18" belt sander or 24" drum sander?

[Bryan Berguson]

Is the belt sander worth the extra money? I want to: 1. rough sand planer marks out of boards. 2. thickness sand hard to plane woods like maple and hickory. Which sander would I be happiest with?

Thanks

Bryan

[Bruce Page]

Bryan, I have no experience with a wide belt sander but my 26” Woodmaster DS does an excellent job at what you describe as needing.

[Simon Dupay]

Wide belt can take off more each pass and will leave you with a better finish also has easier belt changes.

[Chip Lindley]

If your electrical panel can afford the power requirements of a wide belt sander, they are good stuff! But, most are 3-phase. Wide belt sanders can still burn wood if too deep a cut is taken. They are not fool-proof.

Drum sanders are more economical for a small shop; they cost less. Drums give good results, but require changing paper more often than wide belts. Don't get in any hurry with drum sanders. I've used a Grizzly 1066 24" for three years and it met my needs. Now replaced by a gloat Woodmaster 3820 double drum. That's one WOW machine!

[Matt Meiser]

A friend of mine has a 36 or 38" drum sander and a 15" widebelt. I took all my kitchen doors up and ran them on the drum then the ones I could on the widebelt. The drum did a good job of cleaning up any joint misalignment but left a rough finish that required ROS sanding with a full schedule of grits. The widebelt ones were ready for a final ROS sand with 180 grit and easing the edges.

[Dino Drosas]

Brian, I have the Northstate (identical to Powermatic) open end wide belt and am not only pleased with it , but amazed with both its performance and overall quality of manufacture. Mine is a 7 hp 3 phase, but a 5 hp single phase is available (no special wiring is needed for either). The Northstate replaced a Woodteck 36" double drum sander; IMHO, only suitable for a boat anchor! Dino

[Bernhard Lampert]

Absolutely! A widebelt will do everything a drum sander will do... just will do it better and will do much more.
I started out with a 24" dual drum sander. It did work, BUT is was a pain to align the drums, to changes sanding paper, the finish was not good, fine/finish sanding was impossible, had a tendency to burn (sandpaper heated up), dust collection was non-existent. Then I saw the light and bought a 16" open-end wide belt (North State from Leaneave in Charlotte, NC). Wow, what a difference! No dust, can sand anything from 40grit abrasive planning to finish sanding veneered panels. Changing sanding paper is a snap (20 seconds). Sanding belts also last longer (runs cooler and has excellent dust collection). Get a wide belt, you will not regret it! Just make sure it does have an adjustable platen. While they are more expensive, it is better to cry once than to cry everytime you need to sand a work piece.

Cheers,
Bernhard

[Bryan Berguson]

Well okay then, this opens up some new questions.

Is an 18 inch closed-end belt sander worth the extra money over a like size open ended sander? I realize with the open ended sander you can sand a much wider piece but is there a sacrifice for the open end?

Bryan

[Bernhard Lampert]

Well okay then, this opens up some new questions.

Is an 18 inch closed-end belt sander worth the extra money over a like size open ended sander? I realize with the open ended sander you can sand a much wider piece but is there a sacrifice for the open end?

Bryan


Bryan,

The wide belt sander I have is an open end. I have never had any problems with sanding wide sheets up to the max of 33-34 in. No issues with stability. BTW, the North State is identical to the Powermatic, just about $1200 or more less.
As long as the substrate is flat, I can even sand veneer. Also saw on a trade show a demonstration where a dollar bill was taped to a board and the printing was sanded off by a big, industrial machine, bill was still intact. Well, I tried the same trick with mine and yes I can do it, too.
The only down side is that large pieces need to be supported. Once I sanded a 9'by 12" door jamb and the piece hooked in the saw horse support and lifted it up. Result: It sanded a 3/4" deep gouge in the piece without slowing the sander down.
Since a wide belt takes a bit more power, I would choose 3-phase equipment to get a decent motor in there ( mine has a 7.5 hp, 3-phase; all my large equipment runs on 3-phase supplied by a rotary phase converter).
Get a wide belt and you will never look back!
Cheers,
B

[Mark Woodmark]

Like Bruce, I also have a Woodmaster 26" drum sander. It does a great job. Changing paper is very easy. I also bought one with the reversing switch, which I wouldnt give up for anything. I upgraded from a Performax 16/32. The Performax was a POJ in my opinion. Changing paper was difficult and the thing stalled constantly even though I was removing less than 1/64" at a time.

[Bruce Page]

Mark, I upgraded from a Delta 18X36 DS and there was no comparison between the two machines.
I added the reversing switch to my Woodmaster too. It was well worth the money.
I would like a good widebelt - I simply don't have the power available to run one.

[Mark Woodmark]

Mark, I upgraded from a Delta 18X36 DS and there was no comparison between the two machines.
I added the reversing switch to my Woodmaster too. It was well worth the money.
I would like a good widebelt - I simply don't have the power available to run one.

Lack of power.....I can relate to that