Grizzly G0458 18" Open End Drum Sander

good review

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

Excellent review…thanks for posting. This is on my wish list and will be the next large tool I bu. Thanks again for the honest review !!!!

-- Don S.E. OK

Ditto for me too

Nice review.

Nice looking sander. Thanks for posting.

God Bless
tom

-- Mc Bridge Cabinets, Iowa

I too have one of these and will buy a different brand the next time. My belt also will not stay put and tracks to the right. There are no lock washers on any of the small screws on the inside and vibrations will loosen them. I had the top front sheild come off while sanding; make one heck of a sand paper shrapnel explosion. The lubracating is a pain in the bottom if you lube it as the manual says and if you don’t lube it it will start to scream at you. The return roller at the top is almost worthless even if you have someone else return your board for the next pass. The other thing with this machine is that that is no logical way of attaching extened infeed and outfeed tables to it since the tables go up and down and the head stays put. Drum sanders are great but this one could have been thought out a bit better.

-- Never board, always knotty, lots of growth rings

I also just got one of these. Have you had any trouble with picking up burn lines? I have. They appear randomly, The tech at grizzly told me to spray the paper with PAM cooking spray. That seemed to help but makes a mess. Also he said to run through at the 12 setting (fastest). That also seemed to help, I think it gives the piece less time heaqt things up. I do however still pick up a burn line and it really bums me out because I have to change the paper once one appears. On narrow stock I can shoot the piece in between the burn streaks, but on a wide top it’s over with. This mostly happens on 150 grit and up. Any insights? I’m 75% happy on this one. I LOVE my Grizzly planer, jointer, Table Saw so….. 3 out of 4.

-- There's many a slip betwixt a cup and a lip.--Scott

I haven’t had it long enough to notice any burn lines developing on the sandpaper, but it’s something I will look-out for. I haven’t tried any of the finer grits I bought yet. Faster speeds would help mitigate it, but would reduce the sanding quality. I suspect making really shallow passes would help as well.

I’ll have to check on the screws in the machine to look for loosening during use. I can see how feed support could be an issue on long pieces. Adjusting a roller stand constantly would be a pain. For the uses I plan for this I don’t foresee many problem, but I’ll update this review as time goes-on.

-- You're a unique and special person, just like everyone else.

Thanks for the review, Greg. I have had a drum sander on my list for some time now and have been considering this one. The info that you provided was helpful.

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

When it comes to burning, I have mine set at the fastest speed and DO take shallow passes. If a burn appears I flip the board over and do the other side at the drum burn area using even shallower passes and that mostly removes the burn from the drum paper. I also keep working the wood at different feed spot, left to right and then start over again to keep hot spots from developing. Also with the drive belt on mine it is not completely flat in that the middle is lower than outsides but close. ...and yes this machine is contantly being adjusted and tentioned. It may sound like I am a bit negative about this Grizzly but it does work for what I do right now and I just wanted to let you know what I have found with mine.

-- Never board, always knotty, lots of growth rings

It operates very similarly to my Jet 16-32, including the power that it requires. I have to turn the lights off in my garage, and run an extension cord from the greenhouse to my vacuum when I run mine. I also have to run it when the sun is up!! Looks like you are getting very good results from it though!! I considered this model when I was looking at a drum sander. I eventually bought the Jet because of my employee discount, the locking casters, and the infeed/outfeed table extensions. I’m going to be using mine more now that I will be veneering!!

-- Matt Garcia Wannabe Period Furniture Maker, Houston TX

I have one and don’t know how I got along without it. Regarding burns: I check my belt every few passes. As soon as it darkens in one spot, I get out the belt dresser stick. That helps slow down the burn.

Also, once you’ve done a few belt sanding drum changes, you can get it down to a couple of minutes. I get my belt sandpaper in 50’ rolls from Klingspor.

-- Bruce from Central New York...now, if you'll pardon me, I have some sawdust to make.

nice review
thanks

-- Simon, Illinois

have one of these and so far it is a royal pain in the bottom. After finally (three days) getting the tracking squared away, I changed the 80 grit paper to 150 and managed to get three boards through before the 150 paper ate itself on a piece of walnut. Thought to myself that I must have screwed up the installation of the 150 and installed another roll of 150. The second 150 ate itself in about 30 seconds. Anybody know of a way to retrofit this for hook and loop. Figure that if I am going to keep having to change paper after another batch eats itself, would certainly be faster with hook and loop.

-- The major stress in retirement is choosing what t-shirt to wear

Good review!

-- Ken, "Everyday above ground is a good day!"