Looking for comments on a SuperMax 25/50

[Mike Henderson]

I've been watching CraigsList for over a year waiting for a decent used 22/44 drum sander to come available. Came close on one but no success.

So I've decided to just buy new. The SuperMax 25/50 (http://www.acmetools.com/shop/tools/supermax-tools-72550-op-2550-drum-sander#specs) looks good to me but I want to get some opinions from people who own one first. I have a 16/32 now but it only works well for 16". Trying to do two passes to get wider always leave a mark on the panel. I want a drum sander that will take a 20 to 24 inch panel.

A few questions about the 25/50:

1. The motor is 1.75HP which is about the max you can power on a 120V 20A circuit. Do you find that it's underpowered, especially when sanding a wide panel?

2. Should I buy the infeed and outfeed extensions? Or does it work okay without them?

3. If you own one, are you generally happy with it? Glad you bought it?

4. Any other comments about it will be appreciated.

Mike

[Cary Falk]

1. I don't find the 1.75hp motor underpowered. The sandsmart slows things down if you take off too big of a bite. This is not a widebelt nor a planer.
2. I bought them. Don't use them much. I don't find them all that helpful on really big heavy pieces. I can't get them adjusted well enough. They are a pain to put on and remove. I am trying to devise a drop down mech. to get them out of the way. For many short pieces they provide a place to gather instead of falling on the floor.
3.I am very happy I got it. I used to have a Grizzly 18/36 which drove me batty sometimes even though I got it on CL for $450 and sued the crap out of it for 7 years and sold if for the same money.
4. What bugs me a little bit is that the conveyor is from the 19/38 and a roller platform makes the other 6". It works fine if you are using the full 25". It doesn't work all that great if you want to run narrow pieces on that 6" so that part of the drum is mostly wasted. I have not tried to run a 25+" board through it yet. I don't expect any issues . It worked fine on my 18/36. Boards that big tend to be very heavy and very hard to manage.


The conveyor belt hasn't moved in 2.5 years.

[John C Bush]

Hi Milke,
I have the closed end version-SuperMax SandPro 25-and use it a fair amount for my hobby habit. I think all the mechanicals are the same. Myconveyor belt is full width tho. The key to using it is patience and taking small bites per pass. The SandSmart keeps me in line as well. I like the tables as I can roll it out of the way and not lose shop space. I had a 16-32 and sold it when I found the 25 used/almost brand new and it works much better for me. I just finished a solid cherry desk top 24" x 50" x1" using 100,120,& 150 grits then finished with my cheapo ROS. I bought 220 grit but don't use it much, if at all, as it clogs and burns too easily. If a burn line developes I discovered that a brass bristled brush(Harbour Freight) will clean off the paper and spare replacement--for a while--but does extend the life of the paper. I make fly fishing landing nets and finish sand the 1/8" x 3/4" x 50"+ lamination strips with no problem so thin and skinny stock is possible as well. Good luck shopping!

[Ken Krawford]

Mike your post is a week or 2 early for me. I just finished assembling my SM 25-50 last week but only ran a couple of test pieces so far. My outfeed tables arrived yesterday and I'm assembling them today. At first glance they appear to fold down which will be nice to reduce the footprint of the machine. I had them on my 16-32 and liked them especially when sanding shorter pieces. Without them, shorts would quickly fall off the sander but with the outfeed table they can lay there until I walk around and pick them up for another pass.
I'm very impressed with the sander's construction. It's a real beast at over 400 lbs. You'll need a strong helper to set the upper unit on the stand.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

I had one before I opted for my Wide Belt.
First thing I hated about the 25/50 was the legs. Always in the way, took up way too much shop space.
Second Thing is the Flex. Since the bed moves and not the drum, I married the open side with some lumber.
But mostly I got tired of replacing burnt paper. Get something that Oscillates!

I guess I had the old double drum 25/50.
More machine, but still a pain

[Mike Henderson]

I had one before I opted for my Wide Belt.
First thing I hated about the 25/50 was the legs. Always in the way, took up way too much shop space.
Second Thing is the Flex. Since the bed moves and not the drum, I married the open side with some lumber.
But mostly I got tired of replacing burnt paper. Get something that Oscillates!

I guess I had the old double drum 25/50.
More machine, but still a pain

Thanks for your comments, Mike. The 25/50 I'm looking at (http://www.acmetools.com/shop/tools/supermax-tools-72550-op-2550-drum-sander#specs)has a different base and the head moves up and down, not the bed. I understand your comment about burning and will check out oscillating sanders, but I think they will be more dollars than I want to spend. I have a 16/32 now and have learned how to minimize burning.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

Mike your post is a week or 2 early for me. I just finished assembling my SM 25-50 last week but only ran a couple of test pieces so far. My outfeed tables arrived yesterday and I'm assembling them today. At first glance they appear to fold down which will be nice to reduce the footprint of the machine. I had them on my 16-32 and liked them especially when sanding shorter pieces. Without them, shorts would quickly fall off the sander but with the outfeed table they can lay there until I walk around and pick them up for another pass.
I'm very impressed with the sander's construction. It's a real beast at over 400 lbs. You'll need a strong helper to set the upper unit on the stand.

That's good news that the extension tables fold down to get them out of the way. Thanks for your comments.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

I went ahead and ordered the 25/50 with the open base. Acme Tools has a 10% off sale for the next 15 days (I assume it available to everyone - I received an email about it) so that helped.

I'll let you know what I think of it after I receive it.

I'll sell my 16/32 once I get this one up and running.

Mike

[Dave Zellers]

I went ahead and ordered the 25/50 with the open base. Acme Tools has a 10% off sale for the next 15 days (I assume it available to everyone - I received an email about it) so that helped.
Mike

Mike- was this specific to the 25-50? I'm really close to buying the 19-38 and hoping to find a similar deal. Acme was already my dealer of choice.

[Mike Henderson]

Mike- was this specific to the 25-50? I'm really close to buying the 19-38 and hoping to find a similar deal. Acme was already my dealer of choice.

I think the 10%, up to $150, was for anything you bought from Acme. I received an email about it but I think it was on their website, also.

The promotion code was WC100FF-DKF9M and it said it was good for 15 days. I received it on 1/15/2018. I don't know if that code was specific to me or a general code. I already ordered my 25/50 - supposed to arrive tomorrow.

Good Luck!

Mike

[The email said you had to be registered with the site, and logged in, in order to get the discount. Send me a PM with your email address and I'll forward the email I received from them, to you.]

[Mike Henderson]

The SuperMax 25/50 arrived today. I wasn't home but my wife was and she was able to get the delivery person to put the boxes just inside our gate.
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I started to unpack the unit. It was well packed and there was no shipping damage that I can see. The feed belt assembly came in a separate box and will be installed after I get the main unit installed on the stand.
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I've got the stand put together, except for the casters. I'm going to take the casters off of my 16/32 and put them on this stand.
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If all goes well, I'll rent an engine hoist tomorrow and put the unit on the stand. It's HEAVY.

I'll post more as I get the unit assembled and running.

Mike

[Mike OMelia]

Mike, that supermax is a sweet sander. If I ever upgrade from my Performax 22-44, it will be to that exact model that you bought. Supermax folks were the same ones behind Performax before Jet bought them. My motor is 1.75, never an issue. I cant see why I would need 25", I build guitars. But more is always better. In my book. lol. One thing I'd warn about is the stand. My stand is very similar, and as you noted, the sander is VERY heavy. I ended up adding angle iron cross beams to mine. And heavy duty casters. If you find your stand unacceptable, let me know and I'll send you pics of how I did it.

[Mike Henderson]

Mike, that supermax is a sweet sander. If I ever upgrade from my Performax 22-44, it will be to that exact model that you bought. Supermax folks were the same ones behind Performax before Jet bought them. My motor is 1.75, never an issue. I cant see why I would need 25", I build guitars. But more is always better. In my book. lol. One thing I'd warn about is the stand. My stand is very similar, and as you noted, the sander is VERY heavy. I ended up adding angle iron cross beams to mine. And heavy duty casters. If you find your stand unacceptable, let me know and I'll send you pics of how I did it.

Thanks, Mike. The stand appears to be pretty solid but if I have any issues, I'll contact you.

I went with the 25/50 because I occasionally do a panel that's maybe 24 inches. Don't think I've ever done any bigger than that. I have a 16/32 but often exceed 16 inches and it's a fiction that you can sand half at a time without any issues. It'll be really nice to put a wider panel through the sander and get it even across - same thickness across and no line down the middle.

Now, all I need to do is get it lifted up on the stand.

Mike

[Mike OMelia]

Mike, I lifted my 22-44 by myself. would not want to do that again. Lol!! If you have any doubts, do the reinforcement now while there is nothing on the stand. Basically run angle iron around base below the platform.

[Mike OMelia]

Here is what I did, as u can see, the stand is very similar to yours.

[Mike Henderson]

Here is what I did, as u can see, the stand is very similar to yours.

Thanks for posting those pictures, Mike. I'll look closely at my stand tomorrow and see what I want to do.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

I got an engine hoist from Harbor Freight. I could have rented one, but I didn't know how long I'd need it and the rental was about $50/day. I'll try to sell it as "almost new" on Craigslist. (note, it's not that the mounting would take more than a day, but things come up and my projects get delayed. This morning I had a plumbing problem to deal with but I was finished by about noon. There's always something.)

Anyway, I assembled the engine hoist, which is a project in itself. It's advertised as a 1 ton, but that's only if you have the boom all the way back, which doesn't give you a lot of lift. When you put the boom all the way out, it's down to a rating of 500 pounds, but that's more than the weight of the Supermax so I was very safe.

Here's a picture of the sander just as I started lifting it. I rigged it with some 250 pound rope.
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Once I got it high enough, I slid the stand under the sander and slowly lowered the sander to the stand. I had to rotate the sander and the far end touched the stand first, so I stopped the descent and lined up the mounting holes.
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Once I got the four mounting bolts in and tightened down, I untied the sander and that was it.
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The engine hoist made the job very safe and saved my back (and the back of helpers that I would have needed if we did it manually).

There's more to do to finish assembling the sander but that's for another day.

Mike

[Mike OMelia]

OMG, you are making feel like an idiot for hoisting that thing by myself. Have to admit, your approach was wiser than mine. :)

[Mike Henderson]

OMG, you are making feel like an idiot for hoisting that thing by myself. Have to admit, your approach was wiser than mine. :)

When you're an old man, like me, you have to find alternate ways to do certain things. Even with a strong helper, I doubt if I could have safely handled my end. That would be a lot of money if we dropped it. Even worse if it fell on one of our feet:)

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

I finished setting up the sander today. I installed the conveyor belt unit, the drop down infeed and outfeed tables, and the extension of the conveyor belt. There's a lot of adjustment to do to get it all set up correctly, but I guess that's good because it gives you ways to adjust things if you're having problems with the operation of the unit.

One thing to note is that the conveyor belt is only 22.25 inches wide, although the sander is 25 inches wide. They provide "extension rollers" that are attached to the side of the unit to support the extra almost 3 inches when sanding wide panels. I haven't tried a really wide panel yet so I'll have to wait to see how that extension works. I wonder if that conveyor unit is from their 22/44 drum sander.

In general, everything fit although I had some problems mounting the conveyor extension because the washers were too big around and kept the extension from going down enough. I had to grind a flat spot on the washers to get the extension to align properly.

I haven't really used it yet, except to pass a couple of pieces of wood through it for a test. If I experience any real problems, I'll post them here.

[Let me add that working with Acme Tools was great. I had a number of "chats" with them and they answered my questions and didn't try to push me to buy. They delivered what I expected - when promised - and it was well packed. Plus free shipping and no tax.]

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Mike

[Now, I have to sell my Jet 16/32.]

[Dave Zellers]

Looking good Mike. I ordered my 19-38 today.

FYI for anyone following this, the 10% off any single item up to $150, Mike referred to is available to all new web registrants at Acme Tools, good for 15 days from receipt of the coupon. They call it the Welcome discount. :) Those emails only go out once a week or so, so you might not receive it for a few days after signing up. I had purchased from Acme before but thankfully I hadn't signed up so I did and was eligible for the discount. Woo Hoo! Essentially that covered the extra cost of the in-feed out-feed tables and some sandpaper.
Lastly, the support tables do not show up on their website but they have them- you have to call and they will add them to the order.

Mike- I believe the conveyor is the same for both the 19-38 and the 25-50 sanders. It is a few inches short on the 25-50 and a few inches long on the 19-38.

Can't wait.

[Mike Henderson]

Looking good Mike. I ordered my 19-38 today.

FYI for anyone following this, the 10% off any single item up to $150, Mike referred to is available to all new web registrants at Acme Tools, good for 15 days from receipt of the coupon. They call it the Welcome discount. :) Those emails only go out once a week or so, so you might not receive it for a few days after signing up. I had purchased from Acme before but thankfully I hadn't signed up so I did and was eligible for the discount. Woo Hoo! Essentially that covered the extra cost of the in-feed out-feed tables and some sandpaper.
Lastly, the support tables do not show up on their website but they have them- you have to call and they will add them to the order.

Mike- I believe the conveyor is the same for both the 19-38 and the 25-50 sanders. It is a few inches short on the 25-50 and a few inches long on the 19-38.

Can't wait.

Thanks, Dave. Even if someone already registered, I suppose you could use a different email address and register again to get the discount.

Mike

[tom lucas]

I bought the new 16-32 with infeed/outfeed tables and I love it. Not too big but just right for most anything I want to do.

[Dave Zellers]

Mike- A question if you don't mind-


What is the distance from the floor to the top of the conveyor (including the wheels)?

[Mike Henderson]

Mike- 2 questions if you don't mind-

Does the sander arrive on a pallet?

What is the distance from the floor to the top of the conveyor (including the wheels)?

The delivery guy left the pallet but I don't think that was the normal situation. They use pallets to make handling the boxes easier. It was supposed to be a street delivery but the delivery guy put the boxes (and the pallet) just inside my gate. I wasn't home and my wife gave him the helpless spouse routine.

I took the casters off of my Jet 16/32 and put them on the 25/50 so they may not be exactly the same height as what you get. But given that, the top of the conveyor is a bit over 35 inches from the floor, maybe 35.25".

Mike

[Dave Zellers]

The delivery guy left the pallet but I don't think that was the normal situation. They use pallets to make handling the boxes easier. It was supposed to be a street delivery but the delivery guy put the boxes (and the pallet) just inside my gate. I wasn't home and my wife gave him the helpless spouse routine.

I took the casters off of my Jet 16/32 and put them on the 25/50 so they may not be exactly the same height as what you get. But given that, the top of the conveyor is a bit over 35 inches from the floor, maybe 35.25".

Mike
Cool- that will be perfect. Right after I hit send I saw the pallet in your first pic.

[Mike Henderson]

Incidentally, I broke that pallet down and processed the wood through my jointer and planer. It was badly warped but I managed to get some boards out of it. I don't know what I'll use it for, but free wood is free wood. Looks like pine.

Mike

[Cary Falk]

Good to see you are up and running. I somehow managed to get my 25/50 up on the stand by myself. I don't remember exactly how I did it(I must have blacked out in the middle of it) but I am sure it involved a lot of crying and cursing. I wouldn't want to do it again. I think you will love it. My wife has even mentioned a couple of times how much she liked using it over my Grizzly.:D

[Mike Henderson]

Good to see you are up and running. I somehow managed to get my 25/50 up on the stand by myself. I don't remember exactly how I did it(I must have blacked out in the middle of it) but I am sure it involved a lot of crying and cursing. I wouldn't want to do it again. I think you will love it. My wife has even mentioned a couple of times how much she liked using it over my Grizzly.:D

Wow, that's some lift. The sander, even without the conveyor assembly must weight 200 pounds. I'm over 70 (won't say how far over 70:)) and I know I can't lift that much. And it would be an expensive drop.

I put that engine hoist up for sale on Craigslist and it sold in one day. Two guys came in a Prius and bought it. We took the legs off and then they opened the back, put the back seats down and put everything in there. I wouldn't have believed that it would fit.

I have my 16/32 up for sale on Craigslist and am waiting for a guy to come look at it as I type this. Hopefully, we can make a deal. [Update: it sold for my asking price. it was in really good shape.]

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

Just a comment on the use of a drum sander. I ran some pine through the sander and it caused "glazing" on the sandpaper. I was upset because the sandpaper was new and had a lot of life left in it, other than the glazing. I tried several things to get the gunk off the sandpaper - I tried a wire brush, and I tried scraping it off. Neither worked.

But then I had the idea of using a rag with alcohol. That worked great and completely removed the gunk. I suppose it was pine sap and the alcohol dissolve it.

Mike

[Nick Decker]

Just curious, Mike, how much did you get for the 16-32?

[Dave Zellers]

Supermax says their cloth backed belts can actually be soaked to clean the sandpaper. Mike do you have a crepe stick for cleaning belts? They really work.

[Mike Henderson]

Just curious, Mike, how much did you get for the 16-32?

$600 - I thought it was fair and I guess the buyer thought it was fair. It was in very good condition and I cleaned it up before I put it up for sale so it looked really good. I chose $600 because I felt it would give me some negotiating room - I could drop to $500 and still be satisfied with the price.

One thing that worried me was that Rockler announced a sale of the SuperMax 16-32 (http://www.rockler.com/supermax-16-32-drum-sander?sid=V9146?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=&utm_content=pla&utm_campaign=PL&gclid=Cj0KCQiAzMDTBRDDARIsABX4AWwn9G3ydjM2Gs5uQHhM msgvIs2ogaA884iE1E8QoLS9pwkFKZ3rTT4aAoByEALw_wcB)f or $999 on the day that I put it in Craigslist. The new one has a couple of nice features that this one doesn't have.

Here are a few pictures:

Overall picture showing the stand
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Close up of the main body
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I put fresh sandpaper on the drum before taking the pictures.
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And a view of the motor:
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Just as a side note, I bought the 16-32 used and paid $500 for it. When I bought it, the seller had not cleaned it up and was motivated to get rid of it. He had bought some new equipment and wanted to get the old things out of his shop.

Mike

[Mike Henderson]

Supermax says their cloth backed belts can actually be soaked to clean the sandpaper. Mike do you have a crepe stick for cleaning belts? They really work.

I do, and I tried it. Didn't work to remove that pitch (sap).

Mike

[Nick Decker]

I'd say the buyer got a fair deal. I would have bought it for that if I lived closer. My 10-20 is feeling small these days.

[Cary Falk]

That's why I don't let pine in my shop. I hate pine.:D

[Mike Henderson]

I bought the widest drum sander that I can fit into my shop - it can sand up to 25 inches wide. And wouldn't you know it - I get a job to make a table top for an RV and the tabletop is 26 inches wide.

I guess there's some woodworking law out there that your project is always wider than your tools.

Here's the table top in rough form. It's ambrosia maple. The guy saw one of my jewelry boxes in ambrosia maple and loved the wood. The top is a bit wider than 26 inches now and a bit longer than it needs to be.
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This is an end view. The table top lifts up and this end will be the end that pivots. I chose the wood so the markings all go towards the lifting end.
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Mike

[Nick Decker]

Very nice, Mike. I guess this means you haven't tried flipping the stock to sand things wider than 25"? I remember you saying that didn't work well with your previous drum sander.

[Mike Henderson]

Very nice, Mike. I guess this means you haven't tried flipping the stock to sand things wider than 25"? I remember you saying that didn't work well with your previous drum sander.

You're right. I haven't tried it yet on this sander. May give it a shot.

Mike

[Mike Hollingsworth]

I do, and I tried it. Didn't work to remove that pitch (sap).

Mike

try running a board crossgrain.