What drum sander to buy

I have not done much research on this yet, but I did read the Jet drum sanders were good models. I am not sure how they compare to the price or performance of the Performax.

A good topic to bring up, since I have been debating between a drum sander and a planer. I have read the planer would be the better of the two, since it would take forever to sand down a board, compared to planing it off.

Maybe Don or Dick will have some ideas for us.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

I have the Roybi thickness sander the 16/32 version. It works fine. I roll my own sandpaper because its cheaper that purchasing their precut ones. I use Zircoma rough for taking the wood down fast and then finer grits as I get to final thickness.

But since I’ve bought a great planer (grizly 20” with carbide insert teeth) I’ve not used it much.

I have found that when sanding cherry it’s real easy to burn the wood. All you need is a piece of sanding dust to build up on the paper and you get a burn strip down the board. And it’s already 6” long before you see it an raise the sanding drum. You need to sand slow and use the rubber sandpaper cleaner blocks to keep the papr clean.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

I own the Performax 16-32 and besides my table saw I use the sander most. It’s actually more like a 15-30 but if you want to make sure that your 24” doors are flat, I highly recommend it

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

I had the big one Delta makes and the smaller one Roybi Makes. I sold them both. I found them cumbersome and I was disappointed. I know I am fussy but the large sanders never got the job done for me. I think you can do a much better job with a other ways of sanding for a lot less money and headache.

Of course we all would like to find faster easier ways to do our sanding. One thing I have concluded for me is there is now machine or short cuts in this area of woodworking.

-- Dusty

Don’t know how it will work, but I’m trying a 6” air powered random orbit sander on my next kitchen. Just got it today and gave it a quick try. I will know a bit more after sanding all the doors in the kitchen(Uchh!) Looks like it will be quicker than a belt sander. A thickness sander is still on the list after a good lathe and a good bandsaw. (and the addition to the shop)(and getting some money in the bank)(maybe a newer truck)

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

Well, since flat and smooth was on the cabinet agenda, a drum sander came before the lathe and the bandsaw. Even though Arched raised panels require cutting out the arches with a tool I still don’t have, next cabinet job will buy it. And I just picked up a 4’ lathe, 10 Craftman Chisels, a 4” planer, and a drill press for $150.00

Chrismas’ seem to be getting longer and longer these days. Last Christmas lasted about 4 months. For Christmas 2005 I got a cabinet shop, so far besides the regular Christmas gifts, I got a pick-up. It may only be a 1987 Dodge Dakota but we don’t have salty roades here, so it’s still in pretty good shape

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

I got to meet , see the inventor of the first Performax, & watched a demo of it at the Minnesota Inventors Congress quite a few years ago. I never thought it would turn out to be so successful. If you ever get a chance, try to attend that congress, it’s really interesting.

-- -** You are never to old to set another goal or to dream a new dream ****************** Dick, & Barb Cain, Hibbing, MN. http://www.woodcarvingillustrated.com/gallery/member.php?uid=3627&protype=1

Look at the woodmaster drum sanders. I have the 3875 model, but they have several different sizes and reasonably priced. Plus, they have great customer service and they are made in the USA. Everyone, that I know that has had a Performax or Delta thought they were garbage. Since, I got the Woodmaster, I didn’t realize how many friends I had.

WELL FS I OWN A PERFORMAX AND AM PLEASED WITH IT, SO NOW NOT EVERYONE THINKS THEY ARE GARBAGE

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

So did you get that sander yet?

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

I picked up the Delta X5 at the Atlanta show a couple of weeks ago and am pleased so far. Yes, it will burn cherry and others but so will a hand tool. I have a Dewalt planer and use them both. I’d like to hear more about rolling your own strips as the manufacturers are real proud of the ones they sell.

I buy 3” wide sandpaper (or whatever your sander uses) Mine is 3”.

I take an belt and lay it out on top of the strip and cut to match. luckly the end of one belt is the beginning of another so ther is really no waste except for the beginning and the end of the roll.

I bought Zircona belts for planer sanding 40-50 grit. It will take the rough boards down quick. and then 100, 180, 220, 280 and 400. I don’t use the 400 much because its easy to gum up the sandpaper and get a burn. So I’ll ROS for the final sanding.

The 180 grit does leave a noticable scratch pattern (all straight lines) where a ROS 180 is not usually noticable.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

I think, for the most, I’m not a fan of drum sanders – There is a Performax 16-32 in our shop and it is in my opinion, (no disrespect to Obi) only valuable if rarely used. Maybe others(Obi for certain) have had better luck, but the sanding belt burns at the slightest overcut and are easily ruined. The drive belt is constantly “walking” from one side to the other. The solid drums against solid wood leaves little margin for error (basically the margin is the grit you are using) and for the money, I would seriously consider upgrading to a Grizzly stroke sander. I just gave up on the thing – but it is a REALLY old model, maybe they have improved – I defer to others

A friend bought an “off-beat” brand of drum sander, a 5HP, 48” monster and it has the same problems as our smaller version and now sits in our “dead tools” pile – (which if anyone is interested and lives close enough to get it (Oregon), you can have it for the price of the motor).
my two cents -

-- The Gnarly Wood Shoppe

I’ve burned a few belts but I’ve realized that it was probably due to glue. I was using a 36 grit paper and it was taking off a lot a material.

As far as the side to side drift that is adjustable on mine with a hanging wrench.

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

I agree with Obi. You have to adjust the tension on the feed belt to get it to track straight.

-- Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com

I actually never had to adjust mine. But i saw the wrench hanging and knew what it was

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

No I have not bought one yet, I am just getting started on these two sets of cabinets that I am going too build. I have a friend that has a woodmaster combo planer and molder sander that I could have bought a couple of years ago, but turned down because I already had a planer I should of went ahead and bought. A guy had it and did not use very much and asked me if I was interested in buying for $600.00. I told my friend about it because he wanted a planer. He has never set it up to do the sanding yet but all the stuff was there to it. So I am going to try this one out and see what I think.

-- vlee2@ford.com

My WoodMaster didn’t burn my cherry table top that was used on the adjustable table that I posted. I’m sure if the speed that it was fed through would have been too slow, burning could have been a problem. The feed speed on the WoodMaster is adjustable from zero to seventy board feet per minute, which gives me a lot of control on the feed rate.

tooljunky, you should have bought it! It’s a great machine!

-- Jesus is Lord!

Yes I wish I would of now, but I will find out for sure in a couple of days

-- vlee2@ford.com

Actually burning comes with your speed going too fast. When your going too slow, the sander has time to adequately sand off all the material… a little at a time. When your belt is running too fast it has the tendancy to take, for example, glue – a big chunk, which sticks to the sandpaper belt, then imbeds itself to it and then at a high rate of speed, burns, leaving long burns streaks.

I turn mine down to slow. Human nature thinks that we can get more done if we speed it up, but in Lumberjockdom, that isn’t the case.

Also I find it better to remove the excess glue wither with a rag when wet, or a scraper when dry.

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

I have owned the Grizzly dual headed drum sander and currently own the dual headed Shop Fox drum sander. I sold my Grizzly to my brother, he is also in the trades, and wish I never had. They are essentially the same machine but the Shop Fox has slightly more capacity. Some of the parts under the hood are even painted Grizzly green. The problem is the distribution methods and customer service. If I need a part for anything Shop Fox, it is very difficult to get in a timely manner because I have to go through a dealer to get it. If I can cross reference and get the part through Grizzly, I can pretty much get it the next day. Do I have problems with my machines? No, but let a friend cram a piece of wood into your sander that is too thick and you will have to replace the velcro wrap. Time out to get velcro wrap – 2 weeks. The wrap for the grizzly sander was too short and I had to go Shop Fox. Many have given me a hard time about having a velcro wrapped drum, but on both sanders I can run veneer work and never burn through it. That is also a testament as to the accuracy of the drums. The edges always come out even. I have noticed that the thickness adjustment on the Shop Fox has considerably more play. I suppose I pretty much would not recommend any Shop Fox tools. The pieces that I have paid for themselves, but I will eventually replace them with something better.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

I was thinking I was going to purchase a Performax 16/32. I guess I will hold off and see if a new and better generation comes out. Do you all think that the problems are related to the nature of the machines or something the manufactures will work out?

BTW, I’m planning to build a full set of cabinet doors for my kitchen and was thinking this would be a good time saver.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

I own the Performax 16/32 and after my table saw I ust the sander most. MOST valuable tool I own when it comes to flush sanding. I also own the dewalt 3 blade planer. I’ve used it twice.

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

Anybody try one of the 10/20 models? Jet or Performax?

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

too small. I need something that will sand a 24” raised panel door

-- http://ye-olde-cabinet-shoppe.com/

You better keep in mind the domino effect. If you buy a sanding machine, will it be 110v or 220v? Do you have dust collection? You really need a good 1.5 or 2 hp dust collector – with the high filtration canister on it. You really should hook it up on a 220v circuit too. Now you also need some hose. See where I am going? Anytime I look at buying a tool I figure out what is it really going to cost me? The $1600 Grizzly sander ends up costing $2,000 by the time it is completely installed.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

I already own a dust collector that I have had for sevral years. I had to buy it after buying a plainer. about 12 years ago. And yes it was was of those expences I was not expecting right after buying a 18 inch powermatic planer. What you ar saying is very true there is no end.

-- vlee2@ford.com

Here’s more thoughts on a sander. I know a couple of guys with the lightweight sanders that are open ended and have the sandpaper feed belt. I couldn’t live with that personally. #1 I do operate as a business, so I understand I pretty much have to buy heavier. #2 Once you get a sander more like mine, you will start finding that you can work woods that are not very workable with a planer because of the difficult grain patterns. If I was to do it again, I would just stick with my 12” Dewalt planer and buy the sanding machine. My 15” Jet planer sits lifeless quite a bit, it is used for rougher planing.

Think about your workflow. You plane boards close to thickness. You put a couple of straight edges on. You glue it up, scrape off the glue and finish sanding it to final thickness in the big sander. Most boards will fit through the planer by themselves. A glued up top will not, not even through the 15” planer. Add in the fact that you can read the grain and feed a single board in to avoid tearout, but several boards won’t typically all feed the same way when glued together.

My brother and I built an oak table top for friend’s machine shop, something he could beat on. The final width was wider than our sander would handle. So we only had one final glue line to deal with in the middle. But the shear weight would have killed any of the smaller sanders. When I was shopping sanders myself, the biggest complaint about them was not the capacity of width, but of weight and power. The smaller ones could not even suck a 4/4” x 6” x 8” board through without straining it.

I find that a 24” capacity machine is ideal. If the project is any bigger I will pay a big shop to sand it if needed. The variable speed is nice but not necessary, you can shave a few bucks there. The smaller machines still cost quite a bit of money compared to what you get. I love having the dual head sander. It still needs a finish sanding with the ROS because it leaves a straight track line, but the time sanding is DRAMATICALLY reduced.

I know it often comes down to money, and the parameters which I use to buy a tool are different than the hobbyist, but there is a little more to chew on.

-- Todd A. Clippinger, Montana, http://amcraftsman.com

schroeder, what are you asking for that sander. I’ve got 2each, lathes, scrowl saws, tables saws, and band saws. Maybe we could swap. Whats wrong with the sander? jockmike

-- Mike. Profisher50@yahoo.com