For about 10 years now I’ve operated my Performax Supermax drum sander with great success. However, last night while sanding some 3/16 th. inch thick paduk and birds eye maple my paper loaded and burned at several points along the drum leaving one-half inch wide black racing stripes the length of my boards. Figuring it was a fluke, I cleaned the paper well and continued sanding. Again, same result only at different spots along the drum. My years of experience with this machine has taught me to take only very small bites, which was what I was doing here. I varied the feed rate from real slow to full spead, and everywhere in between, with the same result. I then replaced the 120 grit paper with new 120 grit paper, and got the same result. What’s going on? I routinely sand paduk, birds eye maple, and even cherry with rarely a burn. The paper I’m using is by Klingspor, and came from Performax. Would a courser grit be less likely to burn? What about a different brand of paper?
I now have several strips of paper that need soaked to soften the burned, baked-on crud to facilitate removal. What should I use as a soaking agent?
Any help here would be most appreciated. Thanks.
Replies
I have the same unit and the problem could have come from a small pitch pocket in the wood, an alignment problem wherein one end of the drum is slightly lower that the other end or, more likely, the roll loosened and an edge overlaps causing a ridge. With wood prone to burning - any wood with a high sugar content such as maple and cherry, I use a faster feed rate. I have no experience with paduk so I don't know where it falls in this regard. In my experience, when an area of the roll burns, you can not sufficiently clean the area to run wood through it again. At least it has never worked well for me. I just block that area out or change the paper.
I had the same problems with my Performax Supermax. You could run small or short pieces if you just barely kissed the surface of the stock but once you started to run 8' boards the paper would load up in spots. It didn't matter what species. Even when a board made it through without burns, the striations left by the sander still had to be hand sanded out. The new Klingspor paper helps and good dust collection is a must. I still found the machine to be basically useless. Although I could get results if I only ran a couple of pieces, once I started running any quantity of stock, you could be sure that either the paper would stretch and tear or burn marks would develop. The Performax took too much maintenance, the paper was too expensive, the machine caused untold frustration and ruined too many pieces of work. I sold it.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Hi I too have a perfomax and you can forget running birdeye thru it with a finer grit than 180 as it will burn.Tried different paper,forget it.So I just finish it with my Bosch random orbital sander.But about the paper you use,I have been buying my paper(all kinds) from a place in PA called supergrit and you can't beat there prices,plus they are great folks to deal with.What sander did you go to.I would like to find one that would help eliminate that problem for me if possable.Good luck with the paper.
Ken
"...you can forget running birdeye thru it with a finer grit than 180 as it will burn."
Wait though...... He was using 120 grit, and furthermore he says "I routinely sand paduk, birds eye maple, and even cherry with rarely a burn." So, if something has changed, something has changed. Gotta be a glitch somewhere!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
yeah sounds wierd.. i have the 37x2 and go with 80 and 120 for the grits...
I ran all the base and case (red bulau wood.. very hard) for my entire 2000 square foot house and seldom if ever have burning, if i do it is when i take a huge bite... they were all 12 to 16 foot legths.
I think this gentleman should check the allignment of his drums and more importantly look at the tensioning mechanisms to insure they are functioning properly and the paper is staying tight to the drum.
good luck,
j
What did you replace it with?-Jazzdogg-
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
I haven't replaced the sander, Jazzdog. I looked at the Max but I am hesitant to get another straight spinning drum sander. I can't afford an oscillating platen and everything that goes with it. For the most part, I'm just using a belt sander, RO or a combination of scraper and hand sanding. This is the same thing I had to do after using the Performax, anyway. I've also changed the way I approach some situations, I don't surface glued up panels after assembly, EG. I have some planer knives ground to 15° for highly figured lumber and if needed, I'll go to a shop with a Timesaver. If I worked with more figured lumber, I would be anxious to replace it, but I don't miss it at all.http://www.max-ind.com/m_catalog7.aspBeat it to fit / Paint it to match
My first thought is pitch or resin in the wood. Second is how is your dust collection? Is there a clog in the line, are the bags full, too much hose? Finally quit trying to clean the old paper and use some fresh paper. Try running another simular sized board through first and see if there are problems.
Mike
I had he same problems as hammer1. I too sold what I thought to be a worthless machine. Some have had great success with Performax but I wasn't one of them. Short pieces were okay but anything approaching 8', forget it.
I read this post with interest as I have a Performax 37x2. I've been using this unit for around 12 years with all kinds of different issues. I've actually completely dismantled this unit twice in the course of it's life. Drum sanders are not belt sanders by any means but they do serve a purpose. After reading your post my first thought would be an alignment problem. I realize if you have had this unit for 10 years you are very familiar with it's operation procedure. If the problem came out of nowhere and you didn't change the brand of paper it's likely an issue with the alignment. The other major factor involved with burn is letting the paper wear down too far but since you replaced the paper with the same results I would start with checking the alignment of the drum or drums if you have two. The instruction manual that comes with the machine will tell you how to dismantle the whole unit. Also check the bearings for wear. I had to replace mine at around the 8 year mark but mine has seen a lot of use. I've run counter tops 32" wide by 2" thick by 12'long of eastern Maple without any burning so it can be done. The biggest burning woods that I've come across are Rosewoods like Cocobolo and pitchy pine. For these woods you can buy a special paper. Works great. You might want to talk to you local dealer about this option as well. Good luck.
To clean your belts you want to use a product called Reuzit from Abrasive Belt Master in Tempe, Arizona.
As for the burning, there are any number of causes but it sounds to me that your feed belt is worn and the material is slipping. This is causing a heat build up in the sanding belt and that in turn is causing the melt down that you are experiencing. That would be my best guess from the info you provided.
Steve
"You can either be smart or pleasant, I was once smart but now I'm pleasant. I like being pleasant better." Jimmy Stewart - Harvey
Edited 1/25/2006 9:07 pm ET by WhatKnot
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