Drum Sander - Buy one or pass on it?

[JoeinWestMich]

Not sure if this is the right forum for this question but here goes. I read a thread on one of the CNC forums where the user was preparing his wood blanks with a drum sander. I have never used one before so I don't know how useful this piece of wood working equipment would be in general and for CNC in particular. But the drum sander seems to be ideal for preparing wood blanks of uniform thickness and with a final finish (220 grit) for most stuff I would do with my Buddy. I was looking at the Jet 16-32 drum sander online (Woodcraft, Amazon). It is not inexpensive but I could save enough to get one in a couple of months. Could those of you who use one please pipe in and give me your advice. FYI, I have a DeWalt 14 inch thickness planer, a Powermatic 6 inch jointer, and a very good cabinet table saw. Would a drum sander complement these tools or just be overkill. I am finishing setting up my garage wood shop for my retirement next year so any purchases such as a new drum sander would have to come this year. I look forward to your input.

[Kyle Stapleton]

They're nice piece of equipment to have, makes life a lot easier. Things go much faster when you don't have to stand with an orbital Sander forever but you can find one much cheaper on craigslist.

[Bob Eustace]

Joe we use the 16/32 with just about every job and ALL signs in wood. You still need your planer and jointer but a drum sander can do some of this if you have a lot of time!

[bbrozo]

I have a Jet 10-20 drum sander and do use it on occasion (depends on the project I'm working on) to do my initial sanding (80 grit) followed by a ROS up to 220 grit and sometimes higher.

I will say that the Jet sander I have is rather finicky. The breaker on the sander trips if I sand too aggressively. And, getting the feed belt to track properly can be a little troublesome sometimes. And, it's a little time consuming swapping out to the next grit. So, that's why I principally use it for initial sanding @ 80 grit.

I agree with Kyle. Check craigslist and you might be able to get one cheaper and see it in action before buying.

Bill

[kevin]

I have a drum sander very finicky to run they burn if not feeding properly

I have a stroke sander can't afford a time saver picked it up used in love all you need is a 100 grit finish 120 orbital

I only paid 500 had to clean still cleaning

The only draw back is takes space

[Bob Eustace]

Joe just clarifying what we do. Use 80 grit to remove blemishes never taking off more than 1/64 at a time. We then finish with the Festool Rotex using 100 grit Abranet. This removes all tramlines very quickly. The massive advanage with signs with fine detail as it turns out great depth wise. Using Joes brad bit suggestion improves fine detail out of sight!

[Ken Sully]

I also have a jointer, wood master planer and a wood master 38 inch drum sander. One thing I find, try as I might the planer has variation over the thickness of the board. Run it through the drum sander and that makes everything correct. And yes I only take a 64th off at a time. Like the fact wood master is made in Kansas City. Go made in the US!
A large drum sander makes life easy.

[dlcw]

My process for getting stock ready for the CNC is to flatten using the jointer, use planer to parallel the two faces, then a Performax 22-44 to get a smooth finish (remove snipe) and fine tune the thickness to exactly what I need.

Process has worked very well since I bought the CNC in 2009. I've been using this Performax 22-44 since about 2003. Great machine. Recently started purchasing 150 rolls of sandpaper and cutting my own belts. Takes a little time but in the long run, I think it's going to save a money.

I would love to be able to afford one of the 48" wide belt sanders, but not in the foreseeable future.

[GlenP]

Hey guys. I have a Craftex Drum Sander. It is great. I have had 2 other drum sanders that were just junk and they were "supposedly" a better brand. Drum sanders can be helpful and also a pain in the butt. If you get a good one, great. Mine is a 24" double drum. The drums on it are non Velcro. You will see some with hook and loop (velcro) for attaching the paper and some with metal drums. I like the non velcro as the velcro gives the sanding belt some movement and get a bad sand. The first 2 sanders I had were terrible for leaving a huge snipe mark when sanding doors. It was due to the down pressure rollers allowing the material to go up and down as feed into the machine.
What I did this time was buy a used machine. I did my homework and got allot of opinions and when I went to buy my current sander I took some doors to rung thru it to test it. They are no good at all for pine or most softwoods. Too much resin and gums up belt really quick. Also pre sand any glue ups to remove all or most of the glue that squeezes out of your joints. Glue gums up and then creates burn marks.
The pics. First one is my sander type. Second is a newer and imho a bad sander. They can tip over as they have too narrow a base.
Cheers,

[gene]

look on e bay , or try used woodworking equipment dealers

[zeykr]

I picked up a used Performax Supermax 37x2 this year and it's a time saver. Easy enough to put roll paper on and don't have trouble with burning now that I've learned to use it. Did ruin the first few batches of sandpaper though till I got the hang of it.

[dlcw]

I have heard of some folks trying to use their drum sander as a thickness planer. Very slow and does tend to burn out belts.

I did use a 36 grit belt to flatten and thickness a 36" wide piece of highly figured bubinga, but that was only once. Boy, did that drum sander grunt, groan and complain :eek: but it got the job done beautifully. A planer would have turned it into swiss cheese - if I had a planer that wide - NOT.

I use my planer to get the stock within 1/16" of final thickness then use the drum sander to eliminate all tearout or snipes. I finish with 180 grit in the drum sander and then hit the board with ROS to get out the very fine sanding marks. Final thickness is within about .01" (or less) of my goal when I'm done.

I normally only have to take 1 or 2 passes per side in the drum sander to get exactly what I want.

[bleeth]

Well I don't have to tell you, Don, how hard Bubinga is! Stuff looks great but it makes White Maple feel soft.
For those who have not experienced either a drum or a large belt sander: It is just that-a sander. It is not designed to plane wood and you need to take very small passes.
Performax makes a good machine, but I think they were better before they got bought out. General Tool of Canada makes a very good double belt machine. Belts are easy to change and the hard rubber coated drums are friendlier on your paper than a hard steel one.

[jTr]

Joe,
I've got a used 16-32 I no longer need(got a screaming deal on a wide belt). Haven't got around to posting for sale - send me a personal message if you're interested.

jeff

[chiloquinruss]

I built a Stock Room Supply drum sander using their DIY components and have had a great deal of success with it. They sent plans to build the case which of course is a breeze with a Bot! The motor I got from Harbor Freight. Russ

http://stockroomsupply.ca/shop/drum-sanders.html

[Ajcoholic]

If you guys like drum sanders... then you'll love even a small wide belt.

With a wide belt sander, you have so much more surface area of paper, they (the paper) last a lot longer, run cooler and dont cause ripples when properly set up, especially if you have a platen (flat pressure bar).

I had an old two head Sicar 38" in my old shop, and a new Cantek single head (but two rollers and an adjustable platen in between them) and your finish is so good, you can go to finish grit on whatever hand sander you are using.

Yes they cost more, and need a lot more power (even the small ones generally are 25 HP minimum) but used ones are affordable (in the 3 to 5 grand range).

I would NEVER be without a WB sander in my shop. But, like Kevin, I also love the stroke sander (whish seem to be pretty rare these days, with many guys not even knowing what they are). A very versatile machine - but they do take up real estate, and require a skilled operator, especially with softer woods or veneers.

AJC