I purchased this belt sander to sand the 4x4s for my grandkids swing set.  We got a 50 grit paper and used it for a few hours to sand off the slivers and roughness.  The power is great, it's smooth and not very loud.  The belt adjustment is precise and the belt tracks well.  My son in law tried to sand the cord.  This was the end of our sanding for the day.  I got to take apart the sander.  First I had to get the cord out that was run up in the sander.  I will tell you that the mechanical parts are solid and well built.  Top of the line.  The screws all screw into the metal body so you can tighten them back down snug.  The rollers have a 7/8" nut shaped cone inside so I was able to use a rachet to back out the entangled cord.  The cord was not cut, but I feared it might be internally damaged after being severely pinched.  So I ended up shortening the cord.  This was no problem since it has a sturdy very long cord.  The layout and connections in the switch and neutral where great.  It was very easy to reinstall the slightly shorter cord.  When I restarted the sander I realized that the drive was not working properly.  So I flipped the sander on it's side and removed the cover to the belt.  I feared the motor or gears might be messed up.  I was delighted to find that some of the cogs on the rubber belt had been stripped away when the cord suddenly stopped the sander.  So rather than replacing the motor or broken gears, I replaced a $7 drive belt.  Overall the design and implementation of the sand is excellent.  It is designed and built to last.  This is something you don't find in many power tools today.  Kudos to Makita.  I look forward to using the sander for years to come.