Performax 16-32 Drum Sander

[Scott C. Williams]

I have the opportunity to purchase a Performax 16-32 Drum Sander (now Jet 16-32) with new conveyor belt and approx. $170 worth of sanding strips for $600. For those that are famliar with this unit is this a fair price? It does not include the optional infeed/out table extensions. Are these necessary? It does include optional wheels for moving unit around the shop.

[Larry Edgerton]

That is a frusterating machine, especially if you are doing large pieces. I got rid of mine after one too many divots. Would not do what I needed it to do, although what I asked was well within advertised capabilities. I had the extensions and took them off. They seemed to lift the piece being sanded off of the drive belt, which causes divots. The sandpaper will get hot and burn if there is even the smallest amount of pitch in the wood, and leave a mark. If you set the machine up to sand flat and the same on both sides when you change speed or species it will deflect enough that it will not be uniform side to side.

I know someone will come on here and be all indignant as they have one and it gives them "Excellent results", but for me life is too short to have one of those things in my shop, so I sold it for $500 and have not missed it one little bit. I guess it boils down on what kind of standards you set for your tools. Me, I don't want a tool that I have to babysit.

Larry

[Carl Beckett]

Well, call me one of the indignant ones. ;)

I owned one of these, and it got pretty heavy use for me. Yes it requires attention and tweaking to compensate for deflection, etc. I was able to get it to work well, and became addicted to it's functionality for sanding and uniform dimensioning and leveling glue ups of all type. I did an occasional wide panel and found it better than sanding (and I didn't yet have the skill to level with a hand plane)

I passed it along to my stepfather, and he never could get it to work easily for him. He did run a lot of smaller pieces ( as I did), say pretty much everything he did was less than 8"wd x 18"long. So it was ok but when he tried a wider glue up, he could never get the knack for setting it up.

Since then I went to a dual drum, 24". I do like it much better. But. It's huge! And takes a lot of space in my shop. Someday I dream of a proper belt sander ( but again size will be a concern)

$600 isn't the deal of the century... I think I paid just a little more than that new, although it's been many years ago I guess price creep. If you have the space and can afford it, you might look for a dual drum at a little higher cost. If you do a lot of smaller pieces (not large glue ups), I think you can get good use out of the Performax.

[Ellen Lewis]

I've had mine for about 9 months now... replaced the 10-20 (bought used/abused). The 16-32 is far superior. I like the extensions. I also know you can get a new one for about $800 when Jet has it's annual sale. Paper is a bit balky to install but once you get used to it, it is ok. I love mine. I've never had the divots Larry talked about. I think one recommendation is to take off very small amounts with each pass. Burning was a problem until I started reducing the amount taken off. Some woods will burn no matter what. Sandpaper by Jet can be expensive. I think buying a roll from someplace like Klingspor and cutting it yourself using a pattern is the way to go.

[Gene Howe]

My experience with this machine mirrors Larry's.
I had an opportunity to devise several new curse word combinations while trying to get it to perform.
Sold it and have never regretted it.

[Curt Harms]

I've had mine for about 9 months now... replaced the 10-20 (bought used/abused). The 16-32 is far superior. I like the extensions. I also know you can get a new one for about $800 when Jet has it's annual sale. Paper is a bit balky to install but once you get used to it, it is ok. I love mine. I've never had the divots Larry talked about. I think one recommendation is to take off very small amounts with each pass. Burning was a problem until I started reducing the amount taken off. Some woods will burn no matter what. Sandpaper by Jet can be expensive. I think buying a roll from someplace like Klingspor and cutting it yourself using a pattern is the way to go.

Everything Ellen said. Shallow passes. I had trouble with mine tripping the overload protection until I wired an ammeter for it. Watch the ammeter and use the variable speed feed to keep it around 13 amps. If I'm sanding narrow stock I'll send it through at an angle so as to even out the wear on the paper. The Jet 16-32 IS NOT a commercial machine, but it has its place in the small/hobby shop. I wouldn't recommend using a shop vac for dust collection, seems like it'd be like peeing on a forest fire. Speaking of dust collection, some of the early ones had 2.5" dust ports. 4" is mandatory IMO. Those things will produce some dust. If you don't think so, just hook the DC hose up, turn the DC on and neglect to open the gate.

[Carroll Courtney]

One of the biggest problems is running it without a dust collector.Not for the soul purpose of keeping the shop clean but more for removel of dust off the piece being sanded which will make the drum and base flex and maybe causing some of the problems.Like Curt said,not no shop vac but a good DC.Owner of 16/32---Carroll

[Ralph Butts]

Hi Scott, I picked up one on CL about a year ago with wheels, about $200 in sandpaper, not abused for $375. I don't know if you will find that kind of deal again but $600 doesn't seem like a great deal. No to imply that it's not good enough deal however. I have had mixed results as well but I have to say initially most of my issues were due to user error and being unfamiliar with the tools characteristics. Too high a feed rate, insufficient dust collection to remove removed material were just two of things I needed to address. Wide stock still tends to be a bit of a PITA. It was the right tool for me as a hobbyist with space limitations. That being said I sure wish Santa would leave a 24" dual drum sander under my tree this year. I have no idea what I would give up to make room in my shop however.

[Shawn Pixley]

I have a 16/32 and like it and would not get rid of it. As others have said, it is finicky to set up but then works well. The price of $600 doesn't seem all that great. DC is a must!

[Andrew Gibson]

I picked one up a few weeks ago off of CL for $340... I know I got a really good deal. Mine sounds just like the one you are looking at. I love it, I have been using it for instrument making...

I love it. If you are in central FL I can get you a 22"/44" performax for $550

[robert morrison]

Do you have a specific need or use for the drum sander ?

I paid about $ 500 for a used performax 16-32 without casters or extra infeed or out feed tables. The extra tables permenatly take up space. A portable roller stand can be moved out of the way when not in use. The $ 170 in paper sounds like alot, but is that based on the precut jet rolls at more than $ 10 per roll. If you buy a 50 yard spool you end up spending only about $ 3 per refill.

I bought it to surface figured wood. My straight knife planer chips out figured wood and the drum sander easily takes care of the chipout. The optional casters are brutally expensive from Jet, but SES casters on fleabay has some total locks that work well. Don't even try using sappy soft woods as the sand paper will gum up in a heartbeat. I have never had a problem using hardwoods up to 14" or so wide. I must be slightly out of adjustmet as a 30" wide piece had a slight ridge after going thru one half at a time. I have had no problems with the 2.5" dust port. From the cyclone a 6" pipe is wyed to two 4" hoses both are left open with one of them reduced to 2.5" at the hood.

The sander isn't fast. Being that I have the older version, I set the manual feed control to about 1/4 speed, and remove a 1/4 turn of the depth crank which removes 1/64" per pass.


My .02

[Jeff Duncan]

I bought mine new and had it for less than a year, so I'd say my experience was also a negative one, that doesn't mean yours will be though. A large factor is what you expect out of your equipment. For example, I could never use a contractors saw as the main saw in my shop, yet there are probably thousands of guys out there doing it every day. I couldn't get anything done with a little 6" jointer and a benchtop planer, but again, there are many guys out there using them every day. Will the Performax work for you....maybe? I know it couldn't get the job done for me so I moved to a dual drum. It was a night and day difference. A couple years later I moved in to a wide belt....again no comparison.

In general I'd say for a hobbiest not in a rush doing a piece here and there, you could probably get a lot of mileage out of one. As soon as you start needing to get things done quickly it loses much of it's appeal.

good luck,
JeffD

[frank shic]

i got one of of CL for around the same price. it's not a wide BELT sander but it gets the job done fast enough for my purposes and does a much better job than a random orbital sander at flattening a raised panel door.

[Jim Ringo]

I have had the 10-20 version for about 5 years now and have had very good results, though I would like more power. As others have said it can be a pain to set up but once it is dialed in it works very well. You get used to the hassle of changing paper in pretty short order.

Keep in mind that this is just a surfacing tool... if you use it for material removal you will probably be very disappointed. For that it is way underpowered.

[david brum]

I'll jump in here. I've had an older Performax for a few years now. I initially got poor results (i.e. burning and divots) from the machine until I learned that it works much better as a micro thicknessing tool than a finishing sander. I found that anything finer than 80 grit paper will load up and burn very easily, or else stall the motor. With the coarser grit paper though, it is a really useful machine. You can't beat it (compared to hand sanding) for levelling cabinet doors or smaller table tops. As long as you're only advancing the drum 1/4 turn at a time, it will work great.

For finer grits, it wants to load up and can be frustrating with some wood if you try to take a big bite. You have to advance the head just a tiny bit each time. It works even better if you run your pieces through the sander multiple times on the same setting. Even then, it can still load up and burn. It's usually less frustrating to use a ROS after the 80 grit.

[Alan Lightstone]

I've had mine for about 6 months. I find that I get acceptable results if I go no quicker than 1/8th turns. Sure takes a long time, and still have to use ROS afterwards, but I find I can do finer dimensioning than with my jointer, and finish up without the jointer blade marks/snipe. I made my own infeed and outfeed tables with a slight upward slope to avoid snipe, and they have been pretty effective.

Now changing the sandpaper is an absurd process. I always think, "Are you feeling lucky, punk?" as I'm doing it.

I think I would enjoy a double belt sander much more, and a wide belt even more, but who has the room for that?

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I've had one for years. If you do buy it remember 1) it's NOT a thickness planer. Take off small bites, as the sucessful ones have said. It mostly depends on what you want to do. If you're doing thin boards, I think this is one of the few machines that can do it. I routinely take my instrument boards down to less than 1/8 inch. Take your time and alternate the feed direction. 2) It's not a thickness planer. It will burn if you try to take more than 1/4 turn on the crank.
Considering inflation, 600 bucks seems fair, NOT the deal of the century. I paid 700 for that and the tables, which I consider a must if you're doing short boards, like I do. Get the sandpaper eraser, it cleans up most of the loading.

[Paul McGaha]

Scott,

I have a Delta 16/32 and I really like it. I really do use mine for sanding rather than thicknessing. It reduces the time I have to spend with a ROS but I find I still have to use the ROS and a 1/4 sheet sander after that. I think I tend to keep either 100 or 120 grit paper on mine and dont change the grit very often.

I found it kind of interesting that the creeker I bought it from used very low grits and used it like a planer if I understood him correctly. Just the opposite of what i do.

As for the price that looks to be about 50% of new which I think is in the ballpark for a used tool.

As others have mentioned I think it's a good tool for a hobbiest but I would think a pro would need something bigger.

I'm glad I have mine. The only problem I have with it is it was the last stationary tool I put in my shop and I really dont have the room for it. It sticks out like a sore thumb.

Good luck with it.

PHM


I have the opportunity to purchase a Performax 16-32 Drum Sander (now Jet 16-32) with new conveyor belt and approx. $170 worth of sanding strips for $600. For those that are famliar with this unit is this a fair price? It does not include the optional infeed/out table extensions. Are these necessary? It does include optional wheels for moving unit around the shop.

[David Kumm]

If you are near WI I have a 25x2 with a wixey gauge that I will sell for $750. The double drum is a good way to go as the coarse drum allows the finer drum to remove only enough for finish sanding. I moved to a 37x2. Dave

[Robert Wolf]

Speaking of dust collection, some of the early ones had 2.5" dust ports. 4" is mandatory IMO. Those things will produce some dust. If you don't think so, just hook the DC hose up, turn the DC on and neglect to open the gate.


You seem to be very experienced in this method,lol

[Art Mann]

I own both the 16-32 and the 10-20 and for what I am doing, I could not do without them. I use the larger machine with 80 grit to make my stock of uniform thickness +/- 0.004" for CNC carving and cutting. I only take off a few thousandths at a time as needed. I will then either carve and sand or sand and carve, depending on the situation, with the 10-20 and 120 grit. After that, I have only a little work to do with a ROS.

[Robert Wolf]

I own both the 16-32 and the 10-20 and for what I am doing, I could not do without them. I use the larger machine with 80 grit to make my stock of uniform thickness +/- 0.004" for CNC carving and cutting. I only take off a few thousandths at a time as needed. I will then either carve and sand or sand and carve, depending on the situation, with the 10-20 and 120 grit. After that, I have only a little work to do with a ROS.

This is a fabulous idea. I never thought about buying a smaller one for the workbench.

[Mike Henderson]

I have a 16/32 and it works okay, but it's not wide enough. I'd like to sell it and buy a 25" or so.

Mike

[Robert Wolf]

I have a 16/32 and it works okay, but it's not wide enough. I'd like to sell it and buy a 25" or so.

Mike

Me too, but my Shop is only 12x18 and has the washer,dryer, air handler, and hot water heater in it. lol

[Curt Harms]

You seem to be very experienced in this method,lol


Nope, only takes once.:o

[Frank Drackman]

I use it to thickness cutting boards and am extremely happy with the results. I have a wide jointer but because of tearout with different grain directions in the laminations I don't use it.

I use very coarse belts, high speed on the conveyor, and very light passes without any burning.

[Gene Takae]

One of the biggest problems is running it without a dust collector.Not for the soul purpose of keeping the shop clean but more for removel of dust off the piece being sanded which will make the drum and base flex and maybe causing some of the problems.Like Curt said,not no shop vac but a good DC.Owner of 16/32---Carroll

Carroll is absolutely correct. Running without a proper DC causes problems not to mention the health hazard from the dust.

[John Cole]

I fall into the pro camp. I've had a performax 16/32 for about 15 years and use it on almost every project. As others have pointed out, it is not a thickness planer and good dust collection is an absolute must. I purchased the infeed and outfeed tables, but dont use them anymore.
I consider it one of my better purchases and would buy again in a heartbeat.

[Peter Aeschliman]

I have the ryobi version of this machine which seems to be nearly identical. I will echo the thoughts of others.

It's a very slow machine. You have to take extremely shallow passes, use lower grit sand paper and use a slow feed speed. Do not expect it to produce a finish-ready surface. As you reach the end of your sanding session, send the workpiece through 2 or 3 times without changing the cutting depth- this will solve for deflection. Use at least a 4" DC hose/pipe.

It's not a nice machine, but it does things no other machine in my shop does.... and I got the thing for $200.

EDIT: and changing the sand paper is a super frustrating process. If you have fat fingers, you're going to want to throw the thing out the window.