New Milwaukee Random Orbit and 1/4 Sheet Sanders

James wrote in last night, mentioning that a new Milwaukee random orbit sander had popped up on retailers’ pages with an October 2015 ETA. That surprised me, because surely I would have seen a new sander at Milwaukee’s recent press event, where they showcased everything that would be coming out in late 2015 and early 2016.

But I dug around, and YES there are 2 new sanders coming. There’s a new 5-inch 3A random orbit sander (6034-21), shown above, and a new 1/4 sheet sander (6033-21), shown just below.

The new sanders both have these spiffy-looking updated designs. I suppose we didn’t hear about these at Milwaukee’s media event because they focused heavily on their cordless power tools, revitalized accessories, and first-ever hand tool breakthroughs.

Check out all of our Milwaukee 2015 & 2016 new tool previews here

Both of the new Milwaukee sanders appear to have a completely updated dust collection filter, for those times when you don’t want to hook up a shop vacuum or dust collector system.

Milwaukee 6034-21 Random Orbit Sander Features

• 3A permanent magnet motor for consistent speed, even under load
• Variable speed dial, from 7,000 to 12,000 OPM
• Filtered dust canister
• Separate universal vacuum adapter fits many hose sizes
• Universal 5-inch hook and loop AND PSA pad systems
• Anti-vibration design

The “universal” hook and loop and PSA sanding pad system is curious. Some of the time you could attach PSA (pressure-sensitive adhesive) sanding sheets to a hook and loop sanding pad, but not with the greatest results. It doesn’t look like the kit comes with 2 sanding pads, but perhaps the PSA pad accessory isn’t shown.

If Milwaukee designed the pad with a hook and loop surface that can accommodate PSA paper with great performance, that’ll sure be something to see.

The new 1/4 sheet sander is very similar to the 5-inch random orbit sander, but with a different sandpaper interface and single-speed motor.

Milwaukee 6033-21 Sander Features

• 3A permanent magnet motor for consistent speed, even under load
• Single speed, 14,000 OPM
• Filtered dust canister
• Separate universal vacuum adapter fits many hose sizes
• Button-style paper clamp system
• Anti-vibration design

Milwaukee says that the button-style paper clamp system allows for fast and easy sandpaper changes, and I’m hoping they’re right. There’s almost nothing as frustrating about using a sander as having to suffer through a long and tedious paper change. The new attachment system looks to be an improvement, or at least a simplification, compared to the one on their previous 1/4 sheet sander.

The dust canister and vacuum hose adapter are actually two separate attachments, which means 2 things. First, this probably contributes a little to the slightly higher cost. Maybe. The 5-inch random orbit sander is $10 more expensive than the previous model, while the 1/4 sheet sander is the same price.

Second, the separate vacuum hose adapter means the tool can be made smaller. Right? If Milwaukee designers and engineers don’t have to design a dust canister around a vacuum hose port interface, there’s the freedom to design the tool exactly the way they want with fewer limitations. To me, the sanders look a lot more compact, and more compact often means easier to control.

In case you wanted to do a quick visual comparison, here’s a quick look at the 2 previous random orbit and 1/4 sheet sanders, models 6021-21 and 6020-21 respectively.

Prices: $79 for the 5-inch random orbit sander (6034-21), $50 for the 1/4 sheet sander (6033-21)

Buy Now(5-inch ROS via Home Depot)
Buy Now(1/4 Sheet via Home Depot)

First Thoughts

If you’re in the market for a new sander for woodworking projects, DIY work, or whatever else, there are going to be some tough decisions ahead of you. Not only will you have these new Milwaukee sanders to choose from, Dewalt recently came out with new single and variable speed random orbit sanders. There’s also Bosch’s, which I think was – and might still be – the best random orbital sander on the market, at least at the under $100 price range.

Festool also just came out with a whole new line of sanders, but that’s a discussion for next week.

Both of the new Milwaukee sanders look thoughtfully designed, and it’ll be interesting to see how well they perform.

Who would have thought that the Fall of 2015 would see so many new corded sanders. With all this brushless technology and new higher capacity Li-ion battery packs coming out, let’s see some more new cordless sanders!

Thank you James for the tip! I didn’t know anything about these sanders, but I sure do now!