Woodmaster w2600

[Ron Hampe]

Looking for opinions on the Woodmaster W2600 (5hp 26" single drum).

I currently have an 18" Kuster double drum that is 5hp with a 1hp feeder motor.
I thinking of replacing it with this 26" for the added width.

Thanks

[ray grundhoefer]

i have a 3785 36 ' woodmaster. It works great ,sure the 26" one would also.

[Bruce Page]

I have the 2675 Woodmaster and it’s a beast. I can only compare it to my old Delta 18/36 and the comparison is night and day. I added the reversing drum switch and their digital height gauge. Love the reversing switch, the digital height gauge is worthless. I also have the infeed/outfeed rollers that work well but take up too much real estate, thus they sit on the shelf.

[John Ziebron]

I've had the 2675 Woodmaster for over a year now and love it. It replaced a Delta that I always had to adjust something when using it. Not so with the Woodmaster. I also bought the infeed/outfeed rollers but because they take up so much space when mounted I changed the design. I set them up with a fixed locating pin and then only need a small threaded jig knob to securely hold them in place. I've only used them a couple of times though so, like Bruce, they hang on the wall most of the time. The digital readout was a perk when I bought mine and I didn't like it because of the readout being about 2 1/2 feet off the floor. Anybody with back issues can realize this issue. I replaced it with a Wixey readout that you can tilt up to read.

[Alex Zeller]

I have a W 2640, not sure if it's the same as the 2600. If so it has a flaw in it's design. The newer Woodmaster drum sanders have a belt to move the wood. The old design has a flat table with what looks like formica on top. There's two rollers on each side of the drum that have sandpaper on them that holds the wood down as well as pull the wood through the machine. Over all it works well but the flaw is the sanding drum spins so it pulls the wood into the machine. The dust collection doesn't catch all the dust so some stays on the board being sanded. The outfeed drive roller closest to the sanding drum then gets packed with dust and no longer grips the board. Eventually the second outfeed roller also gets packed and now the board starts to slip.

The solution is kind of easy. The drive motor is DC so you can just reverse the wires so now you can feed the board in from the rear. The dust is now being thrown back in front of the sanding drum and doesn't cause a problem. The drive belt for the rollers has an idler pulley that needs to be moved to the other side to properly tension the belt but it doesn't require buying anything. It's why I paid only $200 for my 2640. The previous owner made a piece of pipe so he could blow air onto the rollers to remove the dust. But it collects pretty fast and he just got tired of stopping every few boards to do it. You can't reverse the sanding drum because of the way the dust collection is set up. You can't modify the dust collection and reverse the sanding drum because you would be able to put sandpaper on the drum.

[Bruce Page]

Looking at online pictures, the W2600 and the W2640 appear to have the same feed system. That would be a show stopper for me.
Both machines look to be an old design.

[Ron Hampe]

Thanks. This one will likely have the same issues, but at $350 the price seems decent and I'm going to look at it in the morning.
The seller said this one has a new single phase 5hp Leeson on it. If its reversible then I'll try your solution.

[Ron Hampe]

That's alright I'm old too and don't want to pay what they want for the newer ones.

[Alex Zeller]

Thanks. This one will likely have the same issues, but at $350 the price seems decent and I'm going to look at it in the morning.
The seller said this one has a new single phase 5hp Leeson on it. If its reversible then I'll try your solution.

It has two different motors. The 5hp is for the drum and even if it could be reversed you don't want to as the dust collection will not work. It's the feed motor that has to be reversed. The feed motor is powered by 120v (it's own cord) and the drum by 240v. For $350 I would buy it. Mine has been a great drum sander.

[Ron Hampe]

Found out today that repairs on my tractor are going to be far more than expected so I'm going to pass on the sander. Its in Johnstown PA. If interested, I'll post the link.