Are large drum sanders useful?

[casey herring]

I am a one man shop making furniture, a lot of beds, credenzas and tables so in other words a lot of flat surfaces. I don't have the electrical for a wide belt at the moment, and honestly I think it will be at least 5 years before I get to a shop large enough to have one so... Wood a 50" dual drum from either wood master or supermax be useful in your (users who have been down this road) opinion. I have never had a drum sander, I use a lot of hand planes and random orbit sanders and occasionally rent time at a shop with a 52" planer/wide belt when I really need it.

I hoping it will take my flat work sanding time down significantly.

I am hoping it will act as a planer for large tables if I flatten one side well with hand planes

If if doesn't do these two things well I don't think it would be a worthwhile investment.

I am hoping that now, knowing my criteria and what I expect a few of you will be able to give me some insight.

Thanks so much!

Im not sure if this helps but you can check my website out to see the type of furniture i make and that may or may not be of use when making a suggestion Beautyandbreadwoodshop.com

[Mike Henderson]

I'd probably get a 25" drum sander and keep going out to get wider panels sanded. My guess is that most of your work is not 50".

Although it's not perfect, you can run a wider panel through a 25" open end sander. You'd have to have it adjusted very well and then finish it with a ROS.

25" would be less expensive and take less room, also.

Mike

[Ellen Benkin]

I would suggest getting the widest you can afford to run now. You will be surprised at how useful it is. If/when you move to larger quarters you can keep this one and get a wider one or you could sell the smaller one to help pay for the wider one.

[David Falkner]

You do nice work, Casey! I love the Claro Walnut - gorgeous wood.

I agree with Mike on getting the 25" and outsource the wider items. We bought the SuperMax 19/38 almost two years ago and while I don't build large items like you I can tell you that only one time have I sanded something that even came close to the 19" capacity. Yesterday I sanded an 18 1/2" wide cutting board and that's about the max in one pass. There's a cabinet shop 10 minutes from our house and I can use his 52" wide belt sander if needed but I have yet to build anything I can't do on my 'little' drum sander.

[John TenEyck]

You can plane wood with a drum sander, but you better have a lot of patience. It's not a substitute for a real planer or a wide belt sander. I'm quite sure you would be very disappointed with it if that's a requirement.

John

[Dave Cav]

You can plane wood with a drum sander, but you better have a lot of patience. It's not a substitute for a real planer or a wide belt sander. I'm quite sure you would be very disappointed with it if that's a requirement.

John

+1 on the above. I had a Woodmaster and was never happy with the speed, finish quality or sandpaper handling. I sold it after a year or so and got a Safety Speed widebelt. It has about the same footprint and a 10 HP single phase motor so I can run it off a normal 200 amp service. It's not as fast or heavy as some of the bigger widebelts but it's a whole lot better than a drum sander.

[Bradley Gray]

I have a 25" dual drum supermax. It saves a ton of time on drawers, S4S for door frames. It is difficult to run even 25" wide stock because of the weight of the stock, but still useful.

If you can swing buying a wide belt like Dave Cav described you will be much happier processing big pieces.

[Warren Lake]

I'd get a stroke sander, every European one man shop or most others ive been in had a stroke sander. I first one I had I made, then a Progress 8 footer, then an Italian open end, power table up and down, makes you really appreciate those things when the machine before had annoying things about it. If you get good you can sand rail and style assembled doors rails first then styles then clean up with a random slow compared to the wide belt guys I know but for years I thought they made trash of doors with all their cross grain sanding marks when my doors were clean.

Sure thats a thing of the past but there were boat loads of it out there in older kitchens. Stroke sanders are great machines always makes me wonder who many people are not aware of them. till you get that dream shop id be looking at a stroke sander at auctions ive seen good heavy machines go for about 650.00 on average even wanted to upgrade mine a few times to a heavier Italian or a really heavy German machine. I have a narrower Natribom drum belt drum sander, one point of contact ? thats invitation for ripples, crappy compared to a stroke sander other than it can pretty accurately thickness material. Bought it for one job where i had to make inconsistent Tempered hard board for dividers so did the bottom side. Power requirements for a stroke sander are minimal I can only guess without looking 2 hp is my guess for now will change that later on this one three motors so not sure the total one power table one run the 300 inch belt one for a built in dust collection fan which is not enough should be a port on each end and cover over the belt.


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[Marc Burt]

No help to the thread, but just wanted to pay my compliments on your work. Fantastic and great presentation as well.

[Warren Lake]

Id be fine sanding any or your furniture on a stroke sander thats what I grew up on so its normal to me.

what have you done on your door for cross grain expansion? if your panel expands your door will come apart it looks like resawn book matched solid doesnt look like veneer. Just curious




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[Jim Barstow]

I build mostly furniture and really don't need a wide belt sander but I finally broke down and got a supermax 19/38. Wish I'd done it a long time ago. I keep it set up with 150 grit and use it to sneak up on exact dimensions. (When I need to mill a board to an exact thickness, I use the planer to get close then use the sander. I can take off a couple thousandths per pass and end up with a surface ready for 220 grit finish sanding.)

It has proved to be extremely useful.

[Kevin Jenness]

I'm with Warren. If you lack the power for a wide belt and can make room for a stroke sander it can be a good addition for the work you describe. I take advantage of a nearby shop's investment in a wide belt when needed and use my stroke sander to get to a finish ready state far faster than with hand held sanders. Even a decent wide belt will not get you all the way there. If you need a wide belt I suspect you will find a drum sander a poor compromise.

If you do go the drum sander route, a 25" model will allow you to sand half a tabletop or any drawer front your site shows. Stay away from the open end models for accuracy. Get as powerful a motor as possible. Abrasion takes a lot of juice. 20 hp on a single head 37" wide belt is reasonable. Save your pennies and buy what you need.

[casey herring]

Everything you guys have stated confirms what my guy feeling was. I probably will get a smaller 25" drum sander just for drawer stock and some cabinet parts but I will continue, at least for the moment, to utilize the wide belt from other shops when needed.

Warren, For the sliding door cabinets I have about 1/2 space in the top for it to expand and the back of each door has three 3/16 steel 3" plates with (4) 1" slotted holes for expansion.

Ive considered a stroke sander a few times but they do take up a lot of horizontal space...

Thanks everyone!

[Warren Lake]

the door I scanned shows a panel that is tight to the styles, im wondering how that panel can expand? are saying there is a metal plate on the back of the door the panel is attached to the panel and styles? 3/16" how much weight would that add and what does it do it cant stop panel expansion. curious how that works.

[casey herring]

Warren,

I am sorry if I am not understand what you are saying or maybe I am not understanding which piece you are asking about.

The only cabinets I have on my website (albeit terribly photographed) should make sense as to how they were constructed (I think?) The credenza and the Buffet are essentially the same design. they feature floating sliding doors that have 1/2 extra room in the tracks fro them to expand and contract, they also have steel battens routed in the back with slotted holes for the fastenings for them to move. Does that make sense? I am sorry if I am missing your questions completely.

I have one in my house and have had it for three years and its hasn't had a problem.

All the best!