Performax 16-32 (or other) wide panel experiences

[Brandon Shew]

I have my eye on a used Performax 16-32. I've never really considered a belt sander for reasons of space and usefulness, but the price is right for even occasional use with this one. I was thinking that this might save me some time on processes that I don't like and let me get to the ones that I do like a little bit faster.

Only problem is that most of what I would be doing with it would be with glue-ups wider than 16". I am not expecting this to be a final finish sanding, but I want level, repeatable results to clean up a glue-up or remove planer marks.

Are you getting good results when using yours for boards wider than the belt width?

[Will Overton]

I've used mine with 24" glue ups (two passes) with great results. The feed rate needs to be pretty slow with the wide panels.

BTW - The 16-32 is a drum sander, not a belt sander.

[george wilson]

You are supposed to slightly tilt the drum sander head UP a little bit,so that the cut it makes peters out at the center of a wide panel that you are sanding both sides of. this keeps the sander from leaving a misaligned "groove" down the center of wide panels. The taper is too slight to be noticed if you are careful to only use a very slight amount of tilt.

[Jeff Monson]

Are you getting good results when using yours for boards wider than the belt width?


Its all in the setup of the machine, you can get good results with the sanding head very slightly tapered up at the open end. It takes alot of trail and error to get it right, (at least on my machine it did). After that you can expect nice results. Feed rate and depth of cut are key.

[george wilson]

Deja Vou?????

[Mike OMelia]

I have used this technique to align a 10-20 and a 22-44. BTW, in the article, the fellow suggests taping the pressure bars up to keep them out of the way... I used 12" zip ties, works WAY better (you will understand better after you have read the article)

http://www.joewoodworker.com/performax.htm

Mike

[Nathan Palenski]

I have the 22-44. I found its nearly impossible to pass large stock through it without fullsize infeed/outfeed tables for support. The material will torque over in one direction or the other and you'll get a low spot. Regular width stock seems to do fine but I had a hell of a time the first time I tried to sand a table top.

[Mike OMelia]

Meant to say that I believe the article is written around the 16-32... there are differences between the 16-32 and 22-44 that might create small confusion, and the 10-20 is even more different. However, the technique is the same. Nathan, those pressure bars are not that strong!

Mike

[Carl Beckett]

I owned a 16-32 for years. After quite a bit of tinkering and trial and error adjustment, I was able to get it to work very well.

My stepfather also got one. No matter how much he tried, he could never get the knack of setup that didnt leave a step in the middle of the panel or a taper from side to center.

So my conclusion is a lot of performance variation based on operator.

I now have a 24" grizzly dual drum - much easier to adjust and use.

The performax is slow going (the grizzly is better but still no speed king)

I tend to put everything through it after squaring and sizing (using it a lot more than I first imagined). I find it to be as useful to presand before final cuts on smaller pieces as it is for sanding wide panels, so I give it a thumbs up if the price is reasonable. You can also finish smaller/thinner pieces than you would be comfortable putting through a planer.

[Elijah Fontenot]

I use the heck out of my older model 16-32 to sand down my endgrain cutting boards. Everyone is correct when they say to add some taper down on the end (like 1/64 to 1/32) b/c of the deflection during sanding and that for me took a while to get right. I LOVE it for surface sanding figured woods that get some tearout during planing.

Other than that, to answer your question, The widest i've done with my sander was 28" x 60" for the center section of a drop leaf table and the process was SLOW and it did need many homemade supports to handle that sized glue up, but a heck of a lot better than me using any other tool. I used to not think i needed the sander, but once i got it, i can't see myself without it. Even for small items it speeds up the process of building things.

[Chris Padilla]

The key to using these kinds of drum sander as many have pointed out: Go Slow with small bites (1/64" max) and you'll generally get good results. Good dust collection goes without saying.

I have the Delta 18/36 and use have only used to sand down shop-cut veneers to 1/16". It was mind-numbingly slow but after killing a Saturday adjusting the thing, I got superb results.

[Joe Von Kaenel]

Brandon,

I have the 16-32, great sander and time saver. I've sanded many wide panels and the trick is to elevate the open end of the drum just a little and it does a nice job. I learned that trick from SMC. Hope this helps.


Joe

[Will Overton]

Brandon,

I learned that trick from SMC. Hope this helps.


Joe

And it's even in the owner's manual. ;)

[Paul Johnstone]

I have my eye on a used Performax 16-32. I've never really considered a belt sander for reasons of space and usefulness, but the price is right for even occasional use with this one. I was thinking that this might save me some time on processes that I don't like and let me get to the ones that I do like a little bit faster.

Only problem is that most of what I would be doing with it would be with glue-ups wider than 16". I am not expecting this to be a final finish sanding, but I want level, repeatable results to clean up a glue-up or remove planer marks.

Are you getting good results when using yours for boards wider than the belt width?

I love my drum sander.
That said, I started out with the Delta 18/36. You can flip the boards and get acceptable results. If you are on a budget, and this is a good price, I would jump on it. If your finances and shop space allow you to save up a little more for a 22/44 (is that the size?), I think you would be happier with that.

So, IMO, this is more of an economic question that only you can answer.
But having a drum sander is a great time saver. Unless I only have a few parts, every piece of hardwood I use goes through it.