Performax Drum Sander

[George Bokros]

I am thinking about a used Performax 16 - 32 drum sander. What would be a good offer for this if it is in good condition.

akroncanton.craigslist.org/tls/4052366638.html

I was thinking $600 is fair.

Or would this be a better buy because it is new?

http://www.amazon.com/628900-10-Inch...lus+drum+sande

Thanks

George

[Stephen Cherry]

I sold my 22-44 for only slightly more. Nobody wanted it. I would even consider 500 to be not out of line.

[Matt Day]

I see quite a few 16/32's listed for $600 and up. I'm looking for one too and am hoping to get one for more in the $400 range (which would be a bargain). I agree with Stephen - I think $500 would be a good deal for both parties. Depending on what accessories come with it of course. Good luck!

[Matt Meiser]

I wouldn't get the little one myself, but I do mostly furniture and cabinetry. I've now owned 3 drum sanders. First a Delta 18/36 which was terrible to get aligned, didn't stay there and the conveyor belt just loved to trip the overload and stop putting a nice gouge and/or burn in the workpiece. I got rid of that and went without for several years until I found a steal on a Ryobi 16/32 on Craigslist around the time I had a need to sand veneers for a bentwood lamination. It was a fair machine--definitely better than the Delta but the dust collection wasn't great, it flexed more than I'd like, and parts were hard to get. I figured I'd keep that until I could afford what I really wanted, a General International dual drum sander. In the mean time I used a friend's Woodmaster and learned that drum sanders regardless of size still must take a small cut--they are NOT planers. We spent 1/2 a day putting a kitchen's worth of doors and face frames through a couple grits even on that large machine. The big difference between the big machine and a small one--you CAN take a big cut...but you won't get good results. Then I was at Woodcraft during a Jet sale and decided that the cost difference between the dual drum of my dreams wasn't worth it and brought home a 16-32 (and sold the Ryobi for more than I paid ). Overall I like it. Its slow and you can flex the head if you try but it works well. I just did a bunch of doors with 100/120/180 paper in it and was able to finish them quickly with my ROS. You get cross-grain scratches with any drum sander on a door so I've found it necessary to start back at 100 in the ROS to remove those but it goes fast because the scratches are small and joint discrepancies are gone. With casters I can easily stick it out of the way and roll it out when needed--something I couldn't do as easily with the dual drum machine.

If was starting over, my choice in various budget ranges:
$4000 -- A Grizzly 15" open end wide-belt. A friend has one--its nice.
$2200 -- A Delta/Steel City/General International dual drum machine, probably the latter for support reasons. I'd only buy the Delta if it was a SIGNIFICANT savings.
$1400 -- Supermax 18/36 that is very similar design to the 16-32 but with a lot of nice improvements, including the ability to run a brush head
$1000 -- Jet 16-32 new. One advantage of newer models is the automatic speed control if you take too big a cut.
$5/600 -- Used 16-32

Offer him $500 or $525 if he cleans it before you get there--guy needs better dust collection! If you do buy it, I'd ditch the mobile base he has and buy some stem casters which will go right on the stand (at least current stands have holes for feet). Seller SESCasterCo sell them on Ebay for < $40 for 4. You might be able to get close to that back from reselling the mobile base and the result will be a lot easier to move. Also, I ordered paper in large rolls from Supergrit.com for a substantial savings--the only negative is that it isn't premarked for cutting to length, but its pretty easy to cut one end and wrap the drum off the roll to determine the right length.

[Wade Lippman]

I sold my 16/32 last year for $600. I think that is a pretty fair price.
Mine wouldn't hold the sandpaper worth a darn; other people say they don't have that problem. So, try loading the paper. If you have any trouble, run!

I don't know what you will be using it for, but for me the 10/20 would be pretty useless. I moved up to a Supermax 18/36. So far it seems like a huge upgrade.

[Steve Peterson]

I bought a used 22/44 in good shape for less than he is asking. I would say that a price range of $500-600 is about right for a 16/32.

Steve

[Andrew Kertesz]

I bought my 16/32 Performax in Olmsted Falls for about $500 with several rolls of paper and a mobile base. I would say $785 is kind of high. I wouldn't pay it. Jet has a 10% sale going right now until 9/30.

[John Coloccia]

$600 is fair. I wouldn't pay a penny more, especially if it's the Performax and not the updated Jet. It's a nice unit and it can be tuned to crank out some very nice veneers and things like that if you know what you're doing. Be prepared for a little love/hate relationship depending on what you're doing, but my 22-44 gets it done.

If I had it to do again, I would have spent a little more and bought a wide belt.

[Mark A Johnson]

You don't mention if it has the auto feed adjustments. The later ones with the auto speed should be worth more then the older units. You do need dust control, I use a Jet DC-1100 with a canister with good results. Some guys complain about burning issues, I wonder if its the result of dust collection. I sand done to 220 with great results.

A couple of things to look for damaged conveyer rollers from over tightening the belt. Check for excessive vibration when the drums at speed, could be a sign of the balancing weights come off. The amount of backlash is the adjustment screw will tell you if threads are badly worn. Aluminum will galled if not lubed.

[Allen Grenz]

$600 is a fair price I think... Around here that would have sold the day it was listed if he had $650 on the add..

[George Bokros]

Got more info on the sander. He is hobbyist woodworker and claims it was not used much. It is 3-4 years old. When was the Sand Smart technology added? Could one of this age have it?

Thanks for all the responses and help as always.

[Matt Meiser]

I'm not sure but I don't think they've had the Performax name on those for longer than that. If it has Sand Smart there would be a red LED near the dial to indicate that the speed reduction has kicked in.

[Steve Peterson]

Got more info on the sander. He is hobbyist woodworker and claims it was not used much.

Almost everything is listed as "barely used" on CL.

Steve

[John Coloccia]

I'm not sure but I don't think they've had the Performax name on those for longer than that. If it has Sand Smart there would be a red LED near the dial to indicate that the speed reduction has kicked in.

I believe Jet added that, which is why I suggested that if it's really a Performax and not a Jet, it's not worth as much. Sandsmart is pretty important on these units if you use regular sandpaper. If you want to be a rebel and use Mirka HD Abranet, like me, it's much less important.

[George Bokros]

Approximately what is the floor foot print of this sander? I am limited on space and I want to see if I can fit this into the shop,

Thanks

George