Drum Sander

[Greg Wieskamp]

Grizzly G0458z, used, $1000. Supermax 1938, new $2000. Jet 1632 new $1500.

Which would be your choice? Any particular reason?

Thanks Greg

[John TenEyck]

The G0458Z is only $1100 new. $1000 for a used one is a poor deal unless it has a lifetime supply of sanding media with it. I'd keep looking for a better deal on a used machine. If time forced me to choose, I'd buy the Grizzly, but a new one, because it's substantially lower in cost than the others. The only downside of the Grizzly is the table moves, so you have to adjust any infeed/outfeed supports to accommodate that, while with the other two the head moves. On the flip side, the Grizzly is likely a lot stiffer because the head is fixed.

A drum sander is a very useful machine. Good luck with whatever you decide.

John

[Dave VanDewerker]

Skip the Griz G0458, I have one and it is not nearly as good as my friends Supermax. My G0458 only has a 4" drum and burns very easily vs the Supermax 5" drum, the extra inch makes a big difference. Also the clamps that hold the paper are much better on the Supermax.

[Jonathan Jung]

Of those brands I'd go for Supermax. There's a tech guy at Laguna that's very helpful for them. Otherwise I'd much rather look for a little wide belt sander.

[Warren Lake]

personally id go with logic and ask what you are sanding.

[John Kananis]

I have the supermax 16-32, nice machine. It would come to about 2k once you get the extension tables, pay for shipping and add some sand paper.

[Randy Heinemann]

I also own the Supermax 16-32 and, so far, it has done exactly what I needed it to do. I have renewed a cutting board I made for my daughter which just needed to resurfaced. I have used it to sand segmented rings flat. I have used it to sand a glued up panel flat (that was too wide for my planer). Each time I've used it, it worked flawlessly and I have had no problems with it so far. I also found the support great during setup when I bought it. They were very helpful answering setup questions. So, I vote for the Supermax (but then I don't have any exerience with the others). I also don't think the used one you cited is necessarily worth going used for the slight difference in cost buy used.

On something like a drum sander, my preference would always be new unless the used one is essentially in perfect condition and you can test it out before buying. The drum being parallel to the bed and the precision of the adjustments are so crucial to a good result that I would likely never buy a used one because I would wonder how it was used and handled by the previous owner. I would buy it with the extension tables unless you never plan to sand anything long. That would add another $175. With some extra sanding rolls the final cost is probably more like $2,200. However, it still is possible that tools like this will go on sale or include the extension tables for the base price. If you don't need it right now, you might check with Woodcraft or Rockler if they have been notified of any sales. They're not as common these days, but still do happen.

[Jim Becker]

I'm very pleased with the SuperMax 19-38 I picked up "barely used" a couple of years ago. I got lucky with that purchase as this is the kind of tool that I also would prefer to buy new because they can be fidgety. But then again, they often come up for sale because many folks buy them and don't use them. I was an example of that a number of years ago...had a Performax 22-44 and it just took up space. The kind of work I was doing back then didn't really lend itself to a drum sander. So I sold it to another 'Creeker who put it to immediate use. When I started doing work a couple of years ago that could benefit from the tool, I decided to buy one again...and as noted, got lucky.

[John TenEyck]

Both of the drum sanders I have owned I bought used. The current one needed to have the drums on one side shimmed up a few thousandths to get it parallel with the bed. The prior owner, a professional woodworker, never noticed I guess. Perfect from the factory is a dream in most cases. Most of the other machines in my shop were purchased used as well. Paying less than half the price of a new machine has always been a powerful motivator for me. Other than no warranty you take no more chance on a used machine than new. You get to inspect and run it before you buy it, something you don't get to do with a new one. You can tell looking at the machine and talking with the owner whether or not it was well cared for or used hard and put away wet. If something doesn't look right, you get to walk away, unlike with a new machine that arrives with problems you only find out about after you uncrate it. You pay no shipping on a used machine. Owners often give you accessories and supplies for free or minimal charge just to get rid of them.

Shiny paint is a siren's song to many.

John

[Keegan Shields]

I have a Supermax 25-50 I bought used and its awesome. I've never successfully sanded a really wide panel, so the open ended design hasn't gotten much use, but its a great tool. Tech support was an actual technician at Supermax headquarters. Very knowledgeable and helpful.

[Ronald Blue]

No idea where you are located but the classified thread has a Jet 16-32 for $800. Seattle area. Maybe you could get it shipped and still have a good deal.

https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?298914-Jet-16-32-Drum-Sander-Seattle-WA

[Mike Kees]

Both of the drum sanders I have owned I bought used. The current one needed to have the drums on one side shimmed up a few thousandths to get it parallel with the bed. The prior owner, a professional woodworker, never noticed I guess. Perfect from the factory is a dream in most cases. Most of the other machines in my shop were purchased used as well. Paying less than half the price of a new machine has always been a powerful motivator for me. Other than no warranty you take no more chance on a used machine than new. You get to inspect and run it before you buy it, something you don't get to do with a new one. You can tell looking at the machine and talking with the owner whether or not it was well cared for or used hard and put away wet. If something doesn't look right, you get to walk away, unlike with a new machine that arrives with problems you only find out about after you uncrate it. You pay no shipping on a used machine. Owners often give you accessories and supplies for free or minimal charge just to get rid of them.

Shiny paint is a siren's song to many.

John
John you are giving away all my 'trade secrets'. Agree 100 % with everything you just said. My shop is full of machines that except for a 24 year old Delta drill press were all 'previously loved'. I read all the threads on here of issues with damaged machines from shipping mishaps etc. And then just wonder why people are so worried about used stuff they can actually check before they pay.

[Robert London]

I had the 16/32 for almost 20 years and beat it up. Only 1 1/2 HP, so not much muscle on bigger jobs, but it was good for smaller to modest sanding.

Upgraded to the Supermax 25x2 5 hp, and it's a beast compared to what I had. Wouldn't buy it now at $4000. But before the world went nuts after covid, I'm glad I splurged and paid ~2600 for it.

[Randy Heinemann]

Both of the drum sanders I have owned I bought used. The current one needed to have the drums on one side shimmed up a few thousandths to get it parallel with the bed. The prior owner, a professional woodworker, never noticed I guess. Perfect from the factory is a dream in most cases. Most of the other machines in my shop were purchased used as well. Paying less than half the price of a new machine has always been a powerful motivator for me. Other than no warranty you take no more chance on a used machine than new. You get to inspect and run it before you buy it, something you don't get to do with a new one. You can tell looking at the machine and talking with the owner whether or not it was well cared for or used hard and put away wet. If something doesn't look right, you get to walk away, unlike with a new machine that arrives with problems you only find out about after you uncrate it. You pay no shipping on a used machine. Owners often give you accessories and supplies for free or minimal charge just to get rid of them.

Shiny paint is a siren's song to many.

John

I've only had one "failure" with a new tool and, because that was a Festool, it was exchanged for a new one within the first 30 days because of Festool's warranties. Other than that, new machines I've bought (Dewalt planer, Jet 8" HH jointer, dust collector, band saw, drill press, all my Festools, Powermatic lathe, drum sander) have all been as they should have been out of the box. I needed to make minor adjustments on the drum sander, bandsaw, jointer, and drill press, but most of those would be considered adjustments that would be made over time on those tools. I did have a problem with the motor fan blade on my Jet Jointer, but they sent someone out under warranty to fix it. I generally buy new because I don't want to inherit someone else's undiscovered problems and they spend my time rehabbing a machine rather than using it. It has worked for me over 45 years of woodworking and I'm a perfectionist, especially concerning the results I get from my woodworking tools.

[glenn bradley]

I've been running the 19-38 for 9 years and have been very happy. It was a bit higher in price than others but, cured many of the ills the earlier designs get complaints about. You level the table with a threaded adjuster, not the head (I have moved the machine twice and never had to realign the table to head relationship; dumb luck maybe). There is a flip lever for a slight drop at the open end for sanding larger than full width panels without leaving a step. Paper changes are easy. And most confusing . . . dust collection is excellent with just a 4" port???

[Aaron Inami]

The Supermax has a larger drum than the Grizzly (Supermax 5" drum, Grizzly 4" drum). This gives you 24% more sandpaper for the job. Because the drum is larger, there is more sandpaper being applied to the wood at any given point. It also is one inch wider.

The Jet may be a decent machine, but it's smaller at 16" wide. However, it does use the larger 5" drum as well.

So, I suppose it comes down to budget and working width capability. If you can afford the Supermax, it's likely a better choice, but the Jet looks good as well. The width capability differences are large (Supermax 38" vs. Jet 32").