Which sander should I buy?

Hi,

Machines of this size are well out of my league and therefore I don’t know much, if anything, about them. That said, you commented: “The flatmaster is less than half the cost of the general…” but I noticed at their site that you have to buy a motor. Seems to me you will definitely have to take into consideration the cost of the motor, the time to connect it, etc. Good luck with your decision. You sure do some beautiful cabinetry.

A woodworker who doesn’t like sanding? Wow, that’s rare! LOL

-- And on the eighth day God was back in His woodworking shop!

I have a wide belt sander on my list and am going to go with a dual drum sander. It is more expensive but the ability to run two grits at the same time is worth the extra expense in my opinion.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

I think you are right about getting more for your money with the big machine.

I can’t believe small drum sanders are so expensive. I see posts where guys have built their own for under $100, so it seems like some manufacturer could turn one out in the $200 – $300 range. I look at machines like the Sand Flee, and I just can’t figure out what makes it worth $750!

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

I use a performax 16-32 which is a single drum and where I use it for abrasive planing also its better than the double . I use perormax or sandbox brand paper at about$85 a box which will make 16 changes on the 16-32. I use 60, 80 and 120 grit anything finer plugs to fast. Just remember you need a very powerful dust collecter to use it ,when planing I can fill a garbage can with dust in 3 hrs.

-- You don't have to be crazy to work with juniper, but it sure helps.

A lot of the guys here have made their own and saved a lot of money by doing so. If I hadn’t already bought my drum sander , that is the route that I would take.
The flatmaster really doesn’t appear to be any bargain if you consider having to buy everything that doesn’t come with it.
I didn’t see any price listed on the General link that you provided , but it appears to be a professional shop grade machine versus a homeowners / hobbiest unit. Do you have 220V available and a really good dust collector ?

-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .

Hi guys,

the only reason I am considering the flatmaster is because they offer a pretty good discount on it at the tool show. I would have to buy a motor for it and it would probably come to around $950 cnd. The flatmaster I would buy would be the 30” model vs the 24” which the general is. The general I think I could get for around the $1900-$2000 cnd mark since I just bought a 20” general helical planer and a general spray booth from the guys I would be buying it from. Hopefully they would give me deal, lol. I have a 3hp dual bag dust collector that should get the job done but need to upgrade it down the road and I do have 220 in the shop.