All Replies on And the winner is......

I doubt if you can go wrong with either :-))

-- "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence

I’d buy the JET. There are certainly good arguments for either.

-- My dad and I built a 65 chev pick up.I killed trannys in that thing for some reason-Hog

bigger is better.

Today I got a 10% off coupon from Grizz(good 3/1-4/30) Jet has 10% off right now and I was looking at the local Woodcrafters. I would have to pay 7.5% st on it and if it is the same program CPO has, it’s a mail in rebate(not sure) anyway the Grizz is 2” bigger and weighs twice as much(350 versus 164) . Jet 999.00-100.00=899.00+ 7.5%(67.46)=966.46. Grizz 895.00-10%(89.50)=805.50 + 94.00 shipping =899.50
CPO has the Jet 999.00/100.00 rebate and free shipping(no sales tax) I’ve never done business with them but assume they are okay(???) but those rebates sometimes have a habit of “getting lost” or if you don’t dot the “i” or cross the “t” they are refused and you never know it.
I’ve done the homework on both and I like them both…this makes it tough. At this point I’m leaning toward the Grizz simply because I have other Grizz items and have had very good luck with them. I don’t have any Jet equipment

-- Don't rollerskate in a buffalo herd

Good luck. ;-))

-- "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence

I will say one hurdle is past…Mommie says buy what you want :-)

-- Don't rollerskate in a buffalo herd

I’d vote for Grizzly just from the specs you’ve mentioned. I like the looks of JET, but i’ve had good luck with Grizzly in the past also. If it was me i’d buy the grizzly.

Kevin

-- Williamsburg, KY

Well the winner is Jet.
Bought it this morning,came home,put it together and started using it right out of the box.
So far I’m impressed. Haven’t tried to change paper yet but I don’t think that will be a big deal. Everything fit and all the nuts were SAE. I installed it on a Woodcrafters roller frame that I already had and that was a bigger pain to assemble than than the whole unit.
I didn’t want to wait until the 1st of March when Grizz went on sale and the fact it weighed 354 lbs. and I have no way of handling it was a big factor. The 16/32 was about 68 bucks more but Woodcrafters is 30 miles away.
This isn’t meant to take anything away from Grizzly. I have some of their tools and am well satisfied.
Now I’ll give it some time and see if I made a good choice.
Thanks to all that commented.

-- Don't rollerskate in a buffalo herd

Love my 16/32.

Love it even MORE, since I installed the Accura polypropylene conveyor belt that came with it.

My only wish: bigger would be better.

Enjoy it :-)

-- -- Neil

ENJOY Howie

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

Enjoy your new toy Howie. Looks like you used common sense when making the purchase, well done.

Kevin

-- Williamsburg, KY

Almost nothing leaves my shop without seeing my 16X32. What does is firewood! Haven’t used my planer in years, even my rought cut from my mill goes directly to the sander. One hint I would offer is good infeed and outfeed tables, makes all the difference.

-- Treat every day like is was your last and some day you'll be right.

Buy on line I got my 22/44 on line and saved $300.00 I shopped for over 1 year.

CPO see my post #4. But thanks,I do buy a lot online.

Corks, did you buy the ready made tables or make your own? I’m thinking of trying to make my own and see what happens. If I don’t like them I’ll buy the store boughts. The way they attach doesn’t look like a big deal to make

-- Don't rollerskate in a buffalo herd

I use the ones that came with the sander for short stock but my home made ones for the long stock. I’ve seem people use the roller stands that can be had at big box stores as well. The main thing is that whatever you use “must” be level or else you will be getting snipe.

-- Treat every day like is was your last and some day you'll be right.

Howie I bought mine just the other day and the set up was a piece of cake. I ran a few test pieces through mine and they came out perfect, the only adjustment I had to make was releasing the tension on the drive belt which is called out for in the instructions. I haven’t tried changing belts yet but it comes with the tool for releasing the inboard latch so it shouldn’t be too much trouble. After I put mine together I realized I needed wheels. The set from JET was way over priced but I found a set locally for $40.00 that look to be identical to the ones JET sells for $140.00. Did you get the in-feed and out-feed tables? I found a set through Amazon.com for $114.00 that I’ll probably get next payday. Congrats and good luck with the new toy, I hope you like yours as much as I like mine.

-- www.thepatriotwoodworker.com Proud Supporter of Homes For Our Troops

Coastie: Everything on mine was good right out of the box. I released the tension and that was all. I ran some scraps yesterday and today I changed the grit to 120 and did doors for the cabinet I’m building. Everything was perfect. Changing the paper was kind of fumbly and I never did get the tool inserted on the right(inner) drum but I got my fingers in and made the change. Even at that it only took less than 5 minutes.
I had a Woodcraft “dolly” set I wasn’t using and put it on that. So far so good. I agree the casters were overpriced(I can go to HF and get the same Chinese casters for 10-12 bucks apiece if I need them.)
Did not get the extentions. I have other things available that will work just as good I think. I ran 30 inch long doors thru today with no problem.
So far I think I have a winner. I’ll review it in six weeks and see.

-- Don't rollerskate in a buffalo herd

I’ve got the precursor to the JET, the Performax 16/32Plus and absolutely love the thing. Almost everything ends up getting fed through it at some point, for one reason, or another.

I’m going to guess that you’ll probably have the same thought that seems to enter all of our minds after obtaining a drum sander: How did I live without this before?

Enjoy!

-- Jonathan, Denver, CO "Constructive criticism is welcome and valued as it gives me new perspectives and helps me to advance as a woodworker."

Jonathan…strange…the CD that came with my Jet was about the Performax 16/32 plus…:-). It was labeled Jet but it was a Performax.
You are right I’m thinking of more uses for mine already.

-- Don't rollerskate in a buffalo herd

Howie…you’ll love having a drum sander to your disposal. I have the 22-44 OSC and use it more and more.
Check out Supergrit for cut to size sandpaper. I just placed an order and they have the aluminum oxide X-weight rolls on sale. Alot cheaper than the Jet precuts.

-- Gary; Marysville, MI...Involve your children in your projects as much as possible, the return is priceless.