Open-end wide belt sanders--do they......

[Jameel Abraham]

..........suffer from the same deflection problems as the Performax-type open-end drum sanders?

[Mike Hollingsworth]

After struggling with the same problem through three performax units, I bit the bullet and bought a Powermatic 16:" open end. No deflection. This sander deminsions and squares all my stock. My only regret is the lack of a motorized table raiser. Bending down gets to be a drag on my back.

Mike H

[J.R. Rutter]

A buddy of mine has one. They are so much beefier than the open ended drum sanders that there is really no comparison.

[Jay Keller]

After struggling with the same problem through three performax units, I bit the bullet and bought a Powermatic 16:" open end. No deflection. This sander deminsions and squares all my stock. My only regret is the lack of a motorized table raiser. Bending down gets to be a drag on my back.

Mike H
Bending down, turning cranks by hand, spitting out the watermellon seeds.......life can be a drag

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Proformax has a rep for failing to hold the drums stiffly.
However all open end sanders will deflect some. It's all a question of loading and what you will tolerate.

In my opinion Sanders are among the most overpriced items in the woodshop.

[John Renzetti]

Hi, I have basically the same 16" wide belt that Mike has, except mine is painted white with the Northsate emblem. There is definetly no deflection. Also when sanding wide material where you have to sand in two passes for total coverage there is no witness line.
These machines are a bit more expensive than a double drum sander but I believe they are worth the money.
take care,
John

[Jameel Abraham]

Thanks for the info. Man, the more I research the whole sander thing, the more complicated it gets. And just to think I'm currently using a homemade wooden drum sander that I hand feed the stock through. Sheesh, you'd think I was living in 1860.....:)

[Craig D Peltier]

Thanks for the info. Man, the more I research the whole sander thing, the more complicated it gets. And just to think I'm currently using a homemade wooden drum sander that I hand feed the stock through. Sheesh, you'd think I was living in 1860.....:)

Welcome to tool research! If I had a dime for everytime someone says "after research i'm more confused":D

[Mike Heidrick]

..........suffer from the same deflection problems as the Performax-type open-end drum sanders?

The Powermatic 1632 has been recently being sold at amazon VERY CHEAPLY like the big Delta tools. Somewhere around $2700 or so. I believe this to be about $4400 most other places. Quite a good savings! Shipping is $149 and that includes liftgate when requested. They are 7.5hp 3phase so if you can work with that (RPC or big AC drive) you will not have an issue.