performax sander opinions wanted

[John Piwaron]

What's your opinion of the small Performax thickness sander? It's the 10-20 model.

[Jim Becker]

John, the 10-20 looks like a well-made machine and incorporates the "best" of both the older 16-32 Plus and the more recent 22-44 Plus. (I own the latter). My only concern would be relative to the capacity...10" is pretty narrow for casework, even in a hobbiest shop where flipping things around would still get tedious if you did a lot of it. That said, for folks concentrating on smaller projects most of the time, it could be the best thing since, um...square drive screws...or, um..."pick your cliche". Folks doing a bunch of inlay work on boxes should pick one of these things up no question, both for producing their own veneers as well as leveling panels. IMHO, of course....and you know how much you paid for it!

[Mark Singer]

I really like my General double drum......what a great machine!

[Charlie Plesums]

I have the 16-32 and like it. Sometimes I wish I had gotten the wider unit, but most of the time I use far less than the full 16 inches.

Keep in mind that it is a finishing sander, not a poor-man's jointer or planer. (Most of the time I have 150 or 180 grit on it, and only need a quick follow up with a ROS to get out the final scratches. The 220 grit doesn't throw off enough sawdust to carry off the heat - it burns easily)

The Performax works well as long as you take very light cuts. The kind of sander everyone hopes for is 3-5 hp or more; this is far less.

[Mike Cutler]

I have the 16-32 and like it. Sometimes I wish I had gotten the wider unit, but most of the time I use far less than the full 16 inches.

Keep in mind that it is a finishing sander, not a poor-man's jointer or planer. (Most of the time I have 150 or 180 grit on it, and only need a quick follow up with a ROS to get out the final scratches. The 220 grit doesn't throw off enough sawdust to carry off the heat - it burns easily)

The Performax works well as long as you take very light cuts. The kind of sander everyone hopes for is 3-5 hp or more; this is far less.

Ditto,what Charlie said.
The Performax sanders are great sanders for what they do, but they are a light duty finishing sander.I have the 16-32 and like it alot, but it is limited. It's not hard to see a dual drum 24" in the shop someday in the future. O' course I'll need a bigger shop.

[Keith Outten]

John,

I own the 10-20, I purchased it over a year ago. It suits my needs perfectly as it will sand very small projects and thicknesses down to 1/32". I make lots of plaques for engraving and a large sander generally has problems with very short boards but the 10-20 is just the ticket.

There are several others here at SMC who own the 10-20 and there are a few reviews in our archives.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...x+sander+10-20
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...x+sander+10-20
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...x+sander+10-20

[John Piwaron]

Thanks for the help and the pointer to the review.

The rest of the story for me is that I've already got a decent jointer (DJ-20) and the DeWalt thickness planer, so we're not talking about using this or any other thickness sander for stock preparation.

It's more in the area of veneers, strips for laminations and so on ala "David Marks"

For larger work I can take that to my hardwood dealer and use theirs for a nominal cost. It'd take a LOT of trips there to justify a big sander. Plus, it'd be difficult to find room for a large one in my basement shop.

I'm pleased to hear that this machine is considered well made and easy to use.

A few questions:

1) Does it produce a lot of dust?

2) The sandpaper it uses - is this an expensive special item available only from Performax? And what about the abrasive belt on which the work rides?

3) Also, I've read of some users having trouble with the work skewing to one side. One reviewer on Amazon indicated that he had to partially disassemble and somehow twist the unit to get it to track straight. Is this a common problem with Performax units?

[Mike Cutler]

John.

To answer your questions, Yes it produces a lot of dust. You will need to use a dust collector with it.
The sandpaper is expensive from Performax, but there is nothing unique about it. You could buy the 50' rolls from Klinspoor, and cut your own, easy enough.
I don't know about the problem of "skewing". Mine was fine right out of the box, and only needed a little adjustment of the drum head.
The biggest gripe associated with these sanders is the feed belt. I haven't had trouble with mine, but some people have had to replace theirs due to seperating. I believe that they are replacing it with a belt from Klinspoor, or one of the other sandpaper dealers. Hopefully someone chimes in, because mine is beginning to show signs of wear now.
They are perfect for veneers. I believe that they excel at this particurally. I think if veneers are your intended application, than you will be very happy with one of these units. It's when the boards get long, and heavy mine has problems

[Jim Becker]

Yes, dust collection is NOT optional with these sanders...you cannot run them without it.

BTW, Charlie used the words "finish sander" relative to these drum sanders. I'm not sure that's the right description. You may be able to suffer through changing the grits and take a panel (with no cross grain) up through almost finished, but that's not going to work well for any kind of rail and stile work due to cross-grain scratching. Most of the time, I feel these machines are best considered for leveling and minor adjustments of thickness, followed by a full course of ROS through the grits. (and/or scraping) Frankly, I just leave 100 grit on mine and start at 100 or 120 with the ROS from there. Sanding time is still reduced because I'm starting with a nice, clean and level surface that the 150/3 just loves to refine.

[Peter Lyon]

John,

You can count me in as another very satisfied Performax owner (16-32+ model). I've used mine extensively for raised panel doors, up to coffee table sized glue ups and figured wood prep.

Yes, its pretty slow. If I had to make a profit at this I would purchase a bigger unit. No, it doesn't really excell at "thicknessing".

However, I've found that if you remain patient and only increase the depth of cut at extremely small increments (1/64" or quarter turn) the machine performs very well.

You can purchase paper from a number of suppliers -- either in the box or by individual piece. And, as long as you don't "burn" the paper by either overloading it or sanding a bunch of glue, it will last a reasonably long time. I do tend to clean/run an eraser over it each time I use it.

Lastly, I find that it takes me no more then 2 minutes or so to change from grit A to grit B (including cleaning and rerolling). I typically start out at 80/120 and proceed to at least 180 if not 220. Yes, you may get a minimal amont of cross grain scratchng even at the higher grits, however, its not so bad that it will take more then 2 or 3 minutes to make them dissappear with the orbital.

[Chris Dodge]

I have the 16-32 and use it for thicknessing and near-final sanding. I use an 80 grit paper for thicknessing. I can take off about 3/32 inches at a time without a problem but I have to keep it at a speed of 30 or less. My final cut is usually a 1/32 inch pass with 150 grit. Then I use the random orbital sander with 220 for a few passes and everything comes out looking great!

[Michael Perata]

I rented some time on a 50" belt sander this morning. Forget about the 16-32 (I have one) and save up $10,000 and buy one of these puppies.

They sure do the job nicely.


So what if you need 3 phase power, an air compressor with 15cfm and a 7" DC hose!

[Tyler Howell]

I have the 22/44, boy is it heavy!!
Only a few weeks old but I really like it.

[Martin Lutz]

I have the 25 - 2 dual drum. Bought it used 4 years ago and love it. I have not been able to get all of the snipe out of my planer and a after few trips through the Performax all is well. I have had the drive (conveyor) belt break. Last week as a matter of fact, but after 4 years of great service and who knows how long before that. Replacement $62 from Perfomax. Not sure about installation hassles though. If you can get a dual drum they sure are nice. 150g on the front, 180g on the back and finish with the R/O and your good. LOTS OF DUST!