owners of drum sanders

[Russ Massery]

Those of you who own a drum sander what grit of paper do you use the most.? I have a performax 22-44 on the way

Thanks,Russ

[Randy Ferguson]

I tend to only use 100 grit, have found it to be a "happy medium".

[Mark Singer]

I have the General which is 2 drums....80 and 120. It works great.

[Kirk (KC) Constable]

I have the 16/32, and just put 100 grit on and leave it. A buddy of mine has a Grizzly dual drum with 80 and 120, and I think I have to sand just as much after using his as I do with mine.

[Dave Bartley]

I have the 22/44 and use 150 and 220 grit. If I am recycling wood that has a finish on it, I will use 80 grit.

[Andy London]

80 and 120....O have used, I think it was 36, to surface some 16" wide birdseye and a few other species, worked great. I find the finer grits plug too fast, I believe mainly due to the woods I use and their oil content.

Andy

[John Lucas]

I too have the Performaz 16/332 and the sandpaper is such a nuisance to change that I have 100 on and dont switch grades usually.

[Mike Cutler]

I have the Performax 16-32, and generally leave the 120 on it for the most part. I'll switch to 180 if I'm feeling lazy tho'

[Doug Shepard]

Very occasionally 36 and 60 for abrasive planing.
Usually 80, 100, or 120
Very occasionally 150, 180, 220. I'm usually on to the RO sander for those grits, but have occasionally done them on the Performax.

[Jim Becker]

I haven't taken the 80 grit off the machine yet...although I have some 100 in the cabinet. I really only use the machine for surfacing to final thickness. Finish sanding goes to the Festool system.

[Earl Reid]

I use 100 grit. I used 30 grit a couple of times for aggresive sanding on wide bds. I got my 16-32 when they were first put on the market. I get a lot of mileage from the 100.
Earl

[Ray Petri]

I put 120 on my 16-32 and will probably stick with that.

[Don Selke]

I have the 16/32 and use 80/120 on my machine. Most of the time I stick with the 80 and like Jim, I use the Festool system for finer grits. Tried 180 once but found that it loaded up immediately. If you get any resin build up, you can soak the sanding roll in products like True Green for a few hours, hose them off with water then let dry over night. They are like new the next day. Strike that recommendation, I forget that I live in Arizona.

[Steve Clardy]

80/120 grits. Never vary from that. Then do a final with a ROS

[Mathew Nedeljko]

Hmmm... am I doing something wrong? I leave 220 grit in my 16-32 and it does great. I've mostly run maple through the machine, and have never had a problem with the belt loading up. A light sanding with the detail sander is all that is required before I start finishing....