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Thread: Not so useful drum sanders

  1. #1
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    Not so useful drum sanders

    I bought a performax 25/50 drum sander (scratch and dent...a big dent) at a good discount, called laguna tools and they sent me the end of the dented cabinet for shipping cost. Anyway; after several months of using it, I would have rather put the money in something else. Gums up too easily, burns too easily, leaves sanding marks that take forever to sand out. I think part of the problem is no cushioning behind the sandpaper? It would be very useful for a luthier or someone that does veneer repair, or used figured wood a lot. It seems to go out of adjustment pretty easily too, and takes awhile to set it back to being square with the feed table. I've tried zircon paper, thinking it would clog less; nope, probably clogs more. If a sandpaper maker would make a synthetic rubber/cork backer for the sandpaper, I think that would help quite a bit? I bought it thinking with 80 grit; I could flatten slightly cupped live edge boards. Nope, not enough power, and it would take till eternity to get it done. What do you guys think?
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  2. #2
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    I think you bought a drum sander hoping it would do the job of a planer. I've owned two DS's; neither are happy taking off more than about 0.010" per pass, and operate much better at 0.005" or less.
    If the sandpaper is gumming up on you it's because you are sanding something resinous, sanding too heavily, and/or you don't have enough dust collection pulling the dust away. You'll usually get better results all around if you run the board through at a shallow angle, then make the last, light pass at 0 angle.

    John

  3. #3
    I think you have written a good practical assessment that some will find useful. Might be a good machine for instrument
    guys. With practice you can do a lot with portable belt sander, the 4 inch are easier to use than the three, they don't
    rock as easily.

  4. #4
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    Agreed, i had a bigger brother to your machine for a few years and found it woefully underwhelming from day one. They are slick tools to have around if you have the room. Prepping bent laminations, wide panels after glueup, and thicknessing really delicate/squirrely grain. After selling my 37" sander, i always wanted to get one of the small open-ended widebelts a shot. The 15"+/- varieties. I think the biggest problem with a drum sander is the limited contact area. There is no time and space for the paper to cool, and therefore it gums and burns faster.

  5. #5
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    This is an interesting thread. I have been nothing but happy with the performance of my 19-38. There is a definite scope of operation.
    "A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".


    – Samuel Butler

  6. #6
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    I LOVE my Woodmaster drum sander. Except for that one time, when I decided to sand some pine that had knots. It gummed up the sandpaper quickly and was so bad, I replaced the paper, and never sanded pine again.

    Back to the first sentence. Do not repeat learning experience.
    Rick Potter

    DIY journeyman,
    FWW wannabe.
    AKA Village Idiot.

  7. #7
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    I was well aware of the limitations of the drum sander I had and it still was a piece of junk. Way too finicky to adjust (and readjust and readjust) and more often than not messed up a board instead of giving me a nicely sanded surface. Good riddance to hobby level drum sanders!

  8. I am with Glenn on this one. Have had a Super Max 19/38 and it has been a joy. I cut a lot of veneer on the bandsaw and running it thru the sander a few times makes it perfect. Also great for flattening out panels with hardwood edge banding prior to glueing things up in the vacuum press. Use the right paper at the right rate and it is perfect.

  9. #9
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    I am happy as can be with my little 16/32, but I do mostly hobby and craft work. Small stuff. A good bit is segmented turning which is why I bought the drum sander in the first place. Cannot imagine being without it now that I have one.

  10. #10
    I have the SuperMax 25/50 and am very happy with it. Maybe I don't expect as much from it as you do.

    I had a 16/32 before this one and traded up because I often needed to sand something wider than 16".

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  11. #11
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    I think your machine is woefully out of tune, and you're asking maybe to much from it. It's never going to be commercial sander, but some very fine work can be done with it. You don't need backing on the drum, or paper. I had a 2nd generation Perfomax 16/32, and never needed it. To this day, it is the only machine I ever regret selling.
    Is all you have tried so far 80 grit? If so, then yes, it's going to leave a finish that needs quite a bit more work. My dual drum sander is setup 80/120 and I still have a lot of sanding work left after that.
    It will never, ever, flatten boards. With time you might take some slight cupping out, but nothing serious.
    If it's clogging up, I would suspect a few reasons.
    The dust collection may not be adequate.
    The feed rate is too fast.
    The amount of material being taken in a single pass is to aggressive.
    The wood is green, or full of pitch, or it's an oily tropical species.

    Bottom line, I think that you're correct. You need a bigger, more powerful machine.
    "The first thing you need to know, will likely be the last thing you learn." (Unknown)

  12. #12
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    When I first got mine, had similar problems.... A friend in a cabinet shop had the almost identical unit... He had no problems, so I watched him and learned a lot...
    My biggest problem was the grit... I find 150 is best for most of my work...
    Agree with John TenEyck.. it is not a planer...

  13. #13
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    Adding a cushion to the sandpaper, head, or table doesn't improve the machine. A drum sander is a calibrating type machine. Won't take off more than a few thou but will leave a surface very uniform, particularly when sanding shop made veneer. Keep the paper tight, check it and retighten after the first board, use a cleaning stick often- very often, and stay away from pine. The cleaning stick needs to be used every few boards and keep the grits 150 or less. Dave

  14. #14
    I have a 3875 woodmaster that works very well as long as you make a light cut. Ive never used a cantilevered design but I can see where taking off to much could mess up the drum to table dimensions

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rick Potter View Post
    I LOVE my Woodmaster drum sander. Except for that one time, when I decided to sand some pine that had knots. It gummed up the sandpaper quickly and was so bad, I replaced the paper, and never sanded pine again.

    Back to the first sentence. Do not repeat learning experience.
    Ditto here, I love my Woodmaster. I can easily take 1/64 per pass with it. I had the exact same experience sanding pine and vowed never to sand it again!
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