Replies

1. 
   BOBABEUI | Feb 28, 2006 04:30pm | #1

   John,

   We I was doing research on drum sanders, it seemed like there were two camps, those that loved their Performax or Delta and those that hated the machines, did not seem like there existed any middle ground on the subject. Seemed like no one really had too much bad to say about the Woodmasters. So I wound up buying the Woodmaster 2726

   I will say the Woodmaster is a closed end drum sander, the Delta is open as is most of the more common Performaxes. Also the price point of the Woodmaster is quite a bit more than the Delta or Performax.

   I have not used the machine too extensively yet, but so far it seems to work as advertised. My only disappointment with the machine, is with the depth scale on the machine, it's a magnetic scale that is pretty close to useless, I like it's only marked in 1/8's on a machine that realistically should only remove a 1/64 at a time. I plan on fitting a electronic linear measuring device on the machine.

   Best of luck

1. 
   johnl | Feb 28, 2006 07:47pm | #4

   Thanks for your reply Bobabeui

2. 
   hammer1 | Feb 28, 2006 06:43pm | #2

   Most all of the lower priced drum sanders have the same things in common. There is a rotating drum with sandpaper fixed to it. The rotation of the drum puts straight striations in your work piece from the sanding grit. Resinous woods quickly clog the sandpaper and often cause burning or marking of your work. You need good dust collection. The sanders can only take off very minute amounts, it can take three or four passes just to remove 1/16". All this time the paper gets worn. With large and long pieces, the paper can load or wear out in the middle of a cut. I owned a large Performax. It was a pain to use and often ruined work pieces. I sold it and find using any other type of sanding to be preferable. I think the small drums are a waste of money. Even when they work, you still have a lot of hand work left to do, what's the point?

   Beat it to fit / Paint it to match

1. 
   johnl | Feb 28, 2006 07:43pm | #3

   Thanks for your reply hammer1

2. 
   DonC | Mar 01, 2006 09:15pm | #5

   Right on Hammer!! I have seen several in operation. They ALL are inefficient cousins of an effecient belt type sander. Problematic is their middle name. Belt sanders are incredibly expensive BUT ya get what you pay for.

1. 
   Jimma | Mar 02, 2006 07:55pm | #6

   I dunno -- my experience is only with a Performax 16/32 and it's been OK for what I expect from it unlike hammer1's experience. It is not a production machine, although my son (who is a custom house builder) uses his a lot to reduce or eliminate planer marks prior to final sanding with a random orbital sander. Two things you can't expect from either brand you're looking at: a surface that's without abrasive marks (too rough for fine finishing) as mentioned above, and as a substitute for a thickness planer. However, you can use it to bring different work pieces to the same final thickness and -- for small pieces -- you can work then down to veneer thicknesses. You can also reduce rough surfaces and bandsaw marks prior to final finishing. I've had my Performax for about five years and have no complaints, but like a lot of tools, it's very specialized and not a multi-function tool, and it's slow. As said above, good dust control is imperative.

1. 
   mrbird90 | Mar 03, 2006 06:00am | #7

   I agree with you. It is not a production machine. However, today I made 7 drawers that were 18" wide x 18" deep and were 8" high.  I cut all the wood to 37 " long and ran it through the thickness planer to .685" thick. Then I ran all the pieces through the 16/32 Performax taking off .030 per side, it did a great job using 150 grit. No further sanding is required. I used two passes per side. This machine is ideal for something like this. Sure beats using a random orbit sander and spending a couple of hours sanding.

1. 
   Jimma | Mar 03, 2006 04:16pm | #8

   Good example. For some reason, maybe sales hype, there are people who expect to use these sanders as substitues for thickness planers. I tried it once with 60 grit abrasive and it only sort-of worked taking a much longer time and leaving a really rough surface so that the work had to be run through the machine several more times with progressively finer grits. I guess there there might be situations where all that wouldn't matter, but I don't ask too much of the machine. I sure get tired of standing there while the work goes through, also.

3. 
   DennisS | Mar 04, 2006 07:06am | #9

   John -

   I recently purchased the Perfomax 2244 open ended drum sander. Here are my observations for what they're worth.

   It's not really a substitute for a thickness planer although when bringing someting like edge banding flush with the face of a veneered penel it works pretty well. Not as well as a cabinet scraper and hand work but .... faster (grin)

   Can't speak for the Delta but don't let anyone try to tell you otherwise; those cantilevered arms do indeed deflect under a heavy sanding load. Thus the admonition contrary to using it as a thicknessing machine.

   Taking a 20" wide piece of brand new 1/2" baltic birch plywood about 2' long for a test, I scribbled pencil marks over the entire surface. Running it through the sander revealed that the inboard side, the end of the drum closest to the support colum was cutting or sanding to where it would remove the pencil marks while at the extreme opposite side the marks were untouched. This is out of the box, factory setup. I haven't bothered to try to make any necessary adjustments to put the drum more parallel to the bed rather I make two passes of the work running it through rotated 180 degrees on the second pass.

   I bought my sander to prepare and surface my shop made veneers to about 1/16" thickness after resawing on the bandsaw. It really does work quite well for this so long as you recognize that the outboard end will often if not always be parallel to the bed due to deflection. Thus if I send four three inch flitches of veneer through the sander at the same time there's a better than even chance that the outboard flitch will be thicker than the inboard one. OK, only a minute fraction of an inch, but thicker none the less.

   If you don't have a decent dust collection setup, I'd advise forgetting about owning one of these machines! After using mine for a few weeks I can't imagine that a shop vac would suffice.

   Surprisingly, you can get snipe from these things almost anywhere along the surface if you're not careful when sanding long pieces. The in and outfeed hold down rollers are spring loaded (I guess, haven't looked) and if, while the piece is traveling through the machine you raise up on or press down on one or the other end while it's passing under the drum you'll get a slight dig-in from the abrasive. Thus for longer work I set up good infeed and outfeed support parallel to the bed.

   Don't get me wrong, John, I'm getting a lot of use out of this Performax open ended sander and don't regret having purchased it. But if I had a shop half again as big as what I've got and if I'd have won the lottery a month ago, I'd have a 36" wide closed end drum sander instead! You need to recognize their limitations.

1. 
   johnl | Mar 04, 2006 07:11pm | #10

   Thanks for the reply and all the info, I think my usage will be like yours but not so much.  Looks like hand sanding will continue until I win the lotto.  It is nice to know that I can get good feed back from folks like yourself and help me to make a choice  about equipment.  Thanks again johnl

4. 
   RickL | Mar 04, 2006 07:46pm | #11

   Are you looking to thickness or just speed up the sanding process? Consider the stroke sander as an option. It is mentioned quite frequently in the early days of FWW but with Bill Green's invention of the Performax is has gotten lost to the hobby woodworkers. The stroke sander is still being made and used ones are almost nothing comoared to widebelt sanders. They do take up a bit more space but can do wider than any drumsander and can deal with cross grain scratches and even sand the profile on a raised panel door with a flixible belt. Only use old timers know about the virtues of the stroke sander. Even when I worked in the factories we had several types of stroke sanders and a widebelt. The widebelt couldn't never completely replace a stroke sander.

   Grizzly, Minimax,and others still make stroke sanders but I know most people just gloss over them without a clue. I know of a well known maerquertry expert who uses a stroke sander to sand his work.

   
   

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   Edited 3/4/2006 11:49 am ET by RickL

1. 
   johnl | Mar 05, 2006 02:51am | #12

   Thanks for the info and I will check it out because all I want to do is sand, I already have a planer.  johnl

1. 
   RickL | Mar 05, 2006 08:01am | #13

   I suspect that's what most people want to do. Here are some pics of the build it yourself SS featured in FWW many years ago. There is a Boice Crane you can probably find for a few hundred bucks if you look around. I picked up a Mattison for $700 that I installed in a metal shop. A buddy picked up an older version for $200 so they are around if you know where to find old machines.