Woodmaster drum sanders would you buy again ?

[Mike Kees]

I am thinking about a drum sander for my shop. Woodmaster has come up quite a bit in the searching I have done online so far. To you guys that have one was it a good purchase ? If you had a chance would you buy it again ? The biggest question for me is the drum speed (750) rpm . All other drum sanders I have looked at have been faster 1000-1500 rpm. Does the speed work well? Is Woodmasters claim that paper lasts longer at this speed true? How is the build quality ? Also I am wondering if they are UL ,CSA, ETL listed. Thanks for any info ,Mike.

[Van Huskey]

IMO they are the best built drum sanders. I am very happy with my 5075 and would buy again UNLESS I had the power/budget/DC to have a 37"+ wide belt.

[Bruce Page]

I have the 2675. I was not aware of the slower speed, never even gave it a thought.. Paper lasts a long time, much longer than it did on my old Delta 18/36. They are built like a tank and are large machines, make sure you have the room for one.

I'm like Van, the only way I'd give mine up would be for a large wide belt which I don't have the power/budget/DC for.

[Mike Kees]

I also dont have the budget or power for a widebelt. Room is not an issue yet, but if I buy a few more machines could become one. Is it hard to find felt backed paper for these machines ? Also wondering if a double drum is worth it compared to the single drums ?Thanks again, Mike.

[Bill ThompsonNM]

I also dont have the budget or power for a widebelt. Room is not an issue yet, but if I buy a few more machines could become one. Is it hard to find felt backed paper for these machines ? Also wondering if a double drum is worth it compared to the single drums ?Thanks again, Mike.
Not hard to find paper. Work great- closest thing to a wide belt sander.

[Dennis Yamamoto]

I have a 2675, and would buy it again. The slower drum speed is fine. I like it much better than the Jet/Performax 22-44 and 16-32 that I used to own. I had to continuously mess with both the belt tracking and parallelism of the open ended Performax design. Of course, this might be my own incompetence in setting up the Performax!

Note though that the Woodmaster is still a drum sander, and is not a planer or wide belt. Since I'm too lazy to change the paper, I typically run 150 grit and can only advance the drum about 1/8 of a turn otherwise I risk burning the wood. Others might use coarser grits, but I don't like removing all of the cross grain scratches, and again, I don't like to change the paper.

[Rick Potter]

I have the 36" Woodmaster. Love it, but it is big. DC is very necessary for best results. I currently have two grits on the single drum, 80 on one side, and 120 on the other. Works great. Lots better than the 18" Delta I had previously, and it does not need a lot of adjusting. Get the variable speed for the feed belt....very nice.

I sand before assembly, get all pieces to the same thickness, and only have to do a quick final sanding with a ROS, and I love the Velcro paper. Most parts are available from multiple sources, but haven''t needed any yet.

Woodmaster has many videos you can watch on YouTube. You can also get paper through them at a decent price.

One problem. Mine has a ShopFox(?) mobile base.....waaay too lightweight.

[Van Huskey]

I also dont have the budget or power for a widebelt. Room is not an issue yet, but if I buy a few more machines could become one. Is it hard to find felt backed paper for these machines ? Also wondering if a double drum is worth it compared to the single drums ?Thanks again, Mike.

Figured I would come back to this because I was terse last night.

The hook and loop system is great because as Rick pointed out you can use different grits on the same roller. That is the biggest reason I went with a 50" it lets me have two grits on the same roller roughly 24" wide and a couple of occasions I have actually run 3 grits at once and with the 50" I had a little over 15" of each. It is also very quick and easy to change paper without having to deal with the finicky end clips. So the very wide single drum has advantages for ME versus a smaller double drum because I have the extra width when I want it and 2/3 grits on the roller when I need it BUT it does require moving the piece. In general I find double drums on a drum sander less useful than a widebelt since the stock may have to go through a drum sander several times due to the light passes required. It sounds nice in theory but for me running in forward and reverse with one grit on each side of the larger sander is more efficient.

If I were you I would investigate the ease of buying paper in Canada, Woodmaster sells high quality paper, I THINK it may be 3M, don't remember and I also have bought Klingspor paper many times since they tend to be my usual sandpaper supplier so I would just add on to my order from them. The price of Klingspor is slightly lower since their rolls are 25m vs 25 yards but they both are industrial quality paper.

I have the reversing switch and the table extensions. The reversing switch is great since you can stand on one side and send work through and back without moving or having to carry the stock, the table extensions really help here. I also have their very heavy duty mobile base which I also can recommend.

The speed of the drum isn't what you should be looking at it is the SFPM because of the variation in drum sizes. That said the WM sanders do have "slow seed" drums and IME it does lead to less burning.

One other thing to note about the WM sanders they have monster US built motors which are torquey 4 pole (1725 rpm) which are better suited to this work than faster 2 pole motors. Mine has a 7.5hp motor and I took it our one time (not due to a problem) and after removing the bolts it was so heavy I swore there a hidden bolt still attached.

As for the electrical certification I have no idea, all the electricals appear to be high quality and terminated well. Off the top of my head the only thing I have ever noticed that was a little lack luster in quality is the typical plastic Chiwanese motor starter but American made switch gear would have added ~$300 to the retail and those boxes work fine and are less than $100 to replace if you ever have an issue.

The bottom line they are no wide belt BUT unlike many other machines catergories it is easy to say they are the best of breed, just nothing else out there like them. I honestly can't ever remember reading anything significantly negative about them. Again I think in a perfect world we would all prefer a widebelt but the only widebelts near the price point are Chiwanese 15" open end versions which for my uses are just to much of a compromise on size and quality.

[Rick Potter]

I also have the reversing switch, but have never installed it. Just another thing on my list. Glad to hear it works as advertised. I find it interesting that sending parts through the machine twice with the same 80 grit and adjustment gives them a nicer finish. Then I hit them with the 120 twice, and they are pretty nice (red oak). ROS after assembly.

Splitting the drum between two grits still gives me enough surface area to do most raised panels on my 36".

I sanded 72 pieces of rail and stile a while back, and my autistic grandaughter caught them and set them back on top of the machine for the next pass. She was a great timesaver (sic). A couple days ago, she did the same job, when I cut the cope and stick on them at the router table.

Today I start on the panels for the 19 cabinet doors.

[Jim Tobias]

+1 on the Woodmaster . I have had the 36" for probably 10 years and never had any issues. I use it a lot instead of my planer on figured woods for thickness.

Jim

[Ed Labadie]

Over 10 years on my 36" also......no complains, excellent machine.

Last time I bought paper from woodmaster, it was Mirka brand, good paper, holds up well. When the paper loads up a little, remove it and clean with the powerwasher for like new performance.

Just remember to make light passes at a slow feed rate, I never go over .015" (1/4 turn of the crank) in one pass. When sanding glue-ups, angle the work slightly so the glue lines do not track in the same spot on the paper. This reduces loading.

Ed

[Van Huskey]

When the paper loads up a little, remove it and clean with the powerwasher for like new performance.



I keep a crepe block next to mine and clean the paper often. I think it was Sam Blasco that mentioned using silicon that had dried in the tube, I haven't tried it yet.

[eugene thomas]

The reverse switch is nice to have. If ya feed to thick of stock in sure can save the paper.

[richard poitras]

One problem. Mine has a ShopFox(?) mobile base.....waaay too lightweight.

I have one and they are a great sander.

I don't have a mobile base I just use a pallet jack and it works great for moving it, among other things as well.

[Bruce Page]

One problem. Mine has a ShopFox(?) mobile base.....waaay too lightweight.

I have the Shop Fox mobile base also. Worked great except the wheels kept flat spotting. I replaced the original wheels with quality red ones from a local caster supply house. No more flat spotting.

[Rick Potter]

On my 5HP 36 incher, I could not move it without using a 2X4 and levering it an inch at a time, and that was when the mobile base was new. Now, I use a steel Johnson bar and pry on the mobile base. For years, I have planned to dump it and build one....someday. If I remember right, mine had a shipping weight of around 1100#, including the paper and mobile base.

[Mike Kees]

Thanks to everyone for all the replies. I was gone for the last day and a half so just checked in tonite. Exactly the type of information I was hoping for. I will be watching for a used one for a while and if nothing shows up will probably buy one new in the fall. I am thinking that I would like a 36 inch one, probably single drum unless I find a double. Thanks again,Mike.

[Van Huskey]

Exactly the type of information I was hoping for. I will be watching for a used one for a while and if nothing shows up will probably buy one new in the fall.

You do know what will happen, they day after your new one is delivered a "perfect" used one will pop up 2 miles away for 1/2 price...

I have wondered if I could trick the woodworking gods by having fake machines delivered, kinda like the Allies Ghost Army in WWII. I wonder where I can get an inflatable shaper...

[Acharya Kumarswami]

I notice that the phone number listed on the Woodmaster website is out of service. Can anyone confirm that they are still up and running.
I would like to be able to talk with a sales person on the phone.