REVIEW Performax 10-20 Plus

[Brian Hale]

Just a quick review of the Performax 10-20 Plus

This is a drum sander capable of thickness sanding a board 10” wide in one pass or 20” in two passes when it’s rotated 180 degrees.
The specifications:
Max thickness – 3”
Minimum Thickness – 1/32”
Minimum board length – 2.25”
Drum size – 5”x10” Aluminum
Drum speed – 1700rpm
Dust chute - 4"
Conveyor variable feedrate - 0-12 FPM
Net weight - 96lbs
Electrical - 1hp 1ph 115vac


This is a pretty compact unit at 28d" x 18w" x 22h" but can handle a 20" wide board of any length. Dust collection is required to remove the dust from sanding drum or it'll load-up the abrasive and burn the wood. My Sears shop vac is barely strong enough and only if i take light passes at a slow feedrate. With my 2hp Bridgewood DC the drum stays clean as well as the shop air.


There's plenty power to remove ~1/64" material per pass at about 8 fpm. At the maximum 12 fpm the surface finish begins to suffer and the unit sounds like it's working hard. If the depth and/or is set too heavy the built in breaker will trip and shut the unit down. The rest button is ideally located behind the main power switch and will reset when the unit is turned off. (Pic #5)


Pic 1 Infeed side
Pic 2 Outfeed side
Pic 3 Controls
Pic 4 Feedrate control
Pic 5 Power and reset switch