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

[nic obie]

Thank you for the review.

I'm waiting on J. Baker's thoughts on his 16/32 now that he has had it for a month or two.

[Brian Hale]

..... Some more

This is by far the quietest machine in my shop. With just the drum running you can barely hear it. The conveyor adds a touch more but is still quieter than my electric razor.

The finish with a 150 grit belt is quite smooth but still requires some hand sanding. Finer grits are available but i believe 150 is a good stopping point. Grits run from 36 to 220.

Belt changing is very simple. Reach into the drum on the left side and press the spring loaded belt locking arm towards you to remove and install the belt.(Arrow Pic 2) Wrap the belt around the drum by spinning it and use the supplied tool to lock the other end into the drum. My first belt change took about 5 minutes. the second took about 2 minutes.

The sanding depth is controlled by a crank on the top of the unit and 1/4 turn equals about 1/64"

The unit has an infeed and outfeed roller on each side of the drum to press the board onto the conveyor and prevent snipe. In use they are only slightly adequate and i'll soon ad some infeed and outfeed support boards around the unit.

All in all i'm pleased with the performace and finish the Performax produces.

If i can answer any questions, please feel free to ask....

Brian

[Ken Leshner]

Thanks for the review. Your pictures are great! What camera do you use, what settings did you use, what's the lighting, etc.?

[Brian Hale]

Thanks Ken!

Camera info: Canon D60 with Tamron 90mm macro and Canon 28-135 IS. Canon 550EX flash on a Wimberly macro flash bracket. All this mounted on a Kirk BH-1 ball head on a Gitzo 1325 mkII Carbon fiber tripod. Also used a couple pieces of cardboard wraped with crumpled aluminum foil as reflectors and a piece of a diffuser from a florescent light as, well, a diffuser.

All images shot in manual mode either f8, f16 or f32, flash set at +1/3 or -2/3, iso 100 with a shutter speed of 1/80.

Levels and curves in Photoshop CS, slight sharpening via PR Sharpener and USM faded on the Color specturm. I did the first images and recorded the steps as an action and then applied to the remaining images. Resized to 700 and a final gental USM to a seperate layer at 50% opacity.

Man i love this stuff!!

Brian

[Jim Becker]

Nice review, Brian. The "little guy" seems to be built the very same way my 22-44 Plus is...beefy. That's good, IMHO.

[Brian Hale]

Thanks Jim!

Yes, it's a beefy, well built machine that'll serve me well for drawer fronts and face frames and should even remove the bow from boards after i add extension tables.

Brian

[Scott Coffelt]

Great review. I wish these manufacturers would build some sort of hose support arm into the design. Mine has a tendency to droop and lay on the conveyer belt. Probably not a big deal but sure would be nice if they think one step further in the designs.

[Brian Hale]

I see what you mean Scott, mine does it also. I might "aquire" some aluminum from work and fabricate a support for the hose. There are some advantages to being a machinist!


Brian

[Ted Shrader]

Brian -

Good review. Factual and covered all the major features/quirks. The photography was also very helpful. Well Done!

Regards,
Ted

[Keith Christopher]

The only question I have is when can Is top by and use it Brian ? I ave some resawn boards I need evened out. Awesome review !

[Tyler Howell]

Great Pix Brian and a great Review. Thanks for sharing.
PS In my basement shop I have some eye bolts installed in the rafters. A bungee or two will support a DC hose at any desired height.

[Brian Hale]

Keith, if you want to try it out send me a PM and we'll set something up.

Tyler, i was worried that i didn't post enough pics to apease the SMC PP's. I'll sleep better tonight knowing all is well !!

Brian

[Perry Schmidt]

Thanks for the review Brian...now, where would I put one in my shop??

Thanks again,

Perry