drum sander feed rate

[Dustin McDee]

I have a Supermax 19/38. I pretty much always just crank the speed all the way up and let the magic box worry about feed rate. Should I be doing something different?

[Lisa Starr]

I don't know the answer, but am interested in the replies. I take an educated guess and start sanding. I then adjust the speed up or down until 99% of the time the "magic box" isn't activated. Don't know if this is correct though.

[Michelle Rich]

the Magic Box is telling you that you are taking too big a bite..the faster you go, the less time the sandpaper has to work. So maybe you can put it thru less times at slower speed???

[Brian Nguyen]

I try to get the wood through the sander as fast as possible by finding the rate that makes the indicator light flicker.

[Dustin McDee]

Lisa and Bryan, that's what I was doing, but then I figured it's more accurate than I am so why mess with it?!

Michelle that brings up the obvious correlated question: what depth of cut? I was pondering life watching my sander eating 17" wide pine glue-ups yesterday, as a convenient example. They took several passes, and I generally drop the head 1/64 of an inch (1/4 crank) for each pass. I was using 80 grit paper. I was trying to maximize stock removal, not very concerned about finish. My assumption is that if the sander can still operate at a reasonable speed then I'm at a depth of cut which the magic box can compensate for, and it'll find a most efficient speed.

I do maybe 1/8 turn per pass when finishing (to 120), and often run things through twice without moving anything. Same technique - the faster/shallower cuts seem to burn less, and the magic box can feed faster than I can. I will play with slowing down (but probably not with this pine...), but I'm honestly not sure how it could do a better job than I'm getting.

[John K Jordan]

I do about the same, set the speed high and back off if the light flickers (Performax 22-44)

I also use about 1/4 crank or less per pass, depending on the wood. I switch to 60 grit if I'm just trying to flatten things.

JKJ

[Zachary Hoyt]

One of my main uses for my 19-38 is to flatten glued up rings of blocks. I set the conveyor to high speed and the automatic control slows it down to sand the leading and trailing edge and speeds up in the middle where there's a lot less width being sanded. I hope the 'brain' won't get worn out by my doing this, but it does speed up the process.
Zach

[David Kumm]

There is a difference in scratch pattern when the smart sand unit kicks in and it also means you are running the motor at close to FLA and working it hard. As you use the machine you will get a feel for the speed that just stays under the sand smart by feel and sound. I always tried to avoid having the control kick in as I felt the finish was best when it didn't engage. Drum sanders are really really slow so I understand the lack of patience. Dave

[Michelle Rich]

Pine glue-ups? Aren't you getting the resin build up on your sandpaper?? I've had real bad luck with pine & don't run it thru much anymore.

[Dustin McDee]

Pine glue-ups? Aren't you getting the resin build up on your sandpaper?? I've had real bad luck with pine & don't run it thru much anymore.

Oh lawdy! My big rubber donger takes it off pretty good, but I spend a lot of time turning that thing into little rubber shreds. And I'm working with wood that's been in a dry barn for 30 years or so!

[ed vitanovec]

I have the same sander and take small passes using as a sander and not a planer. I may lower the crank about 1/2 turn and belt feed about 50%. Mainly I been sanding Red Oak and Cherry. Light passes has been the key for me, may take longer but the belts do not gum up, wood does not burn or belts do not break.