Drum Sander

[Donny Lawson]

I'm looking around for a small drum sander and needing advise on what to look for? I would like to use one to laminate smaller pieces after a smooth finish from the sander. My shop is pretty full so I do not have alot of space at this time.

[Jim Tabor]

I had a small Jet 10/20 that did an okay job for what it was designed for, slow, could take off very little at a pass, but easy to adjust. I now have a Delta 18/36 that I would not recommended. Very, very slow, poor belt tracking, poor table adjustment. In fact, if you lived in MO. I would be happy to sell it to you.:D

[Curt Harms]

I think Jim's issues are pretty common for small drum sanders. I have the 16/32 Performax (pre Jet) machine. I had a user issue with trying to take too much in one pass and tripping the onboard thermal protection. I installed an ammeter so could vary the feed speed to maintain a 13 amp load. Some newer machines have automated this function, I think they call it 'smart sand' or something similar. Some people have had trouble with the feed belt not tracking properly. I've not had an issue with that.

A drum sander is not really a finishing machine but does work for things like smoothing end grain cutting boards, smoothing tear-out prone woods or maybe cleaning up painted boards or those with grit in them that would be hard on planer knives.

[Bill Huber]

I have a Jet 10/20 and love it, it is great for panels less then 20" and many other things. I use it for all my end grain cutting boards, makes it much easier then any other thing I have tried.

I had a problem with belt tracking until I understood it and got it set right. It will not take off a lot in one pass but then again it is not a planer. I really don't think it is a finish sander, I run 120 grit and still have to do the finish sanding with ROS.

I am not sure but I think it would work fine for what you want to do.

[Cary Falk]

Another option is the 12" baby drum sander by Grizzly. I haven't read anything negative about it. I have a Grizzly 18/36 sander which is probably bigger than you are looking for.

[Jim McDonald]

When I felt like I need a drum sander, I built one, already had most of the parts on hand that I needed. So, You could create one with any sized footprint that would work for you. Mine ended up with about a 24" drum. Works fairly well.

[John TenEyck]

I have a Delta 18 x 36 and love it. No problems other than minor belt tracking issues. Never tripped out the motor, never any problems. The sandpaper holding clips are amazing simple and effective, and it takes less than a minute to change paper. These type of machines are not planers, but they excel at removing small amounts of material, making a surface truly flat, and dimensioning shop sawn veneer. I pretty much leave 120 grit on mine all the time, which gives me a surface ready for final sanding w/o leaving deep scratches that are hard to remove. Good dust collection is mandatory with these machines, both for your health and to keep the sandpaper from loading up. Look for a used machine. You can often get one for about 1/2 price with minimal wear, like I did.

John