I’m having trouble with my Performax 36″ sander leaving lines through a board much like a planer that leaves snipe at the end. I’ve tried to set the machine and the tables up true but when I feed the stock, about half way through the wood stops which instantly gouges the wood and leaves a line. What am I doing wrong?
Appreciate the help
Replies
Take lighter passes. Tighten up the feeder belt.
Make sure the sand paper is clean and on the drum
flat and not on top of each other. I have had the
problem when something binds. Check to make sure that
the feeder belt does not have something on it to make
the wood rise up from some pitch or other substance.
I run the feed motor on a fast rate. The wood should
not get too warm.
Okay Thanks.. I'll check it out... maybe I'm taking too deep of a pass..I need to remember it's not a planer...
Your work piece may not be uniform in thickness which basically equals what is stated above. Sometimes the leading edge is thinner than a place further down the piece and the machine simply bogs down when it comes to a place that's too thick. Take light passes until you hear the abrasive start to work, then gradually adjust by a quarter turn per pass. You're right -- it ain't a planer.
I have an old Performax 37 x 2 and have had similar problems. What I found was that the motor shaft coupling set screw was slipping off feed table shaft and causing the belt to slip resulting in a mid-panel snipe -- like you describe. I tightened the set screw many times and the problem continued -- just wouldn't stay tight -- even with a couple drops of Loctite. So finally, I marked the spot on the table shaft through the set screw hole and drilled a countersink for the end of the set screw to seat into. It's been fine ever since, though something will probably snap someday, but so be it-- this is the only fix that's worked for me. I've been unimpressed by this tool since the day I got it and frankly, wouldn't mind watching it self-destruct. Way overpriced when I bought it 10 or 12 years ago, and just not up to the task. If I had the ceiling height in my shop, I'd sell it and look for a good used wide belt.
Mike B, sometimes I feel the same way you do about the machine. I wanted to use it for everyday sanding but because of the snipe action, I've shyed away. The machine had so much promise for me but so far I haven't used it to it's capacity. The biggest issue I have isn't the machine itself but I need to rewire my outlets for a 20 amp circuit breaker. I keep tripping the circuit breaker everytime I use it with my dust collector. A huge pain in the butt walking upstairs in the garage to flip a circuit breaker every five minutes. Pretty much why I haven't taken a closer look at the machine to fix the snipe.
Yes, I had a 2-drum one also, left it behind in a shop when I moved on.....not a good machine at all. We eventually jacked the second drum up out of the way and used it as a single drum, but it never gave very good results.Cabinetmaker/college woodworking instructor. Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.
Some times if you let the unit for an extended period of time the feed belt will take the "SET" of the end rollers, just for fun of it Mark the feed belt at the two rolles sites and see if it doesn't stall there, It's happened to me. Also if you lube those rollers, as you should on occasion, (a necessary pain) remove the feed belt to insure you get no oil on that belt. That can cause a slip and stall also.
Work Safe, Count to 10 when your done for the day !!
Bruce S.
I have a smaller (16") Ryobi sander of this type, that generally works very well. However, you do need to take account of its foibles.
In addition to the good advice given already in the thread, can I mention that it is easy to set the gap a little too narrow, which lets the panel to be sanded in but pushes up the open end of the drum. As the panel is sanded, the drum heats up more than it should because of this over-tight setting. This may be the cause of a sudden stall, at which point you get that shallow trough or gouge across your workpiece.
The trick, as has been said in other posts, is to creep up on the right setting, by getting the workpiece to just catch at its highest point, then sanding off no more than 0.25mm per pass until the whole panel is getting sanded.
You can test whether the gap is too tight by artificially stopping the work half way through. Rather than a gouge you should only have a step, between sanded and not-sanded parts of the workpiece. A gouge indicates that the drum has been getting pushed up by the moving workpiece, with the drum unable to sand off all the wood before that part of the panel has moved on.
Hope this makes sense.
Lataxe
Got to remember that with all drum sanders (I own a Woodmaster) you are removing hundreds of an inch in a pass, not a 1/16 or 1/32 as with a planer.
Good luck
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled