice the shop vac attachment stayed in place perfectly fine, but on the staircase this wasn't feasible to use. I ended up recreating a scene from Dexter on the staircase and enclosing it in plastic because my canister would not stay on.

Overall for power this tool has it, but design needs improved.