Drum Sander

[Rick Erickson]

I'm looking to purchase one. Probably the Jet 16-32 or the 22-44. Is there anyone out there that can provide words of wisdom on the size? Anyone purchase a 16-32 and regret buying that size? I'm sure many of the things I want to build are wider than the 16. Is it really a big deal to have to rotate and run through again? What about the oscillation? Is it worth the extra $s? I have no experience with drum sanders so any comments are appreciated.

[Jim Foster]

I have the Performax (spelling) 22-44 and I like it. That being said I would get the new jet with the oscillating capability if I was buying in that price range now. It's been very well reviewed in several places, so I am also assuming the design is pretty well worked and works as advertised.

Also on size; Even though most of the boards I run through are less than 14", I use all the drum with virtually every pass.

I'm looking to purchase one. Probably the Jet 16-32 or the 22-44. Is there anyone out there that can provide words of wisdom on the size? Anyone purchase a 16-32 and regret buying that size? I'm sure many of the things I want to build are wider than the 16. Is it really a big deal to have to rotate and run through again? What about the oscillation? Is it worth the extra $s? I have no experience with drum sanders so any comments are appreciated.

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I have the non-oscillating 16-32, but the Performax (Pre-Jet). If you can afford an oscillating, then get it. I know nothing about the 22-44. The 16-32 does everything I need, I don't have a planer, so it's my planer too. It takes a LONG time, but I have time. I'm not a pro. If you take your time and switch directions, and turn the handle no more than 1/4 turn at a time, it's fine. If you're too agressive, you can have some motor tripping problems.

Take the time to set it up. The belt and head needs adjusting.

Check the other recent Drum Sander thread for more info.

[Arvid Podsim]

I was fortunate to find a Jet 22-44 Wide Belt Sander (WBS) in excellent condition from a local woodworker downsizing his shop at a reasonable price. Although I was not in the market or had a particular need for a WBS at the time, this deal could not be passed up. The WBS model does not have the oscillation feature and frankly not sure how this could improve performance.

The WBS (previously by PerformaX) does consume valuable floor space although moving the 300 lB unit is not that difficult due to the built-in casters. The most important fact is dust collection equipment is a must. Be forwarded, a WBS generates a large volume of sawdust regardless of the width or grit loaded on the drum. Another feature which should be investigated is effort involved in changing sanding belt. The Jet 22-44 is designed with a easily accessible spring loaded mechanism on either end of the sanding drum to hold the belt in place.

If you are planning on a purchase of a WBS, factor in cost for various grit size belts available in specific lengths or on a roll, as the cost is noticeable. For the casual user, precut size belts are much simpler to install due to the taper on ether end of the belt. The belt material is very robust and will remove a significant amount of material before needing change. It is more likely that a belt change is required due to burning of the wood or some other issue related to operator error. I recently tried to take too much material off at a single pass which resulted in the wood stalling under the rotating drum which resulted in a “burn” of the wood and a NEW sanding belt. Tip, you can use oven cleaner to remove the burned wood material from the drum. The wood however is another story.

To date I only used my WBS for finish sanding at #150 grit after surface planning, although based on the units performance so far, with a #50 or #80 grit the unit could emulate some features of a thickness planer. For material wider than 22” only a small line was noticeable where the work exceeded drum width. This line can be easily removed by hand or power sanding.

In summary, a WBS and/or planer will save considerable time and aggravation in face-frame or rail/style construction techniques. S4S stock varies in thickness enough that conditioning of the stock is needed to obtain a perfectly matched joint(s).
I hope my comments aid in your buying decision.

[Cary Falk]

I have the Grizzly 18/36. I ma very happy with it . I use teh extra 2 inches quite often. If I had the space and money, I would get the 22/44.

[David Peterson MN]

I love my 16-32 performax. I use it more than I ever thought I would. While I do have a planer, I especially like using the 16-32 to run my cutting board glue-ups through with 36#, then 80# and so on. It does an excellent job but remember, there is still hand sanding involved because the machine does leave small scratches in the wood surface. Hopefully the oscillating feature will remedy some of that issue.

If you do purchase one, you will be sure to enjoy it. BTW, watch craigslist. They are on there often (at least around here once a week).

[james bell]

i have the 22-44 and love it. my jointer is 12" and my old planer is 11.5". i will most likely purchase a larger planer but that said ...

i will probably purchase a better planer and will look to get 12" to 15" planer. reading all of the blogs, it is said that once you glue up < 12" boards that have been jointed and planed, then you need a 20" or so planer to make them flat/smooth.

my "thought" is that I would probably want to put a larger glued up panel through the planer when I can put it through a 22" (44") sander and get the same results.

hopefully this helps - good luck ... jim

[ben thompson]

I bought the 22-44 jet about 2 years ago and it is the best investment that i have made. I build raised panel doors for kitchen and bath cabinets. This unit is so good that i us a miter gauge to sand down to the .001. This makes the joints match perfect. I run every piece of the doors and face frames 3 or 4 times to get to the thickness that is needed. After getting all the pieces down to the correct thickness i will raise the drum and run several pieces on their sides to get all the same width. After the doors are glued up and dried i will run the completed door back first a few passes to take any bow out and then run a final pass on front to dress door up. With the drum sander my doors have improved 1000%.
I buy the 3" bulk rolls of 150 and 220 in 50 yards long which makes operation very inexpensive.
A good dust collector is a must!

Hope you have as good as results as I had.

Go for it!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mike Heidrick]

I was fortunate to find a Jet 22-44 Wide Belt Sander (WBS).

Never knew Jet made a 22-44 wide belt sander. All the 22-44 machines I know of are single head drum sanders. Have pictures?

[Rick Neal]

I have a 22-44 also. It's a great machine for my needs - end grain cutting boards. My suggestion is don't skip grits.
Happy sanding.
Rick

[Al Willits]

I have the 22-44 also, looked at the 16-32 and decided to get the larger one, glad I did as I do panels on it and the extra few inches really helps.

Haven't a clue on the oscillating one, sorry.

Al

[Erik Christensen]

Works great but I do not use it as much as I thought I would. The 15" planer I have has a spiral head and the finish is so fine I almost never need to run anything though the sander after planning (like I thought I would do).

I do like it for a final sand of panel glue-ups after I run a scraper over the glue joint to remove excess glue - also same for a final pass on a frame & panel after assembly. As all I ever use it for is a finish sander it has 220 on it - even the 150 was overkill. I found the best way to take a final pass (even with a digital height gauge) is to put your panel in the sander with power off - lower drum while spinning it by hand and stop when it first catches the wood - turn on the belt feed to remove stock, turn on sander and re-feed the panel. If > 1 pass is needed an 8th turn on the handwheel at a time with grit this fine or you will load up the belt.

Bottom line is I would buy it again - it is like a laminate router or spindle sander - not used often but when needed there is not other tool that really does the job.

[Rob Sack]

I originally purchased a 22-44 directly from Performax about 8 - 10 years ago. I struggled with from the day I took delivery until the day they took it back. No matter what anyone did, we couldn't produce a flat panel. Running wide panels through the sander produced an uneven crown in the middle, indicating that the drum and the conveyor would not remain parallel. I ended up finding a used Woodmaster 37" single drum sander that has performed beautifully for years with no adjustments. It definitely is larger than the Performax and is much heavier, but I have it on an HTC rolling stand and am able to move it anywhere in the shop.

[Dave Gross]

I Have a Jet 22-44 Oscillating drum sander and I love it. The difference between oscillating and not oscillating is like the difference between night and day. When oscillating you have to take lighter cuts, but you get to feed it through at 100 inches per minute and you get a beautiful finish.

Dave

[james bell]

i had a similar problem as Rob Sack - could not get it adjusted correctly, one side was always higher. they sent a technician (who really did not know much about the machine) but after both of us played with it for awhile, he let the factory know that there was a problem.

I packed it up and they picked it up and sent me another one which I could adjust and have been happy with it ever since. (a jet 22-44)