Drum Sander Usefulness?

[Mike Goetzke]

Almost two years ago I got a good deal on a Performax 16-32. I'm just a hobbyist but hate sanding so thought a drum sander would be a great addition to my shop. I really don't use it hardly at all. Especially now, since I bought two Festool 6" sanders (rotex & ets 150/3 eq).

For example, I just finished 14 solid oak drawer fronts this weekend and my first choice would be to use the 6" sanders and not the drum sander. I don't have a lot of experience with the drum sander but I expected to be able to put lumber through it and be done. That hasn't been the case - I still need to use a hand held sander to take the small ridges left by the drum sander.

I'm I alone with this experience - missing something - or maybe drum sanders are better suited for production shops?

Mike

[Thomas Bank]

One person in our club has a Performax and had much the same attitude about it as you have found. I have a Grizzly 1066 and after some experimentation, this club member was sold on it over the Performax.

But I have to admit that most of my use of the 1066 is for preparation rather than final finishing. This is not on par with the "timesaver" machines of production shops.

[John Thompson]

I don't have one but if I did.. two things come to mind that I could have used one for in the past four days... birds-eye maple which is prone to tear-out. Re-sawn QSWO veneer that was used on 8 legs for a Stickley style computer desk as I want fleck on all four sides where a very even surface is necessary to get good, tight miters on the edges.

And yes.. production shops or anyone that does a lot of veneering would be the most likely candidates for one.

Sarge..

[guy knight]

the drum sander is not a finish sander but does excel at other task's like sneaking up on thickness glue removal great for veneer and sanding down thin stock great for first sanding on rough stock i use mine on almost every project

[Ed Labadie]

Drum sanders are great tools for flattening large panels and glue-ups. They do require you finish sand.
They are also nice when working with reclaimed lumber. You can use the drum sander and not worry about damaging planer knives. I recently used mine to sand (2) reclaimed White Oak planks (2 3/4 x 15 x 60) at one time they were used as workbench top so there was metal in them.

[Narayan Nayar]

I'm looking for a used 16-32 for use with shop-cut veneer and other thin pieces.

I prefer to work with handtools but it's rather difficult with really thin pieces.

[Scott Coffelt]

I have the Ryobi WDS1600, had it for many years. Though I don't care for some specific things about it, I could not imagine not having it. Any time I have to glue up anything I run it through the sander to even it out. I also use it with anything with a figure, for example planning down the wood for kitchen cabinets (birdseye maple) is nearly impossible to do on the jointer and planner without some chip out. I run it thorugh the these tools to get it within 1/8" or so and then use the drum sander to take it down to dimension. I use my Festool sanders to finish it out (remove any drum sander lines). I also use the drim sander to run thin stock through to get dimension.

I love my Festool sanders, but no way I'd get rid of the the drum. If this thing dies, I'll most likely buy the Performax to replace it.

[John Carlo]

I have the 22-44 and run most everything through it a couple of passes after the planer. Because of the straight line scratches it leaves, it requires follow up with the ROS. But I think I'm somewhat ahead for that step after using the DS. The new Jet oscillating DS seems to be a great idea and time will tell as owners post their comments.

[Jason Perrott]

I use my 16-32 all the time!
1. sand down 1/4 inch edgebanding for plywood after table saw, removes saw marks and gives a true flat surface, whereas hand sanding can round off edges
2. sand out resaw marks on shop resawn hardwoods down to 1/8 inch thickess
3. sand down endgrain, which cannot be done with jointer/ planer.
4. thickness sanding, many things including plywood that I would never put through my planer.
5. highly grained wood and some softwoods that would chipped to #### if you run them through any other tool.

I feel this tool safely does things that I would not do on other tools in my shop, it moves pretty slow but you can get great results. I usually hit the wood with a ros as well, as there are lines from the sandpaper, but that is minimized by using those giant rubber sandpaper cleaning sticks.

[Andy Pratt]

I would say that although you don't have to have it, it's a pretty versatile tool that can help you on a number of projects. I'll list the functions it performs for me that I wouldn't want to have to do with another tool:

1. Great for sanding end grain cutting boards
2. It's a power option for flattening (with sled) and thicknessing panels or large boards up to 32" wide. Granted it's not fast, but it's at least an option for those rare times you need to do something excessively large.
3. No other options in the price range for accurately thicknessing very thin stock


Downsides:
1. belts always seem to be slipping and striping before they are anywhere near worn out, so it can get expensive
2. It's pretty slow compared to a planer
3. I too still find myself hand sanding a lot more than I thought I would have to when I went and bought this.

Hope this was helpful,
Andy

[Joe Von Kaenel]

Mike,

I have a Jet 16-32 and use it for almost every project. I use 220 grit paper and get a pretty decent finish. I still have to use my ROS to do final sanding but the drum sander decreasing ROS sanding time down quite a bit. Like you, I hate sanding. I have also raised the open end drum just slightly and sanded wide panels . Make sure the sander is calibrated as the directions suggest . Hope this helps.

Joe

[Anthony Whitesell]

I think a drum sander is a very useful machine for the tasks for which it is designed.

I purchased the Jet 16/32 about a year ago for a few reasons. First I could get a great deal on pieces of exotic woods for $1, but the pieces were only 6-12 inches wide and 12 inches long. My planer would not accept anything less than 14" and I quickly tired of the glued runner approch to make the planer work on short stock. Secondly, I hate sanding. With a few light passes using 220G on my drum sander plus a few passes by hand to break up any stright sanding marks, it's right to finishing for me. I also wanted to be able to work with thin stock more, in the 1/16" to 1/4" range, that my planer wouldn't handle. Finally, I wanted something less agressive than a planer for the resaw work I hoped to get into (that only took another 9 months to get started on).

I'll have to agree with Andy on many of his upside points. A drum sander is slower than a planer, much slower. I don't have a problem with the slipping and stripping of the belts on the Jet 16/32, but they the fine the grit the quicker they can clog or burn especially on softwoods.

[frank shic]

i bought the 16/32 for mainly one reason: raised panels. i wish i had room/power for the 22/44 since it's a pain to have to flip the panels around when they're larger than 16" but i get much flatter raised panels with it than i did with a ROS.

[Chris Padilla]

I resaw my own veneers and my Delta 18-36 works very well for taking the ~3/32" slices down to 1/16" slices. Once tuned up and aligned, it has worked very well for me but I wouldn't use it for much else because the height-adjustment mechanism on it is a joke. If I had to do lots of height-adjustment between various projects, I wouldn't use this particular sander...I'd find something better. But for veneer sanding and getting it used off of craigslist, it works very very well for me.

[Chip Lindley]

The drum sander has its definite uses, as outlined in this thread! It is not the panacea for all smoothing ills. With proper understanding of what it does best, and its limitations, the DS is a very nice addition to the small shop which cannot sponsor a big WideBeltSander!