new drum sander

Gene Miller

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101
Location
Boca Raton FLorida
I recently discovered how much I hate sanding. I was wondering if the drum sanders work well and which ones I should consider. Any advice on this subject would greatly be appreciated. Thanks
 
gene,
first off how much power do you have available? second how `bout dust collection? third what price range are you looking at? and last how much space are you willing to give up for a sander?

most sanders are power hogs! and they`re by and large heavy and spew lotsa dust.....horsepower=speed and as a rule of thumb weight= accuracy.
there are units that`ll fit under your bench and others that won`t fit in a pick-up....how about some parameters?
 
I should have plenty of power. I added a second panel when I got my MM. My dust collector is 1.5 hp made by jet. About price it's my b-day in oct. and my wife will buy me anything I ask for. She's great that way. Unfortunately size will be an issue. It would definately have to be portable. I've never seen one so I don't really have an idea of their footprint. I do have a 8x10 building in the back I could use it in except that I only have 110. Thanks.
 
gene,
i used to own one of these and in my opinion for a drum sander they`re about as good as it gets.....mine was mounted on casters so it was kinda portable but you definately wouldn`t want to try and pick it up! it may be overkill for a hobbiest? but that`s something only you can decide......i`m sure some of the folks who own or have owned other drum sanders will chime in soon.
tod

Edit: Link Fixed (Greg)
 
Thanks Greg. It looks like a definate possibiity. The 38 inch model would probably cover most things that I would make. I noticed on some of the wood that I planed small bits chipped out. Can this be fixed with a drum sander.
 
. I noticed on some of the wood that I planed small bits chipped out. Can this be fixed with a drum sander.

yup! just be prepared to make a few passes to clean it up.....your 1-1/2 hp dust collector if hooked directly to the sander with no restrictions will probably clear the dust...i wouldn`t try to use it with more than a few feet of ducting though.
 
Hi Gene,

woodmaster would be a good choice, but if you want something a bit less expensive, you may want to look at Performax. 16/32 is a popular. They also offer a 22/44. Price? 16/32 around $900 and the 22/44 is $1500? i think.

hth
joe
 
Actually I was just looking at the performax 22-44. I'm amazed at how much something that just sands costs. I'm sure there is more to it then appears. Have there products been around and are they reliable ? More important do they do a good job? Thanks
 
Gene

I am not personally a fan of drum sanders. The model I had was a far eastern import with twin 26" drums and I couldn't give you a direct model comparison but I found it very frustrating and time consuming. I found getting abrasive loadings to fit well and stay well fitted to be awkward. The other big problem I had was that unless I took absolutely minute passes the risk of burning of the drum never went away. This is why tod is saying that extraction is important but I had this problem with good strong extraction running.

In the end I worked out that the time I spent cutting, fitting and fiddling with abrasive loadings and the slow rate at which I was able to actually get the job done wasn't worth it for me personally. I stopped using the drum and for a while went back to just using a random orbit sander. Eventually I invested in a small (by the standards of the breed) wide belt sander which is probably not more than a thousand times as effective as the drum sander that I had.

Personally I would look hard at the quality of the existing sanding tools that you use and see if a better ROS doesn't make life more pleasant. It may also be possible to find a local pro shop with a wide belt who may run the odd job that needs it for a small fee.

I hope that somebody who has had more positive experiences with drum sanders can tell you what I was doing wrong but for me I will avoid them in teh future at all costs.
 
gene,
i`ll agree with what ian says about drum sanders, the tai/chi units have never worked well for the folks i know...same with the performax type units. it wasn`t untill i started hanging out on woodworking forums that i heard anything good about any of the cantalevered design sanders including the small widebelts? like i said earlier i did own a woodmaster and in my opinion for a drum sander they`re about as good as it gets under 7-10k$, and for that money you`re looking at an old " buss" that weighs in at 10k# and uses 3 phase power!
here`s what i run now, but i`m doing this as a business.

MVC-576S.JPG

spend all the time you`re able reading and asking folks opinions, even try and look at the units you`re considering in person before you cut a check.
tod
 
I need to ask a question, if you put a shelix head in a thickness planer, would it come close to a sander for NOT tearing out figure?

Just wondering out loud here, if you had a planer with a shelix head in it, would that be the way to go?

I know that you would be limited to a much narrower capacity, as you are not going to see a lot of 24" planers, but for a smaller unit....:dunno:

Most likely shooting down a dead end here, but still..... :rolleyes:

Cheers!
 
I need to ask a question, if you put a shelix head in a thickness planer, would it come close to a sander for NOT tearing out figure?....

No direct experience but my understanding is that that is the main idea behind shelix type heads. Basically you are getting a shearing cut which reduces the tearout and gives a higher quality finish on highly figured woods. I suspect that you would still end up with some mill glaze on the timber and some level of final finishing would be required though.
 
when it comes to squirly wood it`s just a matter of chance if you`re using steel to finish, whether its a true helical head or straight knifes or an insert toothed hybrid...if you`ve got a wild board and you want to be sure it comes out "x" in thickness with no defects then sanding is the only safe option.....
chances of achieving a good final pass are increased somewhat with the helical and hybrid heads but in order to match stain/finish it`ll still need to be sanded, and i haven`t been able to justify in my own mind the added cost and hassle of dealing with 814 little fragile chunks of steel when i can change all the knifes in my head in less than 5 min. now.
 
Gene

I thought about a drum sander awhile ago, but I'm space limited, Then I discovered the Festool Rotex and dust extractor -- life is good, sanding is "almost" fun -- and it certainly is cleaner

Jay
 
I think that the drum sander starts to make sense if you are trying to flatten wider panels than an upgraded planer could handle. But you might find a bigger planer with shelix type head faster, easier to power and collect chips from, and more versatile.

Of course, I would never run a finished door through the planer. The sander is great for flushing up joints since the conveyor is soft enough to distribute unevenness on the bottom of the workpiece. But to avoid chatter, I found that I had to run very slowly.

For me, the amount of ROS sanding is about the same for a panel out of the planer vs one from the drum sander. I've even run end grain cutting boards through the planer with shelix head. If you go for a sander, avoid the cantilever designs unless all you run are strips that won't lever it up on the open end.

My 37" drum sander was a great stepping stone from a consumer grade sander to the industrial wide belt that is on a truck headed my way right now. (It is the same color as tod's. I can't wait!)
 
Gene, I recently moved up from a Delta 18/36 to a Woodmaster 2675. The Delta did a good job for me but the Woodmaster is in a whole different class. As far as machine footprint goes, they are all space hogs with the execption of Grizzly's “baby” drum sander that is not much bigger than a lunchbox planner.
 
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