How much do you use your drum sander?

[Jim Tobias]

I have had my Woodmaster 38" drum sander for 15+ years and could not live without it. If you use figured woods often it can often be used instead of planer.
If you want to find out how much you need it, just sell it and within 2 weeks, you will desperately need it for a project.

Jim

[Jonathan Jung]

Used it all the time. Then I got a WBS, and find it irreplaceable. The things I find myself doing with a WBS are beyond what I imagined. For example, being able to thickness a part down to a .002" is possible, for example, making fitting parts into dados so easy. Furniture, small batch millwork, and cabinetry.

[Patty Hann]

I don't have one [yet], but looking forward to getting one. I have used the one in the wood shop class I take.
I find it very useful (as long as it is adjusted/calibrated correctly)
Looking at a Supermax 19-38 (I guess Supermax is now owned by Jet?)
Any other brand I should consider? Space is limited so I really don't want to go any larger.

[Michael Burnside]

...
Looking at a Supermax 19-38 (I guess Supermax is now owned by Jet?)
...

Laguna owns Supermax. I like mine.

[Eric Arnsdorff]

I have a Performax 22-44 and it isn't used a lot. However, when I do use it I'm super happy I have it. I have everything in my shop on wheels which keeps it accessible but out of the way when not used.

The cantilever design and sandpaper belt conveyor leave a lot to be desired. Clearly a wide belt or drum sander with roller support on both ends can provide much better results but also is a larger machine and more costly. But the unit I have is both adequate for my use and I'm willing to deal with the issues such as sandpaper change hassle and deflection issues.

[Bryan Hall]

Used it all the time. Then I got a WBS, and find it irreplaceable. The things I find myself doing with a WBS are beyond what I imagined. For example, being able to thickness a part down to a .002" is possible, for example, making fitting parts into dados so easy. Furniture, small batch millwork, and cabinetry.

I assume you ditched the drum sander when you got the WBS? What brand/model did you end up with?

[roger wiegand]

I have the 19-38 and use it constantly. Wish I had a wide belt sander-- the PITA factor of changing grits is so high it really limits the utility I could be getting from the machine. I've been making thin stock (5 or 6 mm) for organ pipes these last several weeks, it needs to be accurate to a couple tenths of a mm and as flat as I can manage. The drum sander performs that task perfectly, taking off the last couple tenths that would be very difficult to deal with otherwise. I work a lot with the wildest curly maple I can find, sanding the last little bit saves me from having to pitch parts where the curl chips out at the very end from a machine or hand plane.

Short of maybe a milling machine, which I don't have, it's the best tool I can afford (in $$ and space) for achieving precise uniform thickness with a flat surface.

[Jay Houghton]

I had a 16/32 for quite a while and finally got fed up with the drum abrasive changes and the constant adjustment to the tracking. It was very under powered and if you weren't careful it would stall and make a divot in your work. For light duty taking off mill marks from you planer or jointer it's probably fine. I searched for a while and bought a 15" wide belt sander for $2,000 from a cabinet shop. Wow! 5hp with a 1/2hp drive motor I've never had to adjust the tracking and you can do precise parts as stated earlier. If you're going a kitchen or set of face frames, rails and stiles it's really fantastic. The foot print is only about 36x36 and I have it on a mobile base so it's not something I use every day but I won't be selling it any time soon. Most of the 15" machines are probably made in the same factory once you get past the color. For anyone thinking of one you want the three roller model. There is one with only two rollers and it's really more of a thicknesser. The three roller has platen you can adjust that makes a wide contact with the work and will give you a fantastic flat finish.

[Mike Henderson]

I had a 16-32 and used it a lot. But I was often needing a wider sander so I bought a 25-50 and that has been better. I use it on just about every project.

Mike

[Charlie Jones]

I have a 16-32. I don’t use it a lot but it is great when I need it. I changed the paper attachment to hook and loop. The finish is better and it is not as prone to burn the wood. I used it last night when I needed a 1/16 shim.

[Ron Selzer]

I first had a Woodmaster 12" drum sander and years later bought a Grizzly drum sander, never liked either one. Always had problems with the end of the sandpaper coming undone, sandpaper loading up, burning, feeding problems getting divots, etc.
Then got a deal on a 15" wide belt with 5hp motor. Now we are getting somewhere, start with 24 grit paper to hog off the wood or to flatten the wood. Then quickly change to 40, 60, 80, 100, 120 to finish the wood.

[Kevin Jenness]

I first had a Woodmaster 12" drum sander and years later bought a Grizzly drum sander, never liked either one. Always had problems with the end of the sandpaper coming undone, sandpaper loading up, burning, feeding problems getting divots, etc.
Then got a deal on a 15" wide belt with 5hp motor. Now we are getting somewhere, start with 24 grit paper to hog off the wood or to flatten the wood. Then quickly change to 40, 60, 80, 100, 120 to finish the wood.

Hogging off material with only 5 hp and coarse abrasives seems unusual. You must have some good reason for not using a jointer and planer for flattening and dimensioning- would you mind explaining? I rarely use anything below 100# on a widebelt unless dealing with material extremely prone to tearout or man-made materials like mdf or foamboard. I've never even seen anything coarser than 36#.

[mreza Salav]

Have a 37x2 supermax (Made in US) that rarely use but when needed it does the job and nothing can replace it.
It's biggest drawback for me is its massive footprint. It does take a LOT of space.

[Dave Zellers]

I have a 19-38 SuperMax and I'm in the camp that while it doesn't get a lot of use, I wouldn't be without it. It works flawlessly.

Today I put on a new roll of 80 grit and fired it up to clean up some old weathered 2x4's for some shelving supports in my new shed. I did not want to use my jointer and planer because of the years of grit accumulated sitting outside. They cleaned up beautifully. The next time I use it might be to put a final sanding with 220 on some paneling I'll be making soon. It's more versatile than some think.

[Ron Selzer]

Hogging off material with only 5 hp and coarse abrasives seems unusual. You must have some good reason for not using a jointer and planer for flattening and dimensioning- would you mind explaining? I rarely use anything below 100# on a widebelt unless dealing with material extremely prone to tearout or man-made materials like mdf or foamboard. I've never even seen anything coarser than 36#.

Ok explanation will be long
My wife is who I build furniture for. She insists that it be built out of lumber with "defects" that I was taught to cut out and not use. Also wants me to use boards as wide as possible. Have used a 6" jointer from the late 80's until not long ago when I updated to a 8" jointer with segmented head which helps with tearout around knots and other defects along with change of direction of grain. Still use boards too wide to joint one side down to flatten, currently working with lowest grade 4-5' cherry boards that I can buy. Have acquired a MinMax 12" jointer/planer with a bad motor, have a new motor to replace the bad one with, need my physical health to improve to be able to get down in the shop to do this. This jointer/planer hopefully will allow me to joint full width boards to flatten them.
Currently I glue up panels 20-24" wide to make the furniture and always at least one board will be humped up somewhere around a defect that she insists be included, most of the time I only need one show side the inside can be uneven. This results in up do 3/16" worse case so far, commonly 1/16" to 1/8" removal of material at the humped up area, which gets done with the 24 grit. The planer draws minimal amps planning with 24 grit compared to 100 grit. once I get it cut down smooth then I progress thru the grits quickly. Doors both sides have to be surfaced down so they take more sanding, however the sanding goes fairly quickly with the 15" wide belt sander as long as I don't push past 24", have tried approximately 30" and it cups the panel.