What Drum Sander

[Kenton Keller]

I am seriously thinking about getting a drum sander, but unfortunately I really don't know much about them. I can see the advantage of the open ended ones, (ability to do twice the width) but I can also imagine they could have more issues staying parallel across the belt.

Is there any other pluses or minuses on the open ones? If you follow the cutting board thread, you know I am thinking about trying to use my CNC table to plane things close enough that I can finish them up with the drum sander. The size of Planer I need/want is out of my reach financially, but it appears I can get a drum sander in my ~$1,500.00 price limit that should do what I need (I think)

So far I have mainly been looking at Jet partially because they started a 10% off sale today. What other brands, should I consider. This is for a semi serious retired mans shop, so it isn't going to be getting used excessively, but I want it to do a good job when I do use it.

Any and all help on figuring out what features are important would be helpful.

Thanks

[richard poitras]

Rockler has the supermax on sale currantly? I have no experiance with this sander , just saw the add. Here's there listing.

Supermax 19-38 Drum Sander with Promo Pack.
Limited time offer, bundles the popular 19-38 sander with a full-featured digital readout, 8 abrasive wraps in a range of grits, plus an abrasive cleaning stick!

Reg. $1,600.42
Sale $1,399.00

[Cary Falk]

Supermax would be my choice also

[Bruce Page]

I bought my 26" Woodmaster 2675 used in mint condition with several rolls of paper and mobile base for $1500. It is 4X the machine that my open end Delta 18/36 was. Check your local paper/Craigslist.

[Mike Henderson]

You don't say where you're located but drum sanders come available on Craigslist around here pretty often. If you live somewhere where people sell stuff like that, you can save quite a bit of money. But you'll have to wait and jump when the opportunity comes up.

Mike

[glenn bradley]

I really like my Supermax 19-38. All drum sanders take up a pretty big footprint so I built a base for it with drawers to hold supplies. Once initially adjusted (Sep 2013) I have never had to re-align it. Their method of keeping the head at a fixed angle and adjusting the table makes alignment a snap, even without special tools. I use it on nearly every project and it excels at end grain cutting boards or any other difficult grain. The paper changes are very easy which encourages working up through the grits. Intellisand works well if you don't accidentally do something really out of line . . . not that I would know anything about that

[Rick Potter]

My Woodmaster is very well built, and simple enough for me to adjust it.

[Susumu Mori]

Hi Kenton,

I was in the same situation as yours and want to share my experience.
For drum sanders, Supermax, Jet, and Woodmaster seem the only practical options.
I talked with Woodmaster and Supermax and of course Woodmaster believes in the sturdy support for the both ends and Supermax insisted the cantilever has enough strength.

I ended up in buying a Supermax (25-50), but I don't have a very high faith for the super-accuracy for the height from left to right for such a wide (25 inches) width. However, I'm not sure if I'm really asking such accuracy for any panels with that size. Wide panels move anyway.

As a hobbyist, drum sander is a niche; it does very well for what it is good at (large panels, thin strips, veneers), but at least for me it is not something I heavily use. So, my demand for the durability is not very high. The Supermax seems very sturdy and I think it will last for my life.

I actually wanted one with a non-cantilever design in the beginning. Supermax has some (and some with dual drums) and Woodmaster has very high reputation. However, I found out even the smallest Woodmaster can't fit the 32-inch door of my shop. Thinking about the frequency of the usage, the real estate it claims could be a deciding factor for hobbyists, I think. The Supermax's non-cantilever series seems dated (sorry if I'm wrong) and I'm not sure if they had new ones in recent years. If you talk to Supermax, they recommend you to go with a cantilever.

Anyway, I think cantilevers should be fine for hobbyists. Some models seem to have many complaints reported in this forum, mostly about the adjustment for the uniform width setting (and the stability) and the belt tracking, but Supermax has been receiving good reviews.

These were what I learned from my internet (as well as emails with the companies) search.
Hope it helps.

[Bill ThompsonNM]

I bought my 26" Woodmaster 2675 used in mint condition with several rolls of paper and mobile base for $1500. It is 4X the machine that my open end Delta 18/36 was. Check your local paper/Craigslist.

Plus one to this. The woodmaster is great!

[Hoang N Nguyen]

I just bought my supermax 19-38 from Rockler with the package deal a few days ago. It comes with a DRO and some paper. I haven't used it yet but the build looks solid and the sucker is heavy!!

[John TenEyck]

I bought a used Delta 1836 about 5 years ago and have put hundreds of hours on it doing shop sawn veneer, stock prep and finished panels. I've never been disappointed with the results, only the speed. The open ended drum sanders are not abrasive planers. You can realistically take off about 010"/pass, half of that would be better. But as long as you understand the limits of the machine they work very well. For sanding panels wider than the drum width you have to open the end gap. On my machine that takes about 30 seconds. The panel will have a slight crown in it, but it's so little you can't see or feel it. For regular sanding boards are dead flat.

John

[Kenton Keller]

Wow, very active forum, I didn't expect to see this many replies this morning. (I am new here)
From the responses, I take it Grizzly isn't very popular? I ran across the model G1066R last night after posting 24" dual drum for $1,700?

I am looking at the SuperMax now. Are there any accessories other than a couple of different grits of paper that a person should look at?
The woodcraft looks nice but the lowest priced one is 1K over my budget.
I live in North Idaho. Seems like there would be lots of used woodworking tools up here, but I rarely see anything decent on Craigslist.

Thanks again for all the responses.

[Kenton Keller]

As soon as say not much shows up on Craigslist here, I go and there is a ShopFox 26 5hp for a decent price. Any comments on Shop Fox?

[Bill McNiel]

Kenton.
If you do a search on this site you will find a number threads on drum sanders including reviews and plus/minus factors on individual machines. The Jet apparently has tracking issues, etc.

I have a SuperMax 25/50 (bought off CL for $500 with only two months of previous usage) and after 6 months of usage remain very pleased with it. SuperMax is made by the guys who originally designed the Performax which is now the Jet sander. They reportedly left the Jet and started SuperMax due to "quality" issues (who knows for sure).

BTW-Planning with a router sled seems like it would be significantly faster/easier that with a CNC but that's just my opinion.

[Kenton Keller]

Thanks, I have been reading through some of the old threads. I saw a number of posts about tracking issues on the Grizzly and ShopFox. Seems like I am seeing a pattern on recommending the SuperMax, and WoodCraft. The WoodCraft I would have to find used, and who knows how long it will take for one to show up in my area.
Right now I am really leaning towards the SuperMax 19, 38. I did run across a post or two about Stroke Sanders. I had never heard of them before. They do look interesting, but take up more shop space, and might take a while to get the hang of it.