Is this a good deal on a Drum Sander?

[Eric Schatz]

tippecanoe.craigslist.org/tls/5963713952

Looking for something for end grain cutting boards, small pieces, etc.

Thanks everyone.

[Cary Falk]

I would say it is too high. It's Delta for one. That sander will not have any parts support. That sander has issues with the plastic gears which elevate the platen I believe. I'm not sure if I would look at it for $500

[Steve Demuth]

I bought a supposedly lightly used (it wasn't - so validate that) edition of that sander from craigslist a couple of years ago. I paid less than $700 and wouldn't say I got a bargain. The machine works and can do good accurate sanding, but it's not well designed, and is definitely not a low maintenance tool.

Things you should know about this model:

- the platen raising/lowering mechanism is poorly designed, and uses plastic gears and a timing belt design. The gears can be easily stripped, and the belt can easily slip. As long as you keep the platen VERY well aligned (all four corner posts absolutely coplanar and close to parallel to the drum, nothing will go wrong, but if you don't, everything will, and it will be a PITA to realign or repair

- the platen moves, so you can't easily set up infeed / outfeed support "once and done" - every time you sand a different thickness, you need to readjust and infeed and outfeed tables


- it's a low duty cycle machine - you need to sand minimal thickness (1/64" max) per pass, and at low feed speeds. It's easy to burn wood and belt if you get overeager.

- you'll never get the feedbelt to track on the rollers. Never. It will always track off the open side, and need to be readjusted every 15 minutes or so of use.


On the other hand, I keep mine tightly aligned and clean, and use it all the time to thickness shop saw veneer, and it works.

[John TenEyck]

I can't follow your partial link, but if you are talking about the Delta 18x36 I've had a "Made in America" one for about 8 years now. I bought it used for $500. I have put hundreds of hours on it; more than most hobbiests will use it in a lifetime. The only problem I've had was one of the drum bearings went bad and I had to replace them. I bought two aftermarket bearings for less than $20 I think and it took a couple of hours to change them.

I've never had trouble aligning the platen with the drum or all four corners to be the same height, and have only had to do that after I replaced the conveyor belt; otherwise, it stays where it's set. I've never stripped a plastic gear nor jumped the belt on them. If the bed is aligned properly and the jack screws are lubed now and then, it goes up and down easily. But a fellow Creeker posted on how to replace those gears with aftermarket parts should they get stripped. The conveyor belt will not track straight but it doesn't matter; it drifts off to the side and rubs on the frame with no real damage to either so I don't bother anymore trying to get it to track straight. The clips that hold the paper onto the drum are excellent, fast and easy to use, maybe the best of any, and I've never had any slippage problems. The machine is under powered with only a 1.5 HP motor but I'm sure that was done so it could be plugged into a 120 V outlet. As such, you can only take very small bites, like less than 0.010" per pass in a wide board, realistically half of that, but it does a super job. I leave 120 grit on it most of the time, and I sand pretty much all my planed stock through it before building anything. I also sand my shop sawn veneer with it and it does a great job. You can run the bed right up into the drum if you want to, so you don't need a backer board under the veneer. I've also sanded long, heavy stuff with it, like door stiles and cabinet tops. You have to use infeed and outfeed supports to do that w/o the workpiece moving as it enters and exists the pinch rolls, which will cause the drum to make a divot in the wood, but it's not a problem. I put the workpiece on the infeed or outfeed table, and put a roller stand under the free end until it's sitting flat on the table. You might have to make an adjustment or two as you move the table upwards but you can do that on the fly; it's no big deal.

If you can get one in good shape for less than $500 it would be good deal in my opinion. I would have no concerns about spare parts availability. Whatever you might need is available by some aftermarket means.

John