Jet Drum sander input

[Michael Drew]

I can't believe I'm doing this..... I committed to not buying a drum sander years ago, as I just don't have floor space for one. I'm tired of saying "I wish I had a drum sander"..... The vette just needs to find somewhere else to park. It's in storage half the year anyway....

I've watched what seems like a gazillion drum sander reviews and videos on YouTube. SuperMax sanders have much better user reviews than Jet..... I think I have a pretty good handle on the SM sanders. Jet, not so much.

A couple questions I have regarding the Jet. I'm leaning towards the 18/26 machine. No friggin way I can deal with a larger footprint, even without the car in the garage.

1: when sanding wider boards, can the bed be easily adjusting to eliminate the middle ridge, similarly to the PM sanders?
2: is there any slop in the height adjuster hand wheel? SM reviews all state that there is zero slop.

The local supplier will need to special order whatever I go with. They used to carry both Jet and SumperMax, but that relationship is a bit fuzzy now that Laguna bought SuperMax. Otherwise, I'd just get the 16/32 SumperMax over the Jet machine. I like the quick height adjustment lever and included DRO of this machine. Plus, it just looks like a better machine than the Jet units.

[John K Jordan]

... [I cannot] deal with a larger footprint, even without the car in the garage.
...

Can't help with your Jet question, but I did one thing which might possibly help with your space issue IF you by chance have a similar situation.

I have a Performax 22/44 and if I put it where it reserved infeed and outfeed space I wouldn't have room in my shop. Mine is on a cabinet base on rollers. I keep the thing with the outfeed side up against the wall at a corner. The corner has an walkway to the left. To use the sander I roll it to the left enough that the bed is in the isle. It only blocks the isle while I'm using it, then roll it back. (It rolls easily on concrete) I placed the receptacle and the dust collector pickup such that I can roll it a couple of feet - a flexible hose connects the dust port on the machine to the pickup on the wall.

I do the same thing with a big horizontal metal-cutting bandsaw in my little weld shop: I keep it tight against the wall to the left of a double door to the outside. For use, I open both doors and roll the saw out in front of open door. This way I can cut up 20' long steel stock in a 12x12' welding room with the end supported out in the driveway.

JKJ

[Michael Drew]

Thanks John. I do things similarly as you. Everything is on casters and gets stowed away when I am not building anything. I hope to be moving to a new home in a couple years if I can work out an early retirement plan..... My next home site will have a dedicated work shop. In the meantime, the floor space I have now is maxed out and getting too cluttered with hoses, ext cords, etc. One more thing is only making it more cluttered.

My Jet sander questions are not no longer valid. My local supplier told me all Jet machines are back ordered until mid March, at best. They also found out they can get SuperMax. I ordered the 16/32 unit today. Back ordered as well, but available Feb. I intend to build some type of cabinet on casters to mount it to that will also house other stuff.

[Curt Harms]

I did similar to John, built a cabinet and mounted the drum sander on it. That gained me quite a lot of storage, way more than using the factory base. I was going to build fold-down infeed and outfeed tables but haven't found the time or need so far. I have an older machine that requires attention to prevent tripping the motor overload. I'm sure the newer ones have a mechanism to slow the feed rate when the motor draw nears maximum.

[John K Jordan]

I did similar to John, built a cabinet and mounted the drum sander on it. That gained me quite a lot of storage, way more than using the factory base. I was going to build fold-down infeed and outfeed tables but haven't found the time or need so far. I have an older machine that requires attention to prevent tripping the motor overload. I'm sure the newer ones have a mechanism to slow the feed rate when the motor draw nears maximum.

You are way more industrious then I. I bought mine with the factory enclosed cabinet base on casters. Looks mostly like this but says Performax instead of Jet. Mine does have the electronics that slow the belt speed if needed but I run it fairly slow anyway and make multiple very light passes.

448125

Access to the storage space under is somewhat limited by the single small door. A shop-built cabinet could be a lot better.

I've never tried to sand wide things. I do use it a lot on bowl/platter turning blanks, wood for scroll sawing, thin resaws for glue-ups, etc.

JKJ

[Bernie Harris]

I bought a Super Max 16/32 and have been very pleased with it, I haven't used the 32, but the 16 is very good. Changing belts takes a bit of a nack and the instructions are not very helpful on this part.

[Bruce King]

I have a Jet 18-36 with mixed feelings, the instructions are very clear on how to adjust the infeed and outfeed rollers for snipe elimination but it still leaves about .001 which shows up unless lots of ROS sanding. On most pieces I run it back through my Delta lunchbox planer which produces zero snipe. The height adjuster has no noticeable play, very solid machine. I have not sanded a piece wider than 18 yet but I did setup the resulting thickness to be exact from the left edge to the right.

[Alex Zeller]

I have a woodmaster on a mobile base. One of the biggest pain is not having storage for the rolls of sandpaper you are going to have. I would absolutely buy or build a cabinet base for your new sander when you get it.

[Alan Lightstone]

My Jet lived on a pull-out butcher block, on top of my tool chest, which I built heavy duty drawer slides under, so could pull it out to use. Next to it lived a Kapex that did the same thing. When not being used, it just took up the normal space of the tool cart. Fantastic space-wise.

448151

I also installed the infeed and outfeed tables as removeable. Angled up slightly, they totally eliminated snipe. Really found them necessary with that sander.

[John K Jordan]

... the instructions are very clear on how to adjust the infeed and outfeed rollers for snipe elimination but it still leaves about .001 which shows up unless lots of ROS sanding....

Don't know if it will help in what you sand, but I sand mostly short pieces - 6-12" long. I get no snipe if I hold down the emerging piece with my hand until it exits the sander. (I don't have an outfeed table and don't do long boards)

[Zachary Hoyt]

I have my SuperMax 19-38 on a hideous cabinet I made from 3/4" plywood and some leftover casters that were on a homemade failed mobile base that the previous owner had put under my current bandsaw. The cabinet is very useful for storing boxes of 24" walnut and various boxes of fretboard woods, and would be much nicer if someday I put in a shelf and gave it a door or two, but it's been 2.5 years so I don't know if I ever will.

It lives in a corner, and there's a 1 HP Reliant dust collector that sits next to it and is adequate to get most of the dust out of it, to my surprise. The hose is hung from a hook in the ceiling above the dust collector. I can sand rings of blocks up to 12" or so with the sander where it is by the wall, things like fretboards and binding can be sanded by pulling it out at an angle, and on the rare occasions when I want to sand something longer than 4 feet I can pull it out into the aisle, move the dust collector, and plug them both in in a new place. This last is a bit of a pain, but only takes a minute and I don't do it more than a few times a year. I use the sander almost every day, but luckily most of what I need to sand is short pieces.

[Michael Drew]

My Jet lived on a pull-out butcher block, on top of my tool chest, which I built heavy duty drawer slides under, so could pull it out to use. Next to it lived a Kapex that did the same thing. When not being used, it just took up the normal space of the tool cart. Fantastic space-wise.

448151

I also installed the infeed and outfeed tables as removeable. Angled up slightly, they totally eliminated snipe. Really found them necessary with that sander.

From what I can see of your shop in that small area pic, I'm feeling envious.

[Curt Harms]

You are way more industrious then I. I bought mine with the factory enclosed cabinet base on casters. Looks mostly like this but says Performax instead of Jet. Mine does have the electronics that slow the belt speed if needed but I run it fairly slow anyway and make multiple very light passes.

448125

Access to the storage space under is somewhat limited by the single small door. A shop-built cabinet could be a lot better.

I've never tried to sand wide things. I do use it a lot on bowl/platter turning blanks, wood for scroll sawing, thin resaws for glue-ups, etc.

JKJ

The cabinet turned out to be triple purpose. One is to support the sander, the second if for for storage under the sander, the third is as a scratching post for one of our felines. She can remove a surprising amount of wood in a fairly short time from one corners. Better that than carving the furniture though.