Jet 10-20 Drum Sander?

[Dan Case LR]

I've been considering a small drum sander for a while now. My principal need is sanding resawn veneers for use in segmented bowls, with occasional use for sanding segmented rings. The 10-20 is attractive to me because it's fairly compact (I have limited space) and economical (I have limited funds as well). Many of the other low-end drum sanders will only go down to 1/8", but the 10-20 can go down to 1/32". For the next couple of days the 10-20 is 15% off, down to $650 on Amazon.

Any reason why the 10-20 won't do what I need it to do?

Thanks!

D.

[Bill Huber]

I really like mine and for my use it works great. I have never gone down to 1/32" but I see no reason it would not work there just as well.

Here is a post on it.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?210472-drum-sander-help-please&p=2184068&highlight=#post2184068

[Harry Robinette]

Dan
One of the guy's at work uses his to do quilt patterns from veneer. He says that he would like a 16-32 for his furniture but this little one is unbelievable for doing his quilt pieces.I have the big one and love it,it will go that thin with a carrier board from what I've been told but haven't tried it.
He uses veneer to make quilt blocks like the lady's do with cloth and they are beautiful.

[Michelle Rich]

I've had one for 15?? yrs..works well for me. If you want thinner sanding, put it on a carrier board.

[mike ash]

I use a drum sander often to take accent pieces down as thin as 1/32". I do it by the use of a sled made from 3/4" pine with a 1/32' stop glued perpendicular to the direction of travel. I find the sled mechanism gives me a more consistent thickness of the veneer. The stop keeps the pieces in place as they will want to shoot out when the sander first touches them. If this isn't clear, I could take a photo.

Mike

[Paul Gilbert]

I have the 22/44 Jet oscillating sander. It blew the motor coupling within months of very light use in my hobby shop. Jet's customer service was attentive and helpful, but when I got the FedEx parts the shop got filled with shouted expletives that would make a sailor blush. You need tiny little Chinese hands to reach in there to manipulate set screws with an Allen wrench. I found that almost half of the screws were missing any trace of Neversieze. I finally got a sheared off screw out, but thought for a while that I would have to completely dissemble the entire machine.

A look at how the oscillating mechanism works led me to the conclusion that Jet hired some Chinese engineers who didn't graduate at the top of their class. I makes the Afro type look real smart. I locked out the oscillating feature. The next time it fails I will replace it with a flex coupling.

My advice is to sstear clear of the oscillating version of this machine. The standard version has a flex coupling and should work well. Better yet get the Performax model. That one was designed before WKM bought the company and moved production to China.

[Roger Chandler]

I have the predecessor to the Jet..........a Performax 16/32 ..........it does a great job. I have not yet gotten into segmenting, but am studying the books on it and will get into it in the future. I plan to use my unit to sand segment rings flat.

If you take light passes the unit works great............I have had my unit for at least 8 years............it has worked like a charm for cabinet doors and other items I have built, and sped up the sanding process dramatically.

[Dan Case LR]

Thanks y'all for your input. I'm currently using my 13" planer to surface resawn veneer using a carrier. I usually am shooting for 1/16" thickness, and sometimes it comes out just fine. Other times--usually on the pieces with interesting figure--it comes out a mess, even with super-light cuts. I think a sander should do this better, and with the 10-20 I shouldn't need a carrier. Of all the comments I've found while searching, the worst--from a credible source, that is--have been "it can't do some things a bigger one can do" and "I don't use it as much as I used to." Certainly not perfect, but then again, so am I. :)

For better or worse, I just placed the order (it's the last day of the sale).

Thanks again!

D.