Jim Becker
08-08-2004, 8:52 PM
Not long ago, I posted my "first impressions" of the Performax 22-44 Plus drum sander that "moved into" my shop this month. You may recall that I chose to build my own cabinet rather than purchase the open or closed stands available from the manufacturer. I did this to maximize storage as well as reduce cost...I only had to buy the casters, hinges and a few carriage bolts; everything else was "in stock" from previous projects, particularly the kitchen renovation from last summer. I would not consider this a "fine woodworking project", but it worked out as good or better than I intended and only took about a combined 8 hours to complete start to finish...including interruptions.
This sander is rather large, stretching 40" deep and about 24" wide without the optional infeed/outfeed tables. Therefore, my cabinet has a top sized a generous 40" x 24" and made of two layers of 3/4" plywood, faced with a dyed poplar strip and covered with a piece of laminate that Dr SWMBO and I brought home from the 'borg long ago when we were thinking about a "minor" kitchen update, rather than what we actually did. I found it buried in the sheet goods storage bin behind the plywood I used for the rest of the cabinet. The carcass is made of 3/4" birch/maple ply from HD (the cheap stuff they were blowing out a year ago for about $28) and uses poplar for the face frame. No fancy hinges or doors...just plywood slabs and simple butt hinges mounted on the face. They work. They were inexpensive. The whole thing got an application of BLO to brighten it up and that's about that. Oh, the casters are from Lee Valley...these are my favorites and I have them on both my router table and our kitchen island. Very sturdy, dual locking units with nice rubber.
One interesting thing about this sander is that there is no real provision (that I could find) for fastening it down to a able surface. You'll note in one of the pictures that I just used a few under mount sink tabs that I had lying around to lock it in place on the table surface. There is also a rib down the center of the cabinet top to provide additional support for the 200+ lb machine and table top. All other pictures are pretty much self-explanatory...
This sander is rather large, stretching 40" deep and about 24" wide without the optional infeed/outfeed tables. Therefore, my cabinet has a top sized a generous 40" x 24" and made of two layers of 3/4" plywood, faced with a dyed poplar strip and covered with a piece of laminate that Dr SWMBO and I brought home from the 'borg long ago when we were thinking about a "minor" kitchen update, rather than what we actually did. I found it buried in the sheet goods storage bin behind the plywood I used for the rest of the cabinet. The carcass is made of 3/4" birch/maple ply from HD (the cheap stuff they were blowing out a year ago for about $28) and uses poplar for the face frame. No fancy hinges or doors...just plywood slabs and simple butt hinges mounted on the face. They work. They were inexpensive. The whole thing got an application of BLO to brighten it up and that's about that. Oh, the casters are from Lee Valley...these are my favorites and I have them on both my router table and our kitchen island. Very sturdy, dual locking units with nice rubber.
One interesting thing about this sander is that there is no real provision (that I could find) for fastening it down to a able surface. You'll note in one of the pictures that I just used a few under mount sink tabs that I had lying around to lock it in place on the table surface. There is also a rib down the center of the cabinet top to provide additional support for the 200+ lb machine and table top. All other pictures are pretty much self-explanatory...