Performax 16-32 questions.

[Tony Sade]

I'm saving up for a sander and am leaning towards the Performax 16-32. I'm curious about the following:

1. What is the footprint? Anything above the legs stick out beyond the footprint? (Small shop-not much room for new stuff.)

2. Any alternative to the very pricey casters ($90-100 for a set)? Would one of the Delta/HF style mobile bases work?

3. Are the accessory infeed/outfeed tables worth the money? How easy would it be to fabricate my own infeed/outfeed setup? Any examples out there?

4. Would some type of side table to support wide pieces be advisable? Any ideas?

5. What grits are advisable for general use?

Thanks for any help you can offer. Tony

Post Response Return to Inde

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Tony, the footprint is about 29X47, but nothing sticks out beyond that. Mine came with the casters and they are some of the best I've ever used. I suppose you could put it on a shop fox type mobile base or a shop built one, but you'll definitely need one. Don't know one way or the other about the outfeed tables and you can get just about any grit paper you want. I've not used it for sanding wider than about 20 inches.

[Spence DePauw]

I got these wheels from Grizzly for either $7 or $8 each. They work well. They are a metric stud of "close enough to 1/2" to fit the holes. I had to get the metric nuts locally.

They work great for me, at about 1/3 of the brand price.


Spence

Model H0687 GRAY RBR CASTER - W/DOUBLE BRAKE 4"

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I think the infeed/outfeed tables are almost a must-have if you do anything longer than about 18"...not only do they provide the obvious support, they also give you a little more time so you can run two pieces back to back without having to worry about holding the second piece while you try to catch the first before it falls off the belt.

I don't have to move mine around, so I just sat it on top of a cabinet/box. If you need it to be mobile, you'll want wheels...you don't wanna have to carry it around. More awkward than heavy, but plenty heavy enough.


KC

[Stan Smith]

I've had the 16x32 for awhile. I have the in/outfeed tables and consider them a plus. initially, I bought some cheapo casters at ace hardware. Later I upgraded to the caster set offered by Lee valley for around $35? I roll it around all over the place. My only complaint is getting the rollers parallel. It is a little tricky. I rarely sand anything over the 16" width so I'm thinking that I should have gotten a closed end sander. The performax is good quality, though. I bought a bunch of different grits. It does flatten stock whereas the planer does not.

Stan

[Jim Becker]

Most users I've heard from on this tool indicate that the infeed-outfeed tables are pretty much non-optional for anything more than small craft work. Dust collection is also not optional with these sanders...you really cannot use them without it. The casters you can do something yourself for a lot less money, although they are very nice casters.

Most of those same users also recommend not using sandpaper grits much greater than 120 or 150. The higher grits gum up very quickly and can cause a lot of burning on certain species. It's important to remember that these drum sanders are not finish sanders. You'll still need to do some work with your ROS or by hand once you run your panels and components through.

[craig carlson]

Hi,

I think anything past 120 grit is almost a waste. If you start getting into the finer grits they start to load up real quick. So many times we have seen people try to make a tool do something that it wasn't designed for, this tool works great if you don't push its' capability, it also works great for any kind of figured wood that you may have. That is the biggest reason that I bought it. You can expect to do final sanding after you run the piece through the drum sander. It is not a planner!

Craig Carlson
Sebastopol, Ca