Drum Sander Recommendations

[Scott Felicetti]

Any Recommendations on a Drum sander. I've looked at the Grizzly 24" dual drum sander. New I think it is about $1400. This is not the "Z" series. The bulk of the use will be to take down 1/8" boards of Maple, and other species down to 1/16". Also will be taking glued up 1/8" boards of Poplar and taking a little off just to smooth out and even the surface.

Biggest question is will I be able to get a nice flat EVEN surface running boards of this thickness through one of these sanders? Most of my lengths will be 4'-6' with widths ranging from 8"-16". I see that some drum sanders have a minimum thickness of 1/8" while some list minimum thickness as 1/32". I think the Grizzly was a 1/8" thickness min and the Powermatic (much more expensive) was 1/32". Can you fine tune these things to take just a small amount off? Will have have to attach these thin veneers to a thicker board before running them through? I would appreciate any suggestions on what to look for and what to buy. Thanks in advance,
Scott

[Mike Cutler]

Scott.

The minimum thickness value can be N/A'd with the use of an MDF carrier sled. I personally wouldn't worry about that.

The thicknesses that you specify will probably require a carrier sled any way as a stable reference. Most drum sanders use a "soft" feedbelt that can compress just slightly. < 1/8" might be enough to get a little movement/compression as it passes through.

You can "fine tune" my drum sander ( Steel City) to take off very small amounts. ( It takes a vernier to measure the change) The handle that adjusts the bed height has very little movement in hieght change, for one full rotation. Divide one full rotation into segments and you can get some very fine adjustments. I'm certain that all quality drum sanders will act the same way.
Each drum is height adjustable also so the amount of difference in heght between the drums can be changed also. The factory setting has been fine for me.
You will still need to finish sand, by hand, or with an ROS. A drum sander leaves very light, perfectly straight lines, in the surface that will show up when you apply the finish.

[Jim Kountz]

For material than thin you may want to seriously consider jumping up to the variable speed model if you're looking at the Grizz sanders. Also take a look at the Performax. Ive had excellent results with my old 16-32 Plus. A carrier sled is a must have for stuff this thin too I feel. Just a piece of 1/2" MDF with some abrasive strips glued to it is all you need.

[Dave Laird in NM]

I routinely use my drum sander to mak thin material down to less than 1/8"

I have a Woodtek, 108-352, and have aligned it to get even material when finished.

[Scott Felicetti]

For material than thin you may want to seriously consider jumping up to the variable speed model if you're looking at the Grizz sanders. Also take a look at the Performax. Ive had excellent results with my old 16-32 Plus. A carrier sled is a must have for stuff this thin too I feel. Just a piece of 1/2" MDF with some abrasive strips glued to it is all you need.

Thanks Jim,
When you say abrasive strips do you mean double sided tape or something else?
Scott

[Scott Felicetti]

I routinely use my drum sander to mak thin material down to less than 1/8"

I have a Woodtek, 108-352, and have aligned it to get even material when finished.

Dave should I check this model out? Is it expensive?
Thanks,
Scott

[Scott Felicetti]

For material than thin you may want to seriously consider jumping up to the variable speed model if you're looking at the Grizz sanders. Also take a look at the Performax. Ive had excellent results with my old 16-32 Plus. A carrier sled is a must have for stuff this thin too I feel. Just a piece of 1/2" MDF with some abrasive strips glued to it is all you need.

Wow! Jim,
I checked out the reviews on Epinons on the Performax 16-32 and every single review raves about the machine. (I assume they are legit reviews). It seems it makes nice even flat boards out of glue-ups and can handle 1/8" material. Is it one drum or two?
Thanks for the heads up.
Scott

[Dave Laird in NM]

Dave should I check this model out? Is it expensive?
Thanks,
Scott

Yes, you should check it our. PM sent.

[Greg Crawford]

Scott, I got my Performax 16/32 this Spring. I does a good job flattening panels, thickness sanding unruly grain, etc. It has some quirks, though. I thought I'd get a surface ready to finish out of the sander. After posting some questions here, I found out that most drum sanders leave scratch marks running the length of the piece. I've even found that as fine as 180 grit with the Performax (Klingspore) strips. I found that going one grit higher on the drum (ie. 180), then hand sanding back to what you want (ie. 150), is the easiest way to get the wood ready to finish. To avoid this, I guess you have to move up to an oscilating drum or wide belt sander.

The level adjustment on the 16/32 can be very frustrating. It has 4 bolts to hold the drum stationary (perpendicular). When these are loosened, there is a knob with a bolt and spring that is cantilevered and supposed to adjust the drum. However, when the bolts are tightened, the drum will move, and the bolt/spring idea doesn't hold it in place. Mine also has the drum aligned so the outer end is about 1/2" inside of the conveyor belt, and the inner end is about about that much outside.

All in all, for the price, I think it's a good tool. Just don't set your expectations too high when you're looking at any sander that's not high end and high priced. You might also check out Woodmaster. I've read some fantastic comments about those.

[Mike Cutler]

The level adjustment on the 16/32 can be very frustrating. It has 4 bolts to hold the drum stationary (perpendicular). When these are loosened, there is a knob with a bolt and spring that is cantilevered and supposed to adjust the drum. However, when the bolts are tightened, the drum will move, and the bolt/spring idea doesn't hold it in place. Mine also has the drum aligned so the outer end is about 1/2" inside of the conveyor belt, and the inner end is about about that much outside.


Greg

Try this tip for the drum adjustment problem. About 1/2way down the page.

http://home.pacbell.net/jdismuk/performax.html

[Richard Link]

I have the Performax 22-44 and really love it. You will read a lot of bad things about cantilevered drum sanders on forums. Everyone wants a wide belt sander or stroke sander or dual drum sander, etc. I can understand those issues and if money and space was no object..... But for the relatively modest needs of a hobbiest, I've found this to be a great addition to the shop. Just FYI, the 22-44 is just a bigger model of the 16-32.

Rick

[Craig Thompson]

Scott,

I have a 24" Dual Drum General 15-150, very happy with it. I had a smaller performax prior... very happy with the dual drum.

Warning,,, they need more cfm then the performax to eliminate build up on the paper...

[Alex Elias]

I have the Performax 22-44 and I'm very happy with it. No problems so far and it does what I need. I just finish sanding a piece down to 3/16 without a sled and it worked like a champ.
Also you could get some 320 grit paper if need be. You'll still have to do some hand work but light.
For the money I think it is a great machine. More so for the ocational hobbyist use.

[James Suzda]

Since I was chastised for bad mouthing my Performax 16/32 I’m a little hesitant to post any negative comments about the machine. But, I’ll do it again anyway and to say that I continue to use my 16/32 even with it’s quirks.
I found that for some reason the right clip on my machine will release the paper at the worse times, like when I’m running a board through the sander. This usually results in nice large groves in the board and a ruined sandpaper roll.
Another problem I have with mine is that unless I take a VERY fine pass the circuit breaker kicks out.
But on the plus side I was able to adjust the head so it is perfectly level from one end to the other by using two wooden blocks. I’ve also sanded down some very thin pieces on mine without using a backer board, but I think using one would result in even thinner ones with less worry of sanding the feed belt.
Jim

[Mike Spanbauer]

I own a 22-44Pro, love it. Cantilevered, schmantilevered... I've zero issues getting my unit perfectly level from edge to edge.

As to the tripping breaker, these units require a full 15amp circuit. When I say full, I'm talking nothing else on the line and great wiring as it will pull the full 15amps. I had issues with my 22-44 doing the same thing until I addressed my poor wiring and as soon as I ran a new circuit for that wall of the shop (using just the sander by itself when fired up) it stopped tripping. It hasn't had any issues since as well.

The open end widebelt sanders would be very nice if I could afford one ($$ and space both) but realistically, there are few things my Performax won't do... just slower.

They are not thicknessers, and most (all?) require very thin passes to avoid burning on the workpiece.

The best feature that my 22-44Pro has is the varisand feature which is a variable speed belt, with a sensor built in to determine load on the motor so that if too much material is being taken off (could also be James issue) the belt speed will slow down and assist with avoiding a tripped motor / circuit. It is VERY cool and useful.

G'luck, they are very nice to have.

mike

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Lots of musical instrument makers build their own.
All ( but one) of the shop built ones I've seen are manually fed machines. Maybe that's because the feed mechanism isn't important to instrument makers due to very low volume throughput.

[Mike Spanbauer]

slower is better though Cliff :) I think where many people encounter frustrations is when the feed rate is set too high. If so, motor bogging, abrasive clogging, material burning, and other symptoms occur.

I would be annoyed by a manual feed, but it could work very well for small volume runs.

mike

[Jerry Dickens]

Greg

Try this tip for the drum adjustment problem. About 1/2way down the page.

http://home.pacbell.net/jdismuk/performax.html

Does anyone know the gentleman that this link is connected to? I wonder if he would like to make another top like he made for his 16/32? I would like to have a 4" port rather than the2 1/2" one I have now.

[Greg Crawford]

Greg

Try this tip for the drum adjustment problem. About 1/2way down the page.

http://home.pacbell.net/jdismuk/performax.html

Thanks Mike. That makes more sense.

Greg