Grizzly Baby drum sander G0459

[Randy Cox]

Does anyone have one or used one? Am thinking of getting one and was just wondering if anyone had seen or used one what are your thoughts. Thanks.

Randy

[Frank Fusco]

Looks like a kissn' cousin to my G0505 planer. They must be from Oklahoma. ;) Ennyhow, the planer is a workin' hoss. I have always been satisfied with Griz products. Usually the best value for the money on the market and usually compare favorably with competition models at 2-3X the money.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Does anyone have one or used one?

By definition that is not me.
Why a 12" sander? In a home shop 12" makes sense for a planer as you won't often need to plane anything larger than 12." In those projects where you might want a wider planer there are usually fine workarounds.

The larger width capacity becomes more important in a sander as you will be running finished glue ups etc., through it. I'd not get a small sander like that unless I was dead sure that I'd never need more. There are smallish open end sanders that by virtue of the open end offer you double the drum width as you ultimate capasity. P Just about everyone has a sander or teo in their product line so there are options. Sunhill, General, Wood Tek, Proformax, PM, Griz, Leneave Machinery, Jet you name it.

I am stagger blasted at the money being asked for those things. The wide belt units at least have some machined parts and effort into 'em to sort of justify the prices but The drum units are insanely expensive for what they are. This especially so when so many folks build perfectly good drum sanders right in their own shops.

[tod evans]

randy,
a sander needs to be accurate and have alot of power, somehow i just can`t see getting either for the money griz is asking? i`ve never run that machine so can offer no firsthand experience but i`ve owned drum sanders in the past and a true 5hp motor is really underpowered.
as cliff said, 12" is very narrow for a sander, so think long and hard before cutting a check........if you need to regularly sand small pieces slowly then maybe this unit is for you?......02 tod

[Shiraz Balolia]

randy,
a sander needs to be accurate and have alot of power, somehow i just can`t see getting either for the money griz is asking?

That is a pretty absurd comment when you have no firsthand experience with the machine!

Not everyone needs, wants or can afford big sanders. For those that do, there is a reason why we offer drum sanders upto 37" wide with 15HP.

[tod evans]

shiraz,
how could my comment be considered absurd regardless if i have run this piece of equipment? we both know that power and accuracy cost money.....at least i thought i did?
i didn`t suggest that randy look at your, or anybody elses, 37" sanders. what i typed i consider sound advice to anybody reading.
i`m sure the little sander in question fills a nitch but since randy didn`t specify what his intended use was i offered my perspective of small sanders in general. if randy had asked about the delta unit my advice would have been the same.
please feel free to correct me if you believe that this sander is powerfull and accurate, but to call my response based on my real world experience absurd is quite frankly pretentious.
.02 tod

[Shiraz Balolia]

shiraz,
how could my comment be considered absurd regardless if i have run this piece of equipment? we both know that power and accuracy cost money.....at least i thought i did?
i didn`t suggest that randy look at your, or anybody elses, 37" sanders. what i typed i consider sound advice to anybody reading.
i`m sure the little sander in question fills a nitch but since randy didn`t specify what his intended use was i offered my perspective of small sanders in general. if randy had asked abot the delta unit my advice would have been the same.
please feel free to correct me if you believe that this sander is powerfull and accurate, but to call my response based on my real world experience absurd is quite frankly pretentious.
.02 tod

Saying that you don't think a Grizzly 12" sander can be accurate for the money we are asking is considered "sound advice"? It is more like an insult. You may have real world experience, but you have not used this machine and should not denigrate it without firsthand facts.
It is a 12" sander. It doesn't need huge HP because the capacity is small. Its HP is sufficient for its size. Pretty self explanatory, really. As far as accuracy, it IS accurate. Several magazines have tested this machine and found it to be excellent for its size.

[Ben Roman]

I love Grizzly !!! I love the equipment , I love the customer service, and I love the fact that the Prez/ big cheese will take the time to respond to questions about his products ! Not to impune the tod master , i can kinda see his view on the comments about his products and or the suggestion that it is limited due to price and or HP. I would probably take that comment personally too.
I have the 24 grizzly drum sander and it is sometimes too big for my usage. I wish the smaller version was available when I bought this one, cause the big one takes up alot of space in my shop and does not get nearly enough use in my shop.

My 2 cents

Ben

[tod evans]

shiraz,
let`s get one thing straight- i did not bad mouth your little sander!

i`ll stick with my opinion, that being " a 110 volt 12" sander is to small for most shops. and a sander priced less than a name brand 5hp motor, regardless of manufacturer, cannot take the workload most serious hobbiests will put on it. further, i stand by my belief that power and accuracy do no come cheaply. as i stated to randy," if you need to sand small pieces slowly this may be the unit for you"
please do not try to lable my posts as "denigrative" when in fact they are my opinion given freely containing advice that "i"consider sound!

.02 tod

[Ben Roman]

Tod is on fire !!

[Julio Navarro]

I did not read any denigration into tods responce, in fact, I may just consider this small sander based on his advice cos I fit into that "small piece" niche. I dont need a powerfull sander.

Tods advice sounded sound to me.

[John M. Cioffi]

Shiraz,
Could you tell me what magazines had the write-up? I'd like to read them, as I'm thinking of purchasing one in the future.
Thanks,:)
John

[Brian Hale]

Randy,

I also have no first hand experience with that sander but I've put a lot of wood through my Performax 10-20 Plus and can tell you that sanding a 10" wide board on this 1hp machine is, as Tod eluded to, slow. Very slow. If i go a bit too fast it kicks out the breaker on the sanding motor and i need to let it cool down a bit before restarting it.

Also keep in mind that you'll most likely still need to do a final sanding after the drum sander is finished as they tend to leave sanding tracks that run the length of the board, even at 150 grit. Any finer grit and the process is painfully slow. As an example, a 6" wide board 8" long is about 2 minutes per pass @ 150 grit.

Still, I use my Performax on most every board the comes out of my planer. It removes planer marks in just 2 or 3 passes.

My main concern with the Griz unit is the use of hook-and-loop abrasive. I'd be concerned about the edges of the boards getting rolled over a bit which would be pain if you plan on edge gluing after running then through the sander, which is something i do quite often. The H&L is also more expensive and not as easy to find. (Of course Griz should stock it for you)

I'd also wonder if the 2 1/2" dust port is large enough to suck up all the dust, something that's Very important with a drum sander. Perhaps a 4" or 6" can be adapted to it.

If you plan on edge gluing boards first and then running them through the sander to level out the seams you may not like what happens as the glue line can clog the abrasive and cause burnt streaks on the panel.

If i was in the market for a drum sander I'd pass on the 12" model and look for something larger and more powerful without the H&L abrasive. I hate waiting ....... ;)

Brian :)

[Shiraz Balolia]

Shiraz,
Could you tell me what magazines had the write-up? I'd like to read them, as I'm thinking of purchasing one in the future.
Thanks,:)
John

Popular Woodworking and the latest issue of American Woodworking (Sept. 2006).

With drum sanders you have an option to go without hook and loop, and while that gives you a more accurate dimensional finish, it is a pain as far as burning, slippage and changing the paper. We used to sell some of our larger drum sanders that way, but had way too many people ask (complain) about wanting hook and loop, so that's what we now put on now, at a higher cost. I would estimate that 10 to 1 our customers want the hook and loop over the plain drum.

Size is relative to need and circumstance. That is why you have jointers from 4" all the way up to 20" readily available on the market (yes, I know we are talking about drum sanders). Will a 6" jointer do what you are able to do with a 16" jointer? No, but if most of the boards someone is working on are smaller and a 6" is all that person needs, can afford and has space for, then that is what he buys. Same analogy can be applied to planers (lunchbox type all the way up to 24" and beyond), bandsaws, sanders etc......just about any machine. Logic would indicate that a person would not expect the 12" machine to do what a 24" or 37" machine with bigger HP can do. For some, life is void without large machines, but the majority of the people on the market don't need large machines, nor do they have space or, sometimes, the budget for.

[Kyle Kraft]

I got an idea...a feller could buy the griz baby sander and then pimp it out with a 5hp motor, billet aluminum centerless ground drum, a glass scale digital readout (with absolute and incremental resolution), stepless DC servo feed belt control (3hp of course) and a Rockford Fosgate sound system 1.5kW. :D

[tod evans]

For some, life is void without large machines, but the majority of the people on the market don't need large machines, nor do they have space or, sometimes, the budget for. I think that I can speak with quite some authority on what customers want and buy.

exactly why i posted a response in the first place. many people are under the assumption that a drum sander, even a little one, will make the drudgery of sanding either less labor intensive and quicker or more accutate or both.

while drum sanders do offer accuracy as a matter of design most offer very little in the way of speed. if you`re currently sanding cabinet doors with a handheld belt sander and cleaning up with a random orbit sander it`s very likely that you`ll see your sanding time increase when using a drum sander with a 5hp mptor or less. yeah no kidding, it`s slower to sand out doors with a drum sander than by hand.. the doors comming out of the drum sander will be flatter but once you get the hang of sanding with handheld equipment you can do a darn good job.. now if a person is looking for a flat sanding job and doesn`t mind repeated passes through various grits then a drum sander will do an acceptable job just keep in mind that the smaller the motor the slower the stock removal rate. for a person say building guitars as a hobby the ability to thickness without tearout on some prized wood is very important especially considering that the 6 square feet of wood may be all he needs for several weeks.

but if joe hobbiest thinks for a moment that his furniture building or cabinetmaking speed will be enhanced with the purchase of a smaller drum sander he`s in for a rude awakening........
i`ve spent untold thousands trying to increase speed and accuracy economically, in the end most of the money i spent trying to save a few bucks was a waste.
no shiraz, life isn`t void without big machinery, but given the choice of small fustrating machines or putting in the hard work to be able to afford larger effective machines i`d opt for toiling longer to obtain a machine that will actually reduce my labor instead of increaseing it regardless of what the advertisments say...02 tod

[Sam Chambers]

I got an idea...a feller could buy the griz baby sander and then pimp it out with a 5hp motor, billet aluminum centerless ground drum, a glass scale digital readout (with absolute and incremental resolution), stepless DC servo feed belt control (3hp of course) and a Rockford Fosgate sound system 1.5kW. :DYou forgot the Hemi and dual exhaust!

[john whittaker]

I am glad Randy asked the original question and I appreciate Everyone's input/opinion given. I have seen very little in the way of a review for this sander and have been holding off until it has been "beta tested".

Reason for my interest....I have an application which requires very accurate thicknessing of figured wood for instruments. Specifically violin, viola, cello, guitar, & mandolin sides...and backs if flat.

One or two man very low production shop.

As it is now, violin/viola/cello sides are brought to thickness by hand using a scraper. This baby drum would be wide enough for the job and speed is not too important... but accuracy is.

As Tod pointed out..."If someone was using a drum sander for figured wood in guitar building..." And I agree...but I would like specific review info regarding this particular drum sander.

If anyone has an experience or opinion ...Is this baby drum unit accurate enough to do the job...please respond.

[Bob Lang]

I actually do have some experience with this machine, I wrote the review in the June issue of Popular Woodworking, and we continue to use it in the shop here at the magazine. In that review I said that this machine is "the best value in a thicknessing sander suitable for small shop use that I have seen." I think Grizzly hit a home run with this, and while it isn't a perfect machine or suitable for everyone, if it suits your needs it is money well spent. The closed end design and hook and loop attachment of the paper to the drum solve many of the problems inherent in open ended machines.

Bob Lang

[Randy Cox]

Guess I should have been more descriptive of my intended use. I like to make small jewelry boxes and other small items mostly. Want to get into small veneering panels in some of my projects. I think this is the sander that will work for me as my shop is small and I work mostly on small projects. Thanks for all the input.

On a side note...WOW! where else could you ask a question about a product and get a response from the president of the company no less. Kind of makes you think that their customer service would be top notch also. Thanks again for all the replies.

Randy

[tod evans]

john,
you and randy may very well be served well by this unit? both of you guys are wanting small stuff sanded slowly. according to shiraz accuracy isn`t a problem, and it`s unlikely it would be at 12". be sure you guys have read brians accounting of the time required for his sander, i`m betting that his real world times are right in the ballpark..
be sure, either of you, if you buy one, to run a few boards through it and post your opinions. .02 tod

[Steve Clardy]

Shiraz.

Whats the feed speed on this sander?

[Don Baer]

According to the Griz web site 0-15 FPM

[Shelley Bolster]

The message is gone, so am I

[Vaughn McMillan]

Shiraz.

Whats the feed speed on this sander? Steve, according to the Grizzly site, it's a variable speed that's 0 to 15 fpm. (Dangit Don, ya beat me to it.)

I've also been keeping an eye on this model, since it seems it would be a good fit for some of my projects (small stuff, with an eye on possible future guitar making). No cabinets in my foreseeable future, and any furniture that might get built could be sanded by other means.

- Vaughn

[Chris Barton]

Ya know, I know of a lot of tools that come in different sizes and power levels. And people seem to buy plenty of them so, they must be doing what they are designed to do and fullfilling the buyer's expectations. I am guessing that anyone buying the unit in question has a clue about that. While opinions can be interesting, and even helpful, I believe the question was about experience?

[Ian Barley]

I cannot speak for this machine and don't want to get involved in any quality arguments about it on that basis. I will however say that my experience of drum sanders as a basic methodology is that they are slow and somewhat temperamental in use. You need to be taking very fine cuts, using low feed speeds and using first class extraction to be able to sand well without exposing yourself to the risk of burning. I ran a bigger drum sander unit for about 2 years and was intensely relieved to be rid of it when it went. Between fiddling around getting loadings attached, secure and straight and how slow the process was, a belt sander costing 6 times as much has been much better value for me. That process is now typically completed in about 1/4 of the time.

A small machine like this is probably better for some of those factors than a larger one and the H&L fastening probably makes life easier BUT if you offered me twice my money back and a free drum sander I still wouldn't give you my (not very) wide belt. Probably not relevant in a hobby shop but from my experience anybody who is looking at working at this game commercially will be better saving their pennies for a belt based machine.

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Isn't that the sander that requres a 30 amp circuit? I seem to remember reading that somewhere and if so that's a possible problem for most people. I may be wrong on that size though.

[Shiraz Balolia]

Shiraz.

Whats the feed speed on this sander?

Steve - Don and Vaughn are right. It is variable speed 0-15 FPM. That's the little knob you see on the bottom front left of the machine (just dial the speed).
Alan - the sanding motor draws 18 amps. Here is the link to the specs of this machine http://images.grizzly.com/grizzlycom/specsheets/g0459_ds.pdf

Just for information on anyone thinking about buying this machine. Do it before the end of this year as it will be taking a huge jump in price Jan. 1, 2007. There's plenty of time between now and then.

[Lee DeRaud]

Just for information on anyone thinking about buying this machine. Do it before the end of this year as it will be taking a huge jump in price Jan. 1, 2007.Ok, feel free not to answer this question, but...
Why on earth would this particular machine do that?
Or is it due to some overall bump in supplier pricing?

[Alan Tolchinsky]

Boy that's some beast of a motor looking at that spec.

[Shiraz Balolia]

Ok, feel free not to answer this question, but...
Why on earth would this particular machine do that?
Or is it due to some overall bump in supplier pricing?

When we went to press with the 2006 catalog, the cost of this machine had not been finalized and there was an error, actually a rather big error in the cost calculation. Plus we changed some specs like putting a rubber conveyor belt - same type as used on large widebelt sanders etc... that increased the cost.
It is not our habit to change prices once the catalog has been published (don't hold us to this statement as things have become really volatile in the raw materials area) and so we are "stuck" with the current selling price, to the benefit of the consumer. The change will come in 2007 for this and many other machines that have also gone up in cost during the year due to material price increases.

[doug webb]

I was reluctant to answer this post because I have not extensively used my sander. I am still in the process of insulating and wiring my shop. But I did spend my money as soon as this product became available. I have not regretted my decision. I cannot afford one of the larger units and slow is good for me. It takes not much longer than running boards through my planer. Anything that keeps me from spending hours with a random orbit sander in my hands is great. The machine is not underpowered for my use. I like everything about this unit except the "guards' on each side of the belt. They are just flat pieces of of square sheet metal. I can see me losing some skin if they are not rounded off. I have assembled some larger panels after running through the sander and saved time there by only having to concentrate on the joints, and touching up the rest. So for what my opinion is worth, I LIKE MY BABY GRIZ.

[tod evans]

Ya know, I know of a lot of tools that come in different sizes and power levels. And people seem to buy plenty of them so, they must be doing what they are designed to do and fullfilling the buyer's expectations. I am guessing that anyone buying the unit in question has a clue about that. While opinions can be interesting, and even helpful, I believe the question was about experience?

chris,
randy asked if anybody had seen or used one, i have seen the unit in question in the flesh.

shelley,
how very observant about the advertising;) gotta wonder about the motivation?

bob,
how would a person such as randy determine if this unit "suits his needs" short of plunking down the cash or asking for opinions?

ian,
once again i agree wholeheartedly.:)

.02 tod

[Steve Clardy]

Checked out the unit in person at Grizzleys saturday.
Looks to be a well built unit.

Though I did spot something I did not like.
even though it has velcro wrapped paper, only means of holding the paper on is tape. Both ends of the drum.

At least my 24" has a paper holder on the left side.
Velcro does creep.
I converted my 24 to velcro in or around 1994.

[Chris Barton]

Just got a very nice review in "Wood" magazine. While it's not for me, just too small, it could be a great answer for many...

[Charles Davis]

Hi,

I'm considering grabbing one of these... anyone more reviews on this? Looking at using this to sand veneers (attached to substrate) so while I don't need capacity wider than 12 inches I need a consist thickness sanding.

-Charles

[James Walters]

Are we sanding, or trying to surface plane now with a barrel sander????
Gesss!!!!

[Charles Davis]

What?

Thickness sanding with a drum sander.