Anybody use a drum sander?

[Walnut Beast]

I did talk to Mark at Woodmaster and one thing he said that has me thinking between the single vs double drum sander is there is a outfit back East that makes a wire brush for the dual drum machine. For the brushed grain look on the wood. What a lot of guys are doing and it's not designed for is flattening slabs running them through there 40-50 times and more 😂

[Bill Gaiche]

The 22-44 that I purchased has never tripped in the three years that I have been using it.  And I would use it for hours at a time.  

I have a 16-32 and most times I want to throw it across the yard  >:(  >:(  >:(
I thought the cuircuit breaker thing was something wrong with my machine, until I contacted Performax.

Does the 22-44 have any problems with accuracy on large panels  ??? ???

I have the 22-44 going on 16 years. I only do wood working as a hobby mostly, but have done lots of stuff that people have requested. I have tripped it maybe a half dozen times in all and that was my fault for not paying attention by trying to take off too much in one pass or having it set to low on first pass. I buy rolls of paper from Klingspor. All in all, I like this machine. I did have the 16-32 before but needed the wider one for panels. bg

[Brad_bb]

Funny this topic was near the top today.  I was just looking into drum sanders.  I'm sort of focusing in on the Supermax 19-38.  What is interesting is the intellidrive feature.  As the loading goes up, it can slow the feed and visa versa.

[metalspinner]

Brad, that's why mine hasn't tripped. 
I only have ever used 120 grit paper on mine. It's enough to remove the planer marks from the spiral head and prep the surface for sanding with the ROS. 

Oh, and an 1/8 turn of the height adjustment wheel seems to be the sweet spot for 120 grit 

[WDH]

I have the Supermax 25-50.  The intellidrive works well.  If you overload it, the intellidrive slows the infeed down.  I use it mostly to sand wood cookies using 40 grit.  Works very well for that. I have sold hundreds of sanded wood cookies that would be impossible to sand the end grain smooth with hand held sanders in any reasonable timeframe.  Sanding the cookies really makes a difference in customer preference. I can raise the price for sanding the cookies and make a hourly rate for running the equipment and for my time doing it. 

I have also found, like Chris, that a 1/8th turn on the adjustment wheel is the sweet spot for me too.  

[boonesyard]

Brad, that's why mine hasn't tripped.
I only have ever used 120 grit paper on mine. It's enough to remove the planer marks from the spiral head and prep the surface for sanding with the ROS.

Oh, and an 1/8 turn of the height adjustment wheel seems to be the sweet spot for 120 grit

X2, I run my 25-50 exactly the same. 

[Larry]

One of the advantages of a widebelt is the belt oscillates.  Jet has a 22-44 single drum sander that oscillates, I think they are the only one.  I've used it in a craft school and it worked fine.  I thought the oscillation made it a lot better machine.

I had a double drum 24" Grizzly.  Hated it because it was slow, poor dust collection, sandpaper was hard to change, forget working through the grits, poorly built, and did I mention slow?  Had it all of 6 months.

Last year I found a used but like new Grizzly 15-30 wide belt.  Actually I found several good ones for less than new drum sanders but they were a few hundred miles away.  It works great and I can swap belts in 30 seconds.  Dust collection is good and it is accurate.  The one limitation is it has 5 horsepower which is under powered.  This restricts speed and how much can be removed in one pass.  If I need production work or something wider a couple of local cabinet shops rent time on big widebelts at a reasonable rate.  This is a great solution for me.

If I ever add room to the shop a large widebelt will be installed.

[Brad_bb]

Took me a bit to figure out ROS = Random Orbit Sander.  Knowing it works for cookies makes it even more useful for me.   Just after writing that post, I found a brand new Supermax 19-38 on marketplace.  It had the digital height gage, and extra sanding rolls.  I got it for about $400 less than if I bought a new one at woodcraft or other retailer(not shipping fee or tax).  They are $1999 right now, but are due to go up as soon as they work through their current inventory.

[metalspinner]

Thanks for reminding me Brad. 
I've been thinking about adding a digital height gauge to my sander and planer. 
Wixey makes one. Has anyone done this? 

https://www.amazon.com/Wixey-WR550-Remote-Planer-Readout/dp/B0054RJ7AS/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?crid=46GHN4VI6SJZ&keywords=wixey+height+gauge+planer&qid=1661255729&sprefix=wixey+height+gauge+planer%2Caps%2C77&sr=8-3

[terrifictimbersllc]

Wixeys on both my 13" DC-33 planer and 25-50 sander. Game changer for sure on both machines.

[boonesyard]

I have a Wixey on my 25-50, worth every penny.

[kelLOGg]

Glad to read the comments about Performax 16/32. I thought it was just my machine but several of you have the same problem. It does fine, IF you've got the time.

[Quebecnewf]

I've got a Performax 16/32 that I don't use any more . It works fine but I find I'm not using it enough to keep it around .

Was great for sanding picture frames when I was into those .

I'm ready to let it go real cheap 

PM me 

Quebecnewf 

[WDH]

Note:  If you want to sell your sander via the Forum, you must post an Ad in the For Sale Board and follow the rules.  The PM system has been used in the past to skirt the rules and should not be used, although there is no way to know if you do , so you are on the Honor System. 

[maineshops]

Just a note....if I burn a belt and it still is sharp I have a pvc pipe about 5 x 24 that I wrap the damaged paper on , spring clip both ends and spray with purple power. ,Walmart, and let it sit for a bit and use a stiff brush to clean it up. Rinderpest off with hot water and it is good to go again. Dan