Porter Cables new Brushless ROS...A green tool?
A while back when I was at Black and Decker University for a Delta Woodworking class we got to tour the R&D areas. I asked them about brushless motors on tools, they told us something was in the works. And after they cleared it with the higher ups and made us all sign non-disclosure agreements they showed us a prototype sander with a yellow body and a brushless motor. (Since the item is now available I think its okay to talk about it, if its not I’m sure I’ll be getting a letter from their lawyers.) Now here it is a little more than a year later and I see that sander again. This time with a grey body, the Porter Cable 390 Series of 5″ Random Orbit Sanders. Now I wanted to verify that this was that same brushless sander that I had previously seen so I started reading through the marketing literature and they do not reference it as a brushless motor, they reference it as a Duratech Motor. A search of the schematic revealed that there were not brushes on the parts list or shown in the breakdown. So I called up our rep and asked him point blank. And he was able to verify that yes that tool in fact does have a brushless motor! Eureka I’d discovered the truth. Read the rest of this entry »
