Blistex posted:

The 30 year old Black & Decker that finally died on me was one of the first ones to use a bag to collect dust. It guess the first ones didn't work that well since it seemd to be another 15 years since they came back. What I did like about it was it fit my centralvac hose perfectly and not only did it never plug up with dust, but the suction actually collected dust that should have normally been left on the floor. This had the added benefit of allowing the belts to last a lot longer since they were always sanding wood instead of binding and burning dust/floor finish.

I'm on the lookout for some sort of part that I could use as an adapter. It's times like this having a 3D printer would come in handy.

Edit: Seems that there are two little flaws in the Black & Decker Dragster.

1. The dust collection system clogs really easily and even after vacuuming and blowing it out it doesn't want to collect any more. Strange.

2. If the sanding belts track to the left, they will rub on the plastic guard and the plastic bracket holding the front roller. Keep an eye on this or else you'll be smelling burning plastic.

Overall, after a few hours of use I'm still happy I got it. I had to drop the grit down from a 50 to a 36 since the 50's were just gumming up with old floor finish. Here are some (crappy cell phone) comparison pics.



This floor is 82-83 years old and after some 36 grit paper, then some 50 grit to remove the gouges, then some 120 to smooth it, then some polyurathane a light dusting with some 220, another coat, then another dusting with some 220, and finally a last coat and then some buffing it will look like a new floor, with a bit of character. When I start to do the sanding with the 50 grit I'm going to save the dust from that and mix it with resin/glue to use as a putty material to fill in cracks and holes. Then I'll do my final 120 sanding and then start the coats.