Drum Sanders

[James Tibbetts]

I am looking into a drum sander purchase. I have had good luck with Grizzly products and their G0458Z looks pretty good. 18" open end, variable speed feed.
Belt sanders are not in the budget.
Any thoughts this model or others similar from different makers?
Pros and cons ?

Thanks,
Jim

[Larry Frank]

I am very happy with my Laguna Supermax.

[Ted Baxter]

I have a GO458 that was discontinued not to long after I bought it. I am very unhappy with I used it a week ago for the first time in over six months and had to stop and shove it back against the wall. The belt will not track stright I have worked on it for hours as well as two other people trying to get it to track wright no luck. I have other Grizzly machines that I am happy with but not the GO458 . I don't know what the difference between the GO458 & the GO458Z.

And yes I tried to get Grizzly tech support to help but was told that it must be an operator issues that the machine was fine.

I need to get it out of my shop because I have to walk by it everytime I walk into the shop and I think about how much money I wasted on it

[James Cheever]

I am very happy with my 25x2 SuperMax sander.

[Doug Dawson]

I am very happy with my Laguna Supermax.

Same here, I have the closed-stand 25-50, and it's a great tool. Go with the closed stand if you have the choice, it's very solid. People have talked about having to reinforce the open-stand models. I thought about going open-stand and constructing storage underneath, and I'm glad I punted on that. Get the folding tables, it doesn't take up much space.

[James Tibbetts]

Thanks for the input all.
I think those bigger Lagunas are going to be out of budget range; about double the cost of the Griz. May well be worth it but not feasible right now.

[James Tibbetts]

Hmmmm.. I just read reviews of the 458 on Amazon and they were not impressive. Some mentioned the same run out on the feed belt.
I won't go through the laundry list of complaints but one reviewer was told by Grizzly CS that the defects were addressed in the G0458Z model.
I still have my eyes peeled for one of the older G1066 24" sanders. They pop up for sale every so often.

[James Tibbetts]

Ted, as far as I can tell, the difference in the models is that the Z is the "new and improved" version.
Specs are the same except for the new model having a 4" dust port and it's shipping weight being 65 lbs lighter.

[Tom Dixon]

I have a Steel City 55220 26" Dual Drum sander that I bought before they went out of business a few years back. It works very well and I'm quite happy with it. It looks almost identical to the Delta 31-481 26-Inch Dual Drum Sander
61g9dle+DVL._SL1000_.jpg

[James Tibbetts]

Looks like a beast Tom. The double drums are a nice plus.
I just have to get those lottery people with the program.

[Gary Petersen]

I've owned a Supermax 16-32 for a year and love it. It has a sensor that automatically slows down the feed belt if you load it too much. It has a digital display for height that I've not found all that useful. Plenty of power and good dust collection.

The only problem I've ever had with it was not getting the sandpaper wrap locked down on one end the first time I used it. That was user error that was easily corrected and hasn't been repeated.

I bought it from Woodcraft. They go on sale for 10% off there often enough.

Gary

[Cary Falk]

James,
I bought a used G0458 from CL about 9 years ago and eventually sold it about 2 years ago when a bought a SuperMax 25-50. The design with the adjustable table height is a more sturdy design. There is less flex at the far end of the drum like you see with the with the moving drum/fixed conveyor. The sand paper tensioner for the drum while a pain to use does hold a good amount of tension on the paper and I have never had to go in and readjust for stretching of the sand paper rolls. On the G0458 there were 2 belts and a ton of brass bushings that had to be routinely lubricated behind that end panel. Several were impossible to get to due to the belts and pulleys in the way. It looks like the G0458Z has only 1 belt and I don't see the maintenance info for the bushings so I guess they did away with them. That is a good thing. Due to the 2 belts the sander was kind of noisy. Often I forget the Supermax is on because it is so quiet. The conveyor belt tensioning/tracking system is a royal pain. I screwed up many belts trying to keep it tracking. It got to the point that I would run a few boards and then have to stop to track the belt and then sand some more. My motor felt very week. It was feeding the drum, conveyor, and dust blower. I dropped a 2hp motor in it and it ran fine after that. It may be that the previous owner abused it. So, I can't say that I would recommend it unless you found one used for a good price. I would rather have it then the same size Delta. I wouldn't push to a Jet 16/32 either. I say one run at a woodworking show and was not impressed. I would look at the Supermax 16-32 based on my experience with the 25-50. My brother just recently got the 16-32 and is happy with it. I think it is just a little more than the Grizzly by the time you figure in shipping and tax. Hope that helps.
Cary

[James Tibbetts]

Well you guys are certainly piling on my homework for the weekend
Great information as always and the kind I need most. From folks that are using the machines not the ones selling them !

[Tom Dixon]

Looks like a beast Tom. The double drums are a nice plus.
I just have to get those lottery people with the program.

Yep it's a beast. Next best thing to a belt sander with the two drums, (80 and 120). The Amazon price is high. Tool Barn has it for $250 less so if you get bitten by the dual drum bug, shop around. There are other manufacturers like General, Baileigh and WoodTek with similar products but not as wide as 26" Usually 24" to 25"

[ray grundhoefer]

If second hand is okay watch for a used woodmaster. they are built very well . I picked up a 3875 2 years ago . It does what I need