What's more important on a drum sander - size or HP?

[John K Jordan]

A question about capacit.....do you need to be able to sand something 50" wide? If you do not then why buy the 25/50 model?

I can't answer for Alan's needs but for myself: I have the 22-44 and although I rarely put wide wood through it I do use the full width. Some advantages of wider:

- Sanding a number of boards through the sander at the same time, staggered starts, far quicker than sanding them one at a time.

- Angle shorter boards for some passes which can use close to the full width of the drum.

- The sandpaper strip lasts longer by distributing the use over the width. Doesn't save any money if you buy the paper in bulk rolls but increases the time between changes and changes are a bit of a pain.

The downside of a wider sander with the drum supported on one end is the need to be more precise when aligning the drum to the table. Costs more too. Takes up more space in the shop.

JKJ