Delta 31-255X Drum Sander - $498

[Chris Smith]

The Delta 31-255X drum sander at Amazon for $498 plus $149 shipping. This one won't last but an hour or two.

link (http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FDelta-31-255X-18-Inch-Horsepower-120-Volt%2Fdp%2FB0000A25X6&tag=toolseeker&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325)

[Dave Novak]

Very tempting, however, there seem to be a number of unfavorable reviews.

[David Weaver]

Already back to $1,030 for me.

[Chris Smith]

Looks like the price is back down to $498...

[Rick Levine]

I have this sander and granted, I haven't used it much yet but the couple of times I did use it I didn't experience any of the problems the reviews mentioned. It was smooth operating and the height adjustment was also easy and accurate.

[Grant Vanbokklen]

Hi, I'm new here. First post!

I'm wondering if this sander could be used to bring 6" to 10" wide balsa sheet down to an accurate 1/16" thickness throughout? I would of course first try and cut the balsa down to around 3/32" or so on my 14" Delta Bandsaw with the extension.

I'm also looking at a first issue Woodmaster 2600 that's not been used in years but it is a beast.

Thanks!
Grant

[Chris Smith]

I have never used mine to sand veneer. I checked the manual and it does not talk about it, but I think you could as long as the veneer was fairly flat. As you feed your work piece into the sander it has a metal roller that applies pressure downward on to the conveyor belt, but there is about a 1 1/2" gap between the metal roller and the sanding drum.

The drum spins counter against the rotation of the conveyor belt, so if your veneer piece was curled on the leading edge it could catch and cause some problems. The trailing edge of the workpiece would not be affected so maybe you could build jig with a front tapered edge and be willing to sacrafice about an inch or so of your workpiece. Also the 31-255X seems to sand very aggressive so I would definitely buy some 220 grit paper before as it only comes with 80 and 120.

[Az Fred]

I have one of these and A.) I like it a lot, and B.) I haven't and may never use it for veneer. That said, I believe I recall a statement in the user manual that there is no minimum thickness. The veneer that I generally use is 1/39th to 1/85th of an inch thick and much thinner than 3/32".

I would try it for 3/32" if I had the opportunity.

I also have not experienced any of the problems mentioned in any of the negative reviews that I've seen.

I have not used my 31-255 as a planner either. ;)