Porter-Cable 3-Amp Oscillating Multi-Tool Kit

There are some issues with this tool, and many have been well covered, negatively, by other reviewers. I bought it despite the reviews because I've owned several Porter Cable tools which have been very reliable. I use it as a sander so I cannot comment on the rest of the functions, but as a sander it works just fine. But it took awhile to figure this out because of the poor support this sad little tool is getting from Porter Cable. 1. There is almost nothing in the way of user instructions. This meant that, as a person new to this kind of tool, I ran the sander at high speed. You need to turn the speed down to about 2, which is plenty aggressive. Failure to do this destroys both the backing pad or platen and paper very quickly. 2. Since you've now trashed the platen, you have to get a new one. Replacing it turned out to be like dealing with the keystone cops. It turns out that this model was manufactured with two different kinds of attachment methods. There are spikes in the tool which are received by holes in the pad, in their very handy quick-release feature. However, it took ordering the wrong thing from Amazon, where I was sold the PC3005 pad, to find this out. Nowhere that I could find does Amazon tell you that the PC3005 only works on some models produced before a certain date. After that date, the pads have slotted holes instead of round ones. Don't ask me what that date is, because after two weeks dealing with several confused Porter Cable persons, I was still getting the wrong answer. Turns out Porter Cable has sold or transferred its parts supply to another company, and no one knows what is going on. Anyway, I finally got the right part, and at least the pads are cheap. 3. The sandpaper for this tool, unless you research it quite a bit, is available primarily in small quantities at a high price, and you are forced to get a set of three different grits, when you may only want one. Since you are going to go through a bit of paper this is just nonsense. Klingspor's has sets of fifty of any grit for $15.95. 4. I don't blame Amazon for any of this, as they are no doubt just using information provided by Porter Cable. If I were the guy who designed this product for Porter Cable, which is a perfectly capable tool, and then had it so laughably treated by their marketing and support department, I'd be looking for a new company to work for.