Delta Drum Sander adjustment & infeed/outfeed tables

[Matt Meiser]

Two questions for you guys with the Delta drum sanders.

First, I'm having trouble getting my table adjusted to work smoothly through its entire range. I had it all adjusted great for material about 3/4" thick, but had to open it up to 3". When I did, it became hard to crank and the belt that connects all the jack screws skipped a tooth and now its all out of alignment again. I had this trouble the first time I adjusted it too. How do you adjust yours to keep this from happening? Or is something wrong with mine?

Second, does anyone have infeed/outfeed tables? Did you buy them or make them? Can I see pics?

[Joe Lenox]

Sorry I cant help...I am very intrested in the answers you get also. I have the delta 18-36 and am having the same issues...and its driving me crazy.

[John Miliunas]

Dang it, I'm no help either, even though I've got that sander, too! I don't have any in/out-feed tables setup for mine, but I usually don't do very long pieces, nor have I had the adjustment issue you speak of. How old are either of your sanders????

[Bruce Page]

Matt, I haven’t had any trouble with the table so I can’t help you there. I did buy the infeed/outfeed extension tables and it was money very well spent. I wish I had bought them a couple of years earlier.

[Matt Meiser]

Mine is about 1 year old now. The first time I figured I didn't have things lined up right, but I was pretty meticulous the second time I aligned everything. I'll have to give it another try.

[John Miliunas]

Mine is about 1 year old now. The first time I figured I didn't have things lined up right, but I was pretty meticulous the second time I aligned everything. I'll have to give it another try.

This is one of those situations which makes a guy wanna' go, "Hmmmmmm..."! Reason being is, I had heard that the early models had some alignment issues, just like you speak of but, the new iterations of it were to have that problem resolved. Guess I'll have to keep my fingers crossed!

[Matt Meiser]

Someone pointed me to a section in the manual on solving problems with the table mechanism--its in the back of the book, separate from the instructions on adjusting the table. I spent about two hours attempting to adjust the table per the instructions. Each time I would get close, it would work fine at first start turning hard and jump the belt. I finally got it adjusted where I could raise it up and down through the entire range and went on to adjust the table parallel to the drum by running a piece of wood through . I got it all adjusted, then tried moving the table. About 2 turns and it basically locked up. I decided it was time to get out of the shop and I'm going to call Tech Support tomorrow.

[Robert Waddell]

Matt,
I just took mine in to my local Delta service center just the other day for the same problem. The first time it had happen to me. The technican told me all he did was go thought the set-up described in the manual. Basically what we all did on the intital set-up. If you are close to one of their service centers take it in and take advantage of that 5 yr "X" warranty. Any company/engineer that would put a belt instead of a chain in that application should have to foot the time and bill.
Rob

[John Scane]

I have that same sander but mine is about 7 years old. I think I had a problem like that at one point but I don't remember how I fixed it...sorry that's no help. I think it was something to do with how tight I "tightened" everything once I adjusted it. Does that make sense? I think when I had them too tight is when I had that problem.
As far as the infeed/outfeed tables go ..I just use some good roller stands, the kind that have 4 rollers not 1 roller and I am able to run 10 ft stock though mine with no problems.

[Mike Evertsen]

Matt
did you get the sander adjusted?

[Matt Meiser]

Got It!!!!!!!!!!

I stopped into the tool shop by work today to talk to my old neighbor about the warranty. He said no problem if I want, and he'd even pick it up. He said they were really difficult to get working right, so I told him I'd try one more time. Three hours later, I have it working. I ended up doing major surgery. Removed the motor to get at all the mechanism, removed the conveyor mechanism, removed the plate that the conveyor mounts and loosened every part of the elevator mechanism. I then discovered that one of the elevators wasn't turning freely, so I took it completely apart, cleaned it up and reassembled. It still took a couple trys at adjusting everything, but I finally got it so it would raise and lower smoothly. I reassembled everything and got the table parallel to the drum and its working great still.

While I was putting it together, I put the belt on the pulley settings that turn the drum faster. What a difference it made. Much smoother running and better cutting action, I guess because of the inertia.

[Matt Meiser]

I think when I had them too tight is when I had that problem.

That is definitely true. There is a very fine line between too loose on the belt tension and too tight. They say 2-3lbs deflection. I have no clue how you measure that, but I did finally get it.