drum sander vs disk sander

[Eric Wagner]

I have been doing a lot of research on these two types of machines and I am not real sure which one will be the best for me. I will be using them for segement turning but will also be resawing boards on the bandsaw. I know a drum sander will be better for flattening boards of length but a disk sander will be better for flattening glued up disks. Can you guys give me your opinions on this.

[Jon McElwain]

Those are two very different machines. Really, the only thing that they have in common is a motor and sandpaper. Cost is very different as well (unless you are going for one of those 20" disk models). It is hard to give a comparison on the two tools because they are so different.

There is a way to flatten a segmented ring by mounting it on the lathe and holding a board with sandpaper attached to the board against the flat side of the ring as it spins on the lathe. Probably not as effective as a drum, but gets the job done. Also, Malcolm Tibbits uses his disk sander to flatten a ring by holding the ring against the disk. I want to say that Tibbits uses his drum sander primarily to sand segments to variable thicknesses.

After sort of talking it through here, I would suggest getting a disk sander first. Also, get Malcolm's book. It is indispensable for learning segmented turning and I think it would help you with your decision.

Regards,

Jon

[Rusty Smith]

Actually if you have a drillpress and a lathe, you already have both, well, almost. You can mount a sandpaper drum in the drill press and using a homemade jig you have the drum sander. Using a flat piece of MDF mounted to a faceplate and turned to a disk you now have a disk sander.

[Gene Howe]

You might want to check into a "V" Sander kit from Stockroom Supply.
Here is the one I have. VSANDER Browse the site for smaller ones.

[Tim Boger]

Eric,

I a good bit of segmented work and could not live without my 16 / 32 Drum sander, I cut my stock to width and thickness on my bandsaw and true it up on the drum sander .... occasionally I'll use the thickness planer prior to the sander if my bandsaw cuts were sloppy. I cut my segments on the table saw using this sled and after the rings are glued up and dry I flatten them on the drum sander before assembly. I have a 12in disk sander but find I use it very little. I feel like my segments are accurate and the joints are nice and tight when finished.

My opinion, get the drum sander .... you'll be glad you did.

Tim

[Dave Mueller]

Eric,
I cannot suggest which one to buy, since I have all three (12" disk, Jet 16-31 Plus and a 24" VSander), all of which I use regularly. However, remember that the disk sander and the VSander both sand on the "reference" side. That is, they sand on the same side on which the work is supported (like a jointer). The drum sander sands on the side opposite from the reference side (like a surface planer) and is the only one of the three that will make both sides flat AND parallel. Of course, if you are only doing segmented rings, you can flatten one side and then make the other side flat and parallel on the lathe.
Dave

[Malcolm Tibbetts]

Eric, every segmenter, at a minimum, needs a good quality 12" disc sander (recommend the Jet). A drum sander is a very useful tool, but I did a lot of segmentng before finally spending big bucks on a drum sander. I now operate with both a 12" and 20" disc sander and a 25" drum sander (with support posts on both sides). I can't imagine going back to just a cheap 12" disc sander.

[Michelle Rich]

I will ask this: why would a disc sander be better for flattening glued up disks?? It all( your glue ups and your boards) can be done on the drum sander. If you have a shortage of cash, you can work without either. Stick sandpaper to a flat surface, sand one side. Glue it to your vessel, and then turn& sand the top of your disc parallel to the base of your vessel. Sometimes folks get thinking segmenting requires tons of expensive machinery, but it really doesn't. It ain't rocket science.

[Robert McGowen]

I have a drum sander and 2 x 12" disc sanders. I do mostly segmented work and have not used the drum sander in a very long time. I use the disc sander enough that I purchased a second one so that I would have one for flattening rings and one for sanding the ends of segments without having to change the setup on the sander.

The answers are all over the place. I guess you should just get whatever YOU want to get!

[Robert McGowen]

I will ask this: why would a disc sander be better for flattening glued up disks??

For me personally, I can flatten a glued-up ring in seconds on a disc sander. I got seriously tired of taking small amounts off of the ring running it multiple times through the drum sander. Also, it usually happened that once I got to the last pass, the sander would snipe off the back end of the ring and I would be starting all over again. YMMV