Questions on StockRoomSupply's V-Drum sanders

[Jesse Tutterrow]

The Woodworker's Show is a month from St. Louis and I am considering my yearly purchases. For many years I have considered the V-Drum sander. I have a few questions and hoping someone who owns one can answer.

1. How many times can you remove and reinstall the sandpaper?
2. StockRoomSupply marketing claims that the sandpaper will last almost forever. How long will it actually last?
3. Have you experienced any burning of the wood or sandpaper?
4. How well will it sand highly figured woods or cross grain?
5. How small of a piece will it sand? [For Halloween, I made some scroll saw skeletons and the individual bones were about 1/2 inch by 1 1/2 inches]
5b. Would the part size (from question 5) differ with the different sized models?
6. StockRoomSupply claim that varying the feed rate does not alter the depth of cut. I.E. push a board half way through let it set for several seconds and then push it the rest of the way through. Is this true?
7. I have a 3400 rpm 1/2 motor, would changing the pulley size work?
8. Has anyone tried their adapter to parallel sand the opposite face? Like what would come out of a thickness planer.

Thanks

[Gene Howe]

The Woodworker's Show is a month from St. Louis and I am considering my yearly purchases. For many years I have considered the V-Drum sander. I have a few questions and hoping someone who owns one can answer.

1. How many times can you remove and reinstall the sandpaper?

In two years I've only needed to remove/reinstall 4 times for change of grit. Paper still good.

2. StockRoomSupply marketing claims that the sandpaper will last almost forever. How long will it actually last?
See above

3. Have you experienced any burning of the wood or sandpaper?
Absolutely none!

4. How well will it sand highly figured woods or cross grain?
With finer grits, it does a good job. Cross grain with 220 will leave sanding marks. I always plan to sand to finer grits with a RO or by hand.

5. How small of a piece will it sand? [For Halloween, I made some scroll saw skeletons and the individual bones were about 1/2 inch by 1 1/2 inches]
5b. Would the part size (from question 5) differ with the different sized models?
That small would be problematic. The different sizes refer to the length of the platen, not the diameter of the platen. I don't think the diameter changes,

6. StockRoomSupply claim that varying the feed rate does not alter the depth of cut. I.E. push a board half way through let it set for several seconds and then push it the rest of the way through. Is this true?
Yes. The paper lifts from the platen in response to centrifugal force. The table is set at a level equal to the paper at rest. The difference is a few 100ths. Since there is nothing but centrifugal force holding the paper against the work, several seconds in one place won't produce a divot.

7. I have a 3400 rpm 1/2 motor, would changing the pulley size work?
Probably, but I'd ask them first as the pulley sizes and design seem to be critical

8. Has anyone tried their adapter to parallel sand the opposite face? Like what would come out of a thickness planer.
I made my own and it works fairly well but its static (an 'L' of MDF clamped to a fence) and theirs is dynamic with compressible rollers. I think I will be ordering theirs in the near future. With careful adjustment, I can get thickness consistency equal to that provided by my Performax.

Thanks


Well, I have to add this so it will post. Can't get passed the 10 character rule when embedding an answer in the quoted post.:D