Small drrum sander recommendation?

[John Myers]

I thinking that a small drum sander would come in handy in my shop - used for small box making. I've looked at a couple of models. General 15-155 M1 13" looks like a solid machine, but I can't find any reviews for this. I don't own any General International machines, but it seems like they make solid machines from what I've read. Another consideration is finding a used Woodmaster 12" W1200 machine. What have others used for a small drum sander?

[Earl Rumans]

Have you ever looked at one of these? http://stockroomsupply.ca/shop/drum-sanders/18-flatmaster.html I have the 24 inch version and it's a great sander. For small box making, I don't think you could go wrong with one.

[Jim Finn]

I make hundreds of boxes, every year, with inlaid images in the hinged lids. I once used the "Baby Drum Sander" from Grizzly but it required so many motor replacements that I finally tossed it. I now just use my DeWalt planer, a 6" wide stationary belt sander and a "V" sander (From stockroom supply). I also use a hand held random Orbital sander. I use the"V"sander only to sand flat, the top and bottom of the sides before gluing the top and the bottom in place .

[Stephen Musial]

I have the Jet/Perfomax 10" and it works like a dream. I run every board through it prior to assembly and it does a great job. No troubles with tracking and the feed speed and belt speed are set separately. Great dust collection and a small footprint.

[Bill Huber]

With the General you are stuck at 13" and that is it.

With the Jet like Stephen was talking about you can go up to 20" if needed.

I have the Jet 10-20 and love it, it does a great job and really the learning curve is not that long. The first thing to learn is the feed belt tracking, it has to be done slow and you have to understand which screw to tighten and which to loosen.

Changing the paper is not that bad after you have done it a few times, it just take a little bit of understanding on getting it in and tight.

They are not cheap, there was a thread on that a few days ago but you can find them used, there was one in Dallas last week that sold for $400.

[Loren Woirhaye]

I have one of those Woodmasters. It's for sale actually. It works pretty well for a drum sander. I have a Performax 22/44 too and the Woodmaster is way easier to get good results with. The wraps are also a lot shorter so they are easy to cut and by the time they get torn up they are usually ready for the trash anyway. I took off the felt setup (for velcro paper) and use standard 3" wide cloth backed abrasive held on with tape.

[John Myers]

Thanks for the replies. I'll take a look at the Jet 10-20 - it would be the right size that I'm looking for. I think $1300 for the General is a little steep for what I want to do.