Small Form Drum Sanders?

[Will Rodman]

Hi everyone,

Just found out about this forum and this is my first post. I mainly do small projects and engraving work.

I'm in the market for a drum sander that will get my board as concentric as possible. I really would like the boards to be as even flat as I can get it. I don't need to go any wider then 10-12" but I need to down to a thickness of 1/16" or less.

I think I've narrowed my search down to a couple machines (Jet 16-32, Jet 10-20, and Supermax 19-38). I'm open to anything else you guys can think of. My budget is about $1500 but all the money I can save the better.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks for looking!

[Bill Neely]

I had a Jet 10/20, worked fine but you really need to be patient - I'm not.

[George Bokros]

I have a Performax 16-32 which is now the Jet 16-32. It works fine. I do not believe any of them will go down to 1/16" however. It is not a thicknessing tool but a finishing tool. You are limited by how much you can take off in one pass.

[Matt Day]

There's the Grizzly G1059 as well. If you're not going beyond 12", I would stick with a closed end type sander like this one.

[William C Rogers]

I have the Supermax and have used it for two years without problems. It has some nice features such as all metal construction that helps hanging a dust hose on the cover, easy to change sand paper, etc. Read the reviews and I think the Supermax will come out on top.

[John Coloccia]

I have a Performax 16-32 which is now the Jet 16-32. It works fine. I do not believe any of them will go down to 1/16" however. It is not a thicknessing tool but a finishing tool. You are limited by how much you can take off in one pass.

I believe Jet's spec SAYS you can go that low. It's complete nonsense. When I called them on it, they said, "Oh, you have to use a carrier board to do that". No kidding, huh? You can do it with any sander using a carrier board. I bought the Jet SPECIFICALLY to do that, so yeah, I'm a little bitter. With any sort of reasonable dust collection on it, it sucks the conveyor into the drum when there's no board running through, so you need a board to get the head off the conveyor some.

Anyhow, I have the Jet 22-44. It's one of those love/hate relationships, but it works and has served me well for a good number of years. If someone stole it, I would most likely look to spend a few extra bucks and replace it with something better. The Jet line is probably perfectly fine for what you're doing, and they show up used with some regularity, if my memory serves me.

[Bradley Gray]

+1 for Supermax. The 2 post design is accurate enough to sand to 1/16". Mine is 20+ years old and still rocks. Look for a used one.

[John TenEyck]

I have a Delta 18 x 36 and can easily sand down to 1/32" or less w/o issue. I had no clue the others couldn't do that. I often make shop sawn veneer and having to use a carrier board would be a real pain. But I agree with the comment that if your needs don't exceed 12", or whatever, buy a closed end sander as they are more rigid and should be better able to give you the parallelity you are looking for. Another thing to look for is ease of changing the sand paper. It's a snap on my Delta, but I've read that some are rather difficult.

John