Any G1066 owners??

[Joe Shinall]

I have a line on a Grizzly G1066 24" drum sander for $700. It is barely used, about a year old and it comes with a Shop Fox mobile base. Does anyone have this sander and can you tell me if it is any good? I have done some searching on here and can't find any opinions on the model itself, just on drum sanders themselves.

Right now I have no drum sander period so it will be an improvement over nothing. I know many people prefer wide belt, but I do not have that kind of money. This is really the max of my budget. I am really looking at getting it because it's the best price I've found on one, not because I have been searching.

I have a Grizzly jointer, planer, and bandsaw and have been extremely happy with the brand. So can any owners help?

[Carl Beckett]

I have a 24" Grizzly drum sander. Two drum version (dont rememberthemodel number off hand)

I love it. I dont have the budget for a wide belt.

Prior to this Grizzly I had a 16" Performax. I much prefer the Grizzly (no overhanging arm to tweak/adjust/deflect)

I run 80 grit on the front drum, and 150 on the second drum, and pretty much put every piece through it after planing. It saves a TON of time sanding and putting to final thickness. If narrow, I group a bunch of pieces and run all together. No tearout. Especially great on figured wood or defects such as knots, etc

The 24 wide capacity is pretty decent (meaning sure it would be great to do wider, but again, I cant afford a wide belt)

For $700 I dont think you will find a better price. If I had nothing and could get one of these at that price, I would snap it up.

(note mine is 5hp I believe - it draws a lot of power. Also be sure to have a good dust collection. Also it does take up a fair bit of floor space.)

[Joe Shinall]

Thanks Carl. This is also the two drum version, 5HP version. I have a 15" planer so the 24" drum sander is more than enough for what I do. I do a lot of book cases so the sides and shelves are about 12-20 inches. Also a lot of smaller stuff. I am installing a good DC system right now and I need to put in a new 220. As mine is only a 20 AMP and this one says minimum 30 amp.

Thanks for your review. I think I will be picking it up this weekend.

[Mike Heidrick]

I own the G1066Z. It is great. Sounds like you are getting it so no need for review. $700 is a great price for a G1066.

[Joe Shinall]

I am probably getting it but it would be nice for a small review Mike.

[sunny nic]

I own the G1066Z. It is great. Sounds like you are getting it so no need for review. $700 is a great price for a G1066.

Yup, amazing price for sure.

[Van Huskey]

Great price! You never hear anything really bad about that sander. At new prices there are some to consider near or 1 price level up BUT at that price you can't go wrong.

[Joe Shinall]

Great price! You never hear anything really bad about that sander. At new prices there are some to consider near or 1 price level up BUT at that price you can't go wrong.


That's kinda what I figured. Even if it's not the greatest, it sure beats hand sanding a ton of shelves and other pieces.

[Carl Beckett]

Let us know how it goes Joe, and your impressions once you get it up and going.

I also have a 15" Planer, but the wider sander capacity gets used a lot with glueups to bring it to a uniform thickness and no seams. I even put face frames through it after glueup, as well as picture frames, etc. Brings everything down to a constant /uniform thickness (and smooth as well). From there I can go right to finish sanding.

If it doesnt have them, I recommend a mobile base or casters are useful to move it around (critical for me, since my shop has very limited floor space)

[Alan Schaffter]

I have an older 1066R. It works ok, but is missing the better conveyor of the newer 1066R, and conveniences of the 1066Z or other newer drum sanders. $700 is a bit high for a G1066R w/o rubber conveyor, ok for a newer model with rubber conveyor, and great price for a G1066Z.

At each end of the drums there are clips that aren't too great at holding the paper sanding strips- the manual recommends also wrapping the ends with strapping tape. You can buy a H&L upgrade kit for $28.95 from Grizzly (I did) but a tape wrap is still recommended.
The 1066R has a single speed conveyor- the conveyor on the more expensive 1066Z and many other comparable brands is variable speed. I converted mine to variable speed by replacing the conveyor motor with a DC motor and controller.
The conveyor is thin rubberized canvass. It is difficult to adjust the tracking so the previous owner allowed the belt to get chewed up. Newer 1066R and 1066Z units have thicker soft rubber conveyor belts like found on wide belt sanders. A new rubber conveyor is available from Grizzly for a whopping $375!!!
The tracking adjustment is primitive- the 1066Z and other newer machines have better tracking adjustment.
It can be quite a chore to adjust the height of the drums- many setscrews on the bearing blocks. It is easier to adjust the drums on most newer machines.
You can't micro adjust the height of the outfeed drum for different grits on the 1066R like you can on the 1066Z and many other new machines
The elevation mechanism and crank is not the smoothest I've seen and the leadscrew is too course- depending on wood hardness, the max adjustment between passes may be less than a 1/4 turn!!

You can download the 1066R and 1066Z manuals (in PDF) from the Grizzly website.

In addition to the upgrades I have already done (switching both drums to H&L and converting the conveyor to variable speed), I plan to use my 1066 as a project machine- a "Franken Sander" - replace the conveyor belt and worn sleeve bearings, rework the drum bearing mounts so I can easily select (auto & manual) and use one drum at a time or both, make the conveyor bidirectional (it is now) but with auto & manual control, add a control console, motorized coarse table lift with manual fine adjust (using a Wixey), etc.


I already moved the switch box from down low on the cabinet to place that is easier to see and reach, replaced the cord with a new, longer one, and replaced the two small dust ports with a homemade plenum:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/P1290142.JPG

I mounted the DC speed controller for the conveyor in the cabinet and remote mounted the speed pot in the switch box:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/P1290137.JPG

For a mobile base I just mounted two fixed casters on one end and a step caster (from Rockler) on the other- I rarely move it, but it works great when I do:

http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/data/500/medium/P1290143.JPG

[Chip Lindley]

What Alan said! My experience was identical. Bottom line: a G1066 is much better than NO drum sander at all. It will earn it's keep, but you will also pay your dues using it. Contrary tracking and poor dust collection were my pet peeves.

The best part of my Grizzly experience was, I bought it for $950, used it 3 years, and sold it for $850. Once I moved up to a big Woodmaster 38" DDS, I never looked back.

[Joe Shinall]

188435188436188433188434Thanks guys, Carl I was thinking the same thing about larger pieces that won't fit through the planer and for face frames. It does come with a Shop Fox Mobile base.

Alan, thanks for that long review. Really like it when someone can give that good of details. I don't know much about the conveyor on it. I do know it is not very old. He originally thought it was only a year or two old but he was mistaken that for his planer. It was given to him by his dad about 6 weeks ago and he thought it was newer. Here are some pictures of it. It is just a G1066. No R or Z.

And Chip, i would love to have a 38" woodmaster and have been looking for one for over a year and can never find a used one anywhere around me. I'm sure as soon as I get this one hooked up there will be one coming up for sale right down the road...

[Alan Schaffter]

It is definitely the older version, but looks in really good shape. My 1066 was ridden hard and put away wet and cost me $600, which was probably too much at the time. Yours still has the felt on the outfeed drum. It was gone from mine and I didn't bother to replace it since I had planned the H&L mod anyway.

I guess I'll add my comments (rant?) about the uselessness of two drums with different grits-

Say you have 80 grit on the front drum and 150 on the back. What happens if you need to make more than one pass? You start the second pass by roughing the board again with 80 grit after it was smoothed with 150 grit on the first pass! The second drum was wasted on the first pass. That's why I going to modify my unit to use one drum at a time.

[Joe Shinall]

I thought the same thing Alan. It's a waste of 150 paper and a pass if you rough it up again. I am a sanding freak so I know I will probably use more than one pass. How do you plan on modding it to use one drum at a time? Didn't think about that and now I'm curious!

[Alan Schaffter]

I thought the same thing Alan. It's a waste of 150 paper and a pass if you rough it up again. I am a sanding freak so I know I will probably use more than one pass. How do you plan on modding it to use one drum at a time? Didn't think about that and now I'm curious!

I'll attach the drum bearing blocks to heavy duty pivoting mounts on each side of the sander- the mounts will pivot in the middle like a seesaw. Actuation will be via four small bidirectional pneumatic cylinders driven by shop air and controlled by an electric solenoid air valve (like my automatic blast gates :D ). Total movement to raise one drum/lower the other is minimal and can be less than 1/4" ! With one drum going up at the same time the other goes down that small amount, I won't need to worry about problems with belt tension. With only one drum on the stock at a time, it will be much easier to set the drum height and ensure it is parallel to the table - I'll probably just use 4 fine threaded bolts- one under each end of the two tilting mounts.

Other enhancements might include drop down infeed/outfeed tables to aid selectable manual/automatic conveyor reverse (for a double pass) with or without automatic drum change.

Edit: One more thing- I want to add a long rotating dust brush parallel to and after the outfeed drum. I have a really good DC, but way too much dust is not picked up and coats the top of boards and panels. The brush will hopefully lift and sweep the dust back into the machine so the DC has a second chance to get it.

[Joe Shinall]

Ok, yeah, I'm lost. Wish I was smart enough to figure out all that and do it myself. I think I'll just stick with same grit on both drums ;)

[Tyler Edwards]

What motor and controller are you using for the variable speed? Where did you get them? I'm considering trying this myself.

[Chris Barrett]

I'll attach the drum bearing blocks to heavy duty pivoting mounts on each side of the sander- the mounts will pivot in the middle like a seesaw. Actuation will be via four small bidirectional pneumatic cylinders driven by shop air and controlled by an electric solenoid air valve (like my automatic blast gates :D ). Total movement to raise one drum/lower the other is minimal and can be less than 1/4" ! With one drum going up at the same time the other goes down that small amount, I won't need to worry about problems with belt tension. With only one drum on the stock at a time, it will be much easier to set the drum height and ensure it is parallel to the table - I'll probably just use 4 fine threaded bolts- one under each end of the two tilting mounts.

Other enhancements might include drop down infeed/outfeed tables to aid selectable manual/automatic conveyor reverse (for a double pass) with or without automatic drum change.

Edit: One more thing- I want to add a long rotating dust brush parallel to and after the outfeed drum. I have a really good DC, but way too much dust is not picked up and coats the top of boards and panels. The brush will hopefully lift and sweep the dust back into the machine so the DC has a second chance to get it.



Did you ever get to this Alan? *three years later* I found one of these used, and I'm wondering how hard it was to modify it to this extent?

[Alan Schaffter]

Nope, still on my "to do" list.

[Chris Barrett]

Have you been using the machine this whole time as is?

[Alan Schaffter]

Whenever I have a need, but frankly haven't done much panel work requiring the drum sander in over a year.