Woodmaster drum sander advice needed

[Roger Bull]

While upgrading my sanders I decided to upgrade my drum sander as well. Woodmaster is running a good special right now so I ordered a 3875.
I have never used or seen one but the glowing reviews from Creekers made it clear that they are the best of the drum sanders. I'm sure it will be a significant upgrade from my Performax 22-44.


One big difference from my current drum sander is that the table moves up and down and the drum does not. This means infeed and outfeed tables (for long boards) need to be height adjustable. Obviously they are not needed for shorter pieces but I plan on running large slabs through the Woodmaster. The slabs I'm currently working on are 150-200 pounds each and 8-10 feet long. This creates the possibility of snipe as well as significant leverage against the drum if the feed is not planar and even with the sander conveyor.


I considered roller conveyors but space here is limited (for now) and the folding models are pricey. Before dropping $800 for a couple folding conveyors I thought I should seek the advice of SMC.


How do you guys handle this? Is there a better way?

[Bruce Page]

I use the extension rollers that Woodmaster sells on my 2675. They work well but add considerably to the already large footprint of the machine. They live on a shelf most of the time, I only mount them when needed. Mounting/removal only takes a few minutes.

[Roger Bull]

Bruce, do you think those extensions could be modified to fold out of the way for storage?

[Bruce Page]

I looked at that when I got them and didn't see any way to modify them to fold down.

[Roger Bull]

Ok. I think you have solved my problem anyway. If I use the extension tables then I should be able to get by with basic roller stands. I had considered them when I placed the order but was concerned about the additional space they take up. You mentioning that they only take a few minutes to mount and remove made up my mind. I added them to my order. Thanks!

[Mike Henderson]

It'd be tough to use roller stands because as you adjust your sanding depth, you'd have to adjust your roller stands. I had a chance to purchase a used sander like that (where the conveyor belt moved up and down) and passed partially because of that. That wasn't the only reason but it was one reason.

Mike

[Roger Bull]

It'd be tough to use roller stands because as you adjust your sanding depth, you'd have to adjust your roller stands. I had a chance to purchase a used sander like that (where the conveyor belt moved up and down) and passed partially because of that. That wasn't the only reason but it was one reason.

I agree that it will be an inconvenience to have to keep adjusting the stands but it will only be on the very long boards. I'm assuming that the benefits of a high quality sander will outweigh that inconvenience.

[Bruce Page]

It'd be tough to use roller stands because as you adjust your sanding depth, you'd have to adjust your roller stands. I had a chance to purchase a used sander like that (where the conveyor belt moved up and down) and passed partially because of that. That wasn't the only reason but it was one reason.

Mike

You're only adjusting the table ~1/32 or less at a time, depending on the grit used. You'd have to make a lot of adjustments for it to make any real difference.

[Roger Bull]

You're only adjusting the table ~1/32 or less at a time, depending on the grit used. You'd have to make a lot of adjustments for it to make any real difference.

Yes. If the roller stand is 4 or 5 feet from the sander I can probably make up to 1/4" in adjustments before having to adjust the roller stands. Will definitely experiment before sending 200 pound slabs through it though.