Thinking about a sander - Which One?

[Jim Guy]

I currently have a belt and ROS sander. That's it as far as sanders go. This week I got the latest copy of P.W. and just inside the cover is a Grizzly ad. I don't really know where to start. There's the oscillating spindle/ 12" disk sander combo. What really caught my eye was right next to that - a 24" drum sander with a price of $1,595.00. I'm certain I can't afford both right now. To this point (only had a shop for less that a year now) I'm spending most of my time building mission type stuff. Lots of stright lines. Because of this I'm thinking the drum sander. Tell me what you think - brands - styles - quality - what you use the most?
Thanks in advance,
Jim Guy

[Jim Becker]

A drum sander is one of the "few remaining" stationary tools on my aquisition list. These are handy to have for working with panels and final surfacing of figured stock. My choice will likely be the Performax 22-44 Plus as I prefer the open end design for flexibility although the 22" wide design will cover most of what I'd run through it. They are not, however, for "shaping" wood as an edge sander, belt sander, disk sander and OSS are. What you would be using your sander for should dictate what you get.

I bought the excellent Grizzly G1276 combo sander early last year and am pleased with it. But in retrospect, I would have been better off with an edge sander since I almost never use the disk sander and largely use the machine for shaping longer, but flat stock. That's an example of the "what you would be using" the tool for...

[Mark Singer]

I have the General Drum sander...it is very good...3 HP it does the job it is about $1500.
I also have the Jet Disc / belt combo at $299 it is a bargain