Edge Sander? Drum vs Wide Belt? How many FPM on the belt?

[Ed Lang]

The title just about said it all.

I have a Performax 16-32 drum sander. Will a wide belt sander take off more stock faster than the drum sander? Can I get more sanding done is the same time with a wide belt than a drum?

Edge sanders- I am looking at edge sanders and see that there are two different belt speeds on the few I am looking at. What speed is needed for what kinds of jobs?

I am looking at the Grizzly products but would look at others.

Is a closed ended wide belt machine better than the open ended 15" Grizzly?

My procedure now is to glue up panels in a wall mounted Plano clamp system. Take panels to the 16-32 and sand one side. Go to the planer and plane the other side and touch up the sanded side while bringing to final thickness. Mount on CNC router and machine. Round over by hand on the router table. Hand sand both flat surfaces and edges with ROS.

I think a edge sander and wide belt sander might speed up the process and give a good finished surface.

Comments, ideas, suggestions???

[tod evans]

ed, yes a widebelt is faster than a drum by quite a margin, personally i would go with a closed end because there is quite a bit of stress on the frame when sanding and the cantilevered design just isn`t as strong as one where both ends are supported. as for edge sanders my old oakley runs at 1750 and does a pretty good job...02 tod

[Jeffrey Makiel]

Ed,
I have an old 6x89 edge sander that uses a direct connected 3,450 rpm motor. With a 4" dia drive wheel, the belt speed is around 3,700fpm. This is a bit too fast in my opinion. But I have no choice. It is still manageable, but a little too agressive for delicate work. I also have to be careful that when I use finer grits (150 grit or finer) that I don't start burning the wood when the belt is getting dull...especially when sanding end grain.

My guess? The optimum speed for edge sanding should be around 3000 fpm. However, if your edgesander has an oscillating feature, perhaps I'm wrong.

-Jeff

[tod evans]

ed sorry about the incomplete info, tha sf/min on the oakley is 3462 according to my math? .02 tod

[Ed Lang]

With all the knowledge on this forum there is little information about drum vs wide belts?

No info or experiences with edge sanders and the speed of the belt?

[tod evans]

ed what questions do you have? comparing a 20+ hp widebelt to a single phase drum sander is a night-n-day thing. i haven`t run the griz stuff so can`t answer any questions directly related to them but i do own both a widebelt and an edge sander and will be happy to help if i know what you`re looking for? .02 tod

[Ed Lang]

Tod, your answer and the quickness is appreciated, very much.

Jeffrey, your input is also appreciated very much.

I thought more folks would post and I could get more opinions and possibly other ways of doing what I am.

Maybe this type of equipment is out of the league most folks here use or have experience with. Nothing wrong with that! It is out of mine too but I think I need to start looking up from where I am to get to where I am trying to.

Thanks again.

[Bill Simmeth]

Hi Ed,

I'll offer what info I can... I have an older Newton E30 osscillating edge sander. It is rated at 4,000 sfpm (surface feet per minute) and osscillates 150 times per minute. I love it. One thing to consider, my machine and Tod's Oakley have heavy cast iron bases = no/little vibration.

As for the drum vs wide belt sanders, I can only tell you that when I want to remove a lot fast, I don't turn to the dinky Delta 18/36 I have. My guess is that folks with wide belt machines just throw on a more aggressive belt and smile.

One suggestion -- you may have not gotten as many replies by lumping the two questions in one post. Folks with one machine or the other may have skipped it because they had no expertise on the other. Just a thought.

[tod evans]

ed, why do you need to sand or plane prior to machining? have your cnc face and square the board then do whatever surface decoration needs done, and your sanding should be mininmal when the computer gets done..02 tod

[Ed Lang]

Thanks folks.

Tod, I am trying to not tie up the CNC for a surfacing job since I am running a .25" sprial bit. It is a good idea. Now If I just had that second Z I could run a 1.5" flat bottom bit to do the surface then the cutout.

thanks

[lou sansone]

hi ed
ok on the wide belts ... do you have 3 phase ?
wide belts in the 37" range run about 20 to 30 hp.. can you handle that.
are they faster than drums.. no question. 120 grit take 0.02" per pass
80 grit take 0.032" per pass @ 20fpm. forget the cantilevered WB's if you really want to go to a WB. Belt change = 60 seconds max

what else do you want to know ?

lou

[Ian Barley]

I ditched my drum sander because I spent more time changing loadings than sanding. Paper clogs and burns way too easily. Recently acquired a "small" wide belt sander (24") which is like a different world. Belt means more length on the abrasive so it doesn't burn so readily.

I don't quit understand that your process appears to describe you sanding a face and then subsequently running that face through the planer - seems wastefful of time unless I am reading it wrong.


Edge sander is great. I have a consumer grade one and it does the job fine - think its about 3500fpm.

[Mike Hollingsworth]

When I moved to a my open ended 16" Powermatic wide belt I was skeptical after owning the open ended Performax models. This baby does not flex and it will sand both halves with a barely imperceptible crown when set up right. I would not limit myself to 24' with the closed end model. I don't find the platen that useful. It's the oscillation that makes the bid difference. No more burned belts. They takes second to change.

As for the edge sander I don't have a more useful machine in the shop. For $500 one can true up the edge of anything less than 30". I just upgraded mine to an oscillating model from General International. I think it's the best built of it's kind and at nearly $2k should be.

[Ed Lang]

Thanks guys.

Ian, I am making cutting boards. I glue up the board and then drum sand one side to get it smooth. Then plane the other to bring it to thickness. I then flip it over because the finish on the first side is not as good as the planer. I am using a Performax 16-32 and I think I am pushing it too hard. I will take less off next time and see how things go.

Again, thanks.

[Ian Barley]

Thanks guys.

Ian, I am making cutting boards. I glue up the board and then drum sand one side to get it smooth. Then plane the other to bring it to thickness. I then flip it over because the finish on the first side is not as good as the planer. I am using a Performax 16-32 and I think I am pushing it too hard. I will take less off next time and see how things go.

Again, thanks.

Ed - If you are getting a better finish off your planer than your sander then either you need a better sander or I need a better planer