Dual drum vs. single drum sanders

[Jameel Abraham]

Stopped by the Woodsmith Store in Des Moines today. What a place. This is the headquarters for Shopnotes and Woodsmith magazines. The Des Moines Woodcraft even went out of business because of this place it seems. Picked up a few knick-knacks (the best being a new Mk-II honing guide---my old Veritas model has a brass wheel that is really worn out)

Anyways, got to check out the General Dual Drum 25". The salesman wasn't so hot on dual drums. He said the second one is fidgity to set, and once the first one gets worn a little, the second one doesn't really end up doing much, people are just jacking it up and not using it. It's about $400 more than the single.

So all you dual drum users out there. What are your unvarnished opinions of the second drum's usefullness?

[Jeffrey Schronce]

I am using the 16" Grizzly Dual Drum sander. While I wished I had atleast another 8" in capacity, I use it every day. I find the dual drum to be crucial in fine sanding.

[Mark Singer]

I have the General double drum....both drums work all the time....no problems...It is a great machine! I keep 80 and 120 grit on the drums and what comes out is 120 finish....excellent results. It is a time saver! I could not be without it....

[Tom Cowie]

I think the salesman has too many single drums in stock.:D

Tom

[Mike Cutler]

Jameel.

I just purchased the Steel City drum sander, so I don't have a lot of experience per se, both drums are sanding. Like Mark's, it came with 80/120 grit front/rear. Mark is also correct, it is a huge time saver.
If something is wearing out on the front drum something doesn't seem right,and there may be a problem. If that were to happen though, it would be the rear drum doing all the work.
There is a "single drum mode" where one drum is removed from the process. I'm going to assume that in this "mode" the material is being sanded to a much finer grit, and has already had the initial sanding operation performed.
I think the salesman has somehow gotten confused, or misconstrued something he was told. No thread on this forum or the Wood Central forum mentioned this problem with dual drum sanders. I'm pretty certain I've read them all.

[J.R. Rutter]

Agree - not a problem. There has to be a way to dial in the height in the unlikely event that drum wear changes things, even if it is adding/removing shim stock..

Mine has steel wedges under the pillow blocks that hold the drums. Unfortunately, they didn't go the extra bit to design a linear screw adjustment on them, so it is tap - tap - tighten - test - repeat. But only done once or twice over the life of the machine.

I would not go back to a single drum.

[Jameel Abraham]

Great info folks. Sounds like the salesman was a bit off. At over 2k, I'm getting closer to a small wide-belt. Man are these things overpriced. I'll probably end up with a double drum. Ugh, sometimes I hate researching. The internet can be great, but it can also suck vast amounts of time trying to find info......

[Brad Naylor]

I've got a 36" twin drum generic Chiwanese machine that does a fine job for the money I paid for it. I've had two problems with it which I suspect may be common ones.

Firstly, the drive system for the feed belt depends on a connector consisting of two interlocking 'crowns' of cast iron. These kept snapping under load. After a few repairs under warranty I simply replaced the whole connector with a steel sleeve with grub screws from my local engineering suppliers. That was three years ago and it's been fine.

Secondly, it can be very difficult to align the height of the two rollers so that they work together perfectly. One or the other always seems to be doing more work. Solution - duct tape! Wrap a layer of duct tape around the roller that isn't touching the work before putting the sandpaper on to increase it's diameter slightly. Repeat if necessary. Mine took four wraps and now works great!

Having said all that, if you can afford a wide belt sander - buy that.

Cheers
Brad