Opinions Of Performax 22-44" Pro Drum Sander

[Loren Blount]

I've been on the hunt for a drum sander for awhile and would like to hear for anyone who owns a performax 22-44 pro. It looks like a very different design than the other open end sanders on the market. I was looking at the performax 22-44 pro, or the Jet 22-44 plus. The pro is more $, however if its a better tool in the long run I can justify the extra $. My main questions are

1. Is one more user friendly than the other

2. Does the table moving on the Pro rather than the drum an advantage or a disadvantage

3. The drum support on the Pro looks more ridged than on the plus, but the table on the pro might be more apt to flex?

Since I live about 100 mile from any stored that carry these sanders going and looking at them in person isn't as easy as asking the members, plus I usually find that untill I use something I usually don't know the right questions to ask, or things to look for. Thanks for the advise

Loren

[Rob Grubbs]

I just ordered one of the pro units, so I don't know yet how I will like it. From the searches I did this looks like a sander. The pro deluxe looks like a great deal as it has the casters and infeed/outfeed tables included. Look at http://www.southern-tool.com/store/Perfomax22-44ProDeluxeDrumSander.html for more information.

[Mike Spanbauer]

I own the hybrid pro (which is the same unit, except it only has one column vs. the two. The unit weighs nearly 330lbs I believe though, so don't think that it's a lightweight.

You WILL need a 20A service for it as it states. It is a superb unit that has done everything I've asked of it for the last 4 years I've owned it. Never had an issue with it. I do have the in/out tables as well. Be sure to hook up good DC though as these units will generate a TON of dust. Also get a couple of the gum rubber sanding cleaners. They are a huge help with these units.

They are not thicknessers, and won't substitute for a planer but I feel this is the best of the open end sanders. The arm design allows for zero flex and I've done 36" wide panels with no lines in the middle. The one thing that I would recommend there though is to have side support and assist the project through the sander (such as a door or what not as the feed motor is only about 1/5 hp or so).

Satisified with mine!

Klingspor for paper btw :) (you didn't ask, but it's a question that comes up everytime)

mike

[Roger Bull]

I own the plus w/ closed stand.

I was going to get the Pro and called Jet about the differences. They told me that the Plus had more 'bang for the buck' and that the table moving on the Pro made it less compatible with other tables in the shop.

I am glad I took their advice. It is one of the most used tools in my shop.

-Roger

[Peter Quinn]

I've had the performax pro for about three years now. I haven't used the plus or had much other direct drum sander experience for comparison so its hard to give you a review. I have used wide belts at work and while this (and probably no other drum sanders) compare to a full blown wide belt it does the job I expect well. I use it for sanding panels, shop made veneer, removing planer marks, and preparing paint grade trim among other things. Its also good for preparing precise splines and loose tenon stock.

The 22-44 pro is fairly easy to set up, seems to maintain its settings accurately, paper changes are simple and quick. The table to drum relationship remains very stable as both the table and arm support are fairly rigid in use. The casters are some of the best I've seen making the machine easy to move around. I can sand to a width of around 42" comfortably using proper outboard support with two passes leaving no or faint witness lines at the center.

One full turn of the height adjustment wheel moves the table about .060", which is 5 to 6 times the amount you want to take per pass, so turn that wheel with discretion. As others have noted this and other sanders, be they drum or wide-belt, are precision thicknessing and preliminary surfacing machines, not replacements for planers or ROS. The most frequent complaint I hear from new owners is that they (drum sanders in general) are too slow, which in my mind is more a function of the users expectations than the machines performance.

Sanders are meant to take .008"-.015" per pass, so if you don't prepare your stock and glue ups accurately frustration is in your future. When making veneer if it takes more than two light passes to remove kerf marks a bandsaw tune up is in order. A wide belt offers a faster feed rate but is still limited to about .015" stock removal per pass (at 120 grit) for comparison, and I have seen an inexperienced wide belt user stop a 20HP machine with a 5HP drive motor dead attempting to sand maple counter tops taking off .025" per pass. Not pretty.

A 20A dedicated service and 600CFM dust collection is required and not optional. I recommend if it is not already your practice that you get a good set of dial calipers and learn to gauge your progress in machinists terms (thousands of an inch) when working with thicknessing sanders.

A drum sander is not a tool I feel comfortable recommending without knowing the users experience, expectations and intended uses. But for the way I like to work and the tasks for which I use it I can wholly endorse the performax 22-44 pro. It has become a very valuable machine in my shop and a great time saver since I learned to work within its capabilities.

[Chris Padilla]

I've got Snarfer set up looking for this drum sander in my local area. I can't quite stomach a new one but I'm willing to be patient for a good used one. I am looking on CL and eBay.

[John Carlo]

Here are some comments posted at Amazon.

Revised 1/8/04
I had the usual problems that others commented on when I first brought home my 22-44. The conveyor belt initially tracked hard left against the tracker no matter how it was adjusted. PerformaX tech support had me reverse the belt and it still tracked hard left. I removed the conveyor table and returned it to the service department where I bought it. Sitting on the workbench supported by its mounting bolts, the belt quickly adjusted to perfect tracking. When I replaced it on my machine it immediatly went back to hard left tracking. I played with the mounting bolt tension to no avail. Another call to PerformaX netted me a new belt within two days and after a minor adjustment, the belt has tracked perfectly ever since. You can tell just how perfect your tracking is adjusted by holding a ball point pen to the feed roller immediately adjacent to the edge of the conveyor belt as the roller revolves. The mark left on the roller will very quickly indicate what drift, if any, is occuring. I like the way the ceramic trackers leave a light white residue along the edge of the belt if tracking is off. It shows they are doing their job and gives you a quick indication that readjustment is needed. They trackers should not come into play at all if your adjustment is dead center. Think of the trackers as an extra measure of safety.When properly adjusted, this sander lives up to the hype. You quickly learn how much wood to remove in one pass. Any mill marks from the planer or jointer are removed in one pass. It does a nice job of sanding edges on stock up to four inches wide.
The machine really has to have a dedicated 20 amp circuit. Attached to a 15 amp shared circuit, it easily stalled out. I removed the electrical cover from the motor and found a clear diagram for rewiring the motor for 220 volts. Of course, you would then want to install a separate switch to power the drum as feeding 220 into the conveyor motor would quickly destroy it. It's nice to have the 220 volt option even though the factory warns against it. My sander is working so well that I see no reason to make the change.
Sandpaper changeover is very easy and quick. I like the way the right hand clip helps take up any slack in the wrapping of the abrasive.
I just completed biulding my oldest daughter a red oak dishwasher cabinet for her new house. All the trim for this was quickly sanded on the 22-44. I'm also finishing up an oak bar and This sander really saves time.
I recently sanded some 16' x 6" red oak boards to box in a beam. using auxillary infeed and outfeed rollers. As the end of the wood came off of the the several rollers I had set up on the infeed side, the sheer physics behind the length and weight of these boards, transmitted this to the wood under the drum. This made for an extremely small "gouge". A handheld oscillating sander quickly fixed these very slight imperfections which only showed under close examination with a light. I've never seen any sign of this when working with lengths up to the more usual 6' - 10' lengths we commonly encounter in our furniture crafting.

[John Carlo]

I have the plus in my school shop and the pro at home. The table on the plus is shorter but then having the table fixed on the plus makes it easy to set up outboard feed rollers. You might see a bit better conveyor grip on the workpiece on the longer table but since you will be taking very light passes this is a moot point. The pro has a much wider footprint than the plus and is very stable even with the great locking casters, but if your space is limited, the plus has built in casters and a very compact footprint. They both work well for me.