Sand flee recommendations?

had one and sent it back julio, depending on what you are using it for is where they are good or bad.. the ideal use to me is for small projects that dont have a large sized piece in it.. to me a drum sander like a cantilever style or preverably a full sized drum sander that is supported at both ends. so look at your presnt needs and your future ones before gettin one.
 
Thanks Larry. I figured it probably was not up to my needs. I need an affordable (under1,500$) sander for semi-production use. I am currently making about 30 doors for a kitchen renovation and I had to sand all the panels by hand. That was a major pain and time consuming.
 
julio, I have a 22-44, and although I dont use it often, and only on an amateur basis, I still have to sand out the lines left by the drum sander. Its not a decent enough surface to finish until I do it with orbital by hand.
Not sure if this helps, but I also find using the drum sander to take a panel down in thickness is also a tedious procedure.
 
I had the 22-44, now the 16-32. Long story. Great machine if used for what it was intended to be used for. And that is not thickness sanding. That's what thickness planers are all about. It is also not a finish sander, as Allen points out. The best result I have with the thing is to sand boards before final cutting. In other words, cut to rough sizes, then sand to 120, usually taking no more than 1/16" total both sides. The other really great used is to band saw thin boards and sand smooth. 80 grit for that job, rough cut to size and then sand to 120 grit. The process saves me tons of time, especially when I was doing this for a living. Now that is not necessarily the goal. The other benefit was to finish at a thickness that accommodated joinery, i.e., 3/4" wide dadoes. Often 4/4 wood came in at 13/16". When I prepped this way I had actual 3/4" thick wood and joinery went much better. So I think of this machine as a pre-prep, rather than a finisher. Just my 2 centavos.
 
Thanks everyone.

I need to be able to ensure a flat surface that I can then hand sand with the random orbiter.

I have only used stains till now and they can be forgiving with very slightly uneven surfaces but now that I am painting and lacquering any irregularities are very visible. I think I would use a drum sander to get to a rough even texture then hand sand smooth to finish.

I figure a drum type sander is just the next step after the thickness planer and not the final step. I just wish they weren't so darn expensive.
 
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