Replies

1. 
   hobnail | Aug 20, 2004 06:00am | #1

   Mel I purchased a Delta 18 a couple of years ago.  I was disappointed with the performance and the construction of the stand.  The sanding arm was fine, but the motor for the feed belt was totally inadequate.  I'ts about the size of a flashlight and bogs down with the least amount of pressure.  Any increase in pressure above a couple of mill will stop and burn your material.  Perhaps I've been spoiled, having used a serious wide belt.  I havent used the thing now for about a year and a half.  I regret not purchasing a more serious bandsaw for the money spent.  Perhaps others have more favorable experiences. 

2. 
   ScottPost | Aug 20, 2004 06:01am | #2

   I've had the Performax for a few years now and while it sure beats having nothing I would make a different decision if I had it to do over again. Both the Delta and Performax are true "jacks of all trades, masters of none". The cantilevered design may allow wider boards but it comes at the price of a finicky adjustment. Both have *extremely* slow feed conveyors. I can't speak for the Delta, but the conveyor belt tracking on the Performax is a never-ending battle. Both have underpowered drum motors. The biggest drawback is the conveyor speed - it's too darned slow even for a hobbiest like me. My shop time is precious and I don't want to spend it waiting on a machine.

   Eventually I'll sell the Performax and get a 24" dual drum sander such as the General, Grizzly, and others. It's a few hundred more but you get a more powerful drum motor and double the conveyor speed (meaning double the throughput). In the three years I've had the Performax I can count on one hand the number of times I've sanded a board wider than 24". I would gladly have hand planed and hand sanded those in exchange for the faster performance of a 24" machine for the 99% of boards I put through the drum sander which are narrower than 24".

   If you have your heart set on a cantilevered machine you might talk to a dealer that carries and services both. My local dealer pointed me towards the Performax because he said they'd received nearly every Delta they sold back for repair. Apparently the table raising mechanism gets jammed. Delta may have fixed it since then. The other plus for the Performax is that the conveyor is at a fixed height so you can add infeed/outfeed tables.

   I know it sounds like I'm bashing the cantilevered machines but, like I said, it beats having no drum sander at all. For example, I've built a dozen or so plantation shutters which meant sanding several hundred louvers. I sure wouldn't have wanted to do that by hand, but I also would have liked to have gotten it done twice as fast with a 24" dual drum sander.

1. 
   Michmesquite | Aug 20, 2004 10:45am | #6

   This is exactly what I would have said about the Performax 16-32._________________________________

   Michael in San Jose

   "In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted." Bertrand Russell 

3. 
   Corry | Aug 20, 2004 07:01am | #3

   Hi Mel

   I just purchased a woodmaster Drum Sander. I looked at all of the others and went with the woodmaster. A decision I don't regret. Yes it did cost a lot more but if I look at it as a tool I will use for the next 10 or more years it really was not that much. The paper change is fast, so you don't lose a lot of time (about 5 minutes). It has a variable speed drive belt and reversing switch. I use it about one hour a day and I am happy with its performance. I had a Grizzly drum sander about 6 years ago. It was a nightmare to change paper and ran poorly it sat for two years before I found a buyer for it. I know this does not answer you question exactly but I hope it helps.

4. 
   Telemike | Aug 20, 2004 07:23am | #4

   This oughta get some serious flames going!

   A few years ago, a Ryobi 16/32 drum sander showed up at Christmas (after a few years of talking about how I'd like a drum sander). I've used it for around 5 years now - mostly for quirky grain like tiger stripes and fiddleback. I've run a lot of wood through it and I have the following observations:

   1. It has only wimped out (tripped the thermal breaker) a few times when I was hogging off lots of wood constantly for a long time.

   2. The open end is where the sandpaper wrap starts and the clamp works well; the driven end is where the sandpaper ends and the clamp is pretty much worthless. However, I use the clamp, then wrap 3 or 4 wraps of masking tape around the sandpaper and it holds just fine. I lose 3/4 ths of an inch at the most.

   3. I've never adjusted the accuracy and it is still right on (drum parallel to the table) after 5 or so years.

   4. The minimum thickness it will sand is just less than 1/8th inch. One major task for this sander is "planing" bandsaw cut veneer - the only really wood-looking way to veneer. I have put a sheet of formica on the table under the belt when I thickness sand veneer and it works just fine.

   I'm not trying to sell you a Royobi. If I can give you any advice, the Royobi works pretty well for the bucks, and every tool you buy will have some kind of gotcha that you have to work around. The ones that burn out motors or break sprockets make tools unusable - the rest; well you work around them unless you just found the "perfect" tool!

1. 
   JohnCabot | Aug 21, 2004 04:41am | #11

   Your comment on the Ryoby Drum Sander will save me hundred of dollars. Tomorrow I will be selling some surplus tools, among them would have been the Ryobi. When I read how you fixed the problem of clamping the sandpaper with tape, I took the Ryobi off the list. I do not need to replace it with a more costly model.For an occasional use, It will serve me well. Thank you!

   John Cabot

5. 
   nikkiwood | Aug 20, 2004 08:48am | #5

   I'm just about in the same boat -- don't have one, thinking about buying one.

   There was a similar thread maybe a month or so ago, and there were many who said any of the open-end models were just too wimpy, and had problems of one kind or another.

   My local tool supplier, who I trust a lot, sells all three, and recommended the Performax 16-32 -- which coincidentally, is owned and praised by a good friend.

   So here, for what it's worth, is how I have processed all the information and feedback:

   If this machine will get sometime, occasional use, the Performax will be fine. However, because it is underpowered, you must take light passes (which, of course means sanding a stack of boards will be slow going). Any mechanical problems with a particular machine seem fairly manageable to correct -- and the Jet people (who mfg. Performax) have always been patient and helpful when I have called on them.

   However, if this machine will get more frequent use in your shop, then you will probably be happier with a fixed drum model. I would look first at the Woodmaster, mainly because user praise is high, and I have never heard a complaint (in this or the previous thread). And Woodmaster has a great rep for customer service.

   The really serious cats buy stuff like the Timesaver. I have neither the space nor the dollars, so machines in this category are not even on my scope.

   So where does that leave me? I'm still picking lint from my navel, trying to decide just how much I really need such a machine. For me, it is in that "nice to have, but not essential" category.

   Hope this helps ...........................

6. 
   SCFrankland | Aug 20, 2004 02:12pm | #7

   Mel I just bought the Delta X5 sander and I am very happy with it. It is light duty machine compared to the bigger wide belt machines. I have run a lot of 20"+ material through and it has done a near perfect job on every thing but two panels but it was my fault. Power isn't much of an issue if you use it the way it is supposed to be used and I find that I can run a board through it and then working on something else like cleaning up the shop or setting up another machine. When you figure out how much time you save in overall sanding the speed of the belt is not that bad. My thickness planer runs at 16-20 f/m and the sander runs between 0-12 f/m so it isn't that much slower.

   Scott C. Frankland

   Scott's WOODWORKING Website

   "He who has the most tools may not win the race of life but he will sure make his wife look like a good catch when she goes to move on."

1. 
   Adrian | Aug 20, 2004 03:06pm | #8

   Bigger machines than you're talking about (but, if you can swing the money, I don't think you would regret going with a bigger one).....anyway, had a Performax (I think it was the 25" dual drum).....will never buy another Performax. probably would never buy another dual drum again. Now have a single drum Woodmaster.....far superior, IMO. Solid, no frills, just does it.cabinetmaker/college woodworking instructor. Cape Breton, N.S

1. 
   CharlieP | Aug 21, 2004 12:43am | #9

   Sometimes I feel like the lone voice in the wilderness, but I love my Performax 16/32.  It is as powerful as you can run on a household circuit, which is far less powerful than many people would like.  It has become one of the most used tools in my garage-based workshop. 

   See some of the previous discussions in messages 17490.7, 18612.6, and 16081.12 or just do a search on the model. 

   You can see one in operation if you watch WoodWorks with David Marks on DIY network (and occasionally on HGTV)________________________Charlie Plesums  Austin, Texashttp://www.plesums.com/wood

7. 
   GHR | Aug 21, 2004 01:06am | #10

   I have a delta 16/32.

   It works well.

   When I use it, I use it all day long.

8. 
   AlbionWood | Aug 21, 2004 07:28am | #12

   I have the Delta and it does the job I bought it to do.  Slow, but sure, and faster than hand sanding to flatten panels; also it is good for thicknessing figured wood.

   My big problem with it is that the feed belt absolutely will not track straight.  No matter what adjustments I make, it always runs off to the outboard side.  It has now sanded out about 2/3 of the diameter of the bolts holding up the feed table...

   "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler."  A. Einstein

   http://www.albionworks.net

9. 
   BillLindau | Aug 21, 2004 02:33pm | #13

   Woodmaster is what I have. I have sometimes wished I had a wide belt sander. As far as wide drum sanders, open ended ones will eventually give problems.

   Bill Lindau

10. 
    cloctor | Aug 21, 2004 06:25pm | #14

    I just got a order for 100 clock cases, needed a drum sander. After doing a lot of checking around I bought the Woodmaster 26 inch. I absolutely love it. What used to take hours of hand sanding only takes minutes.  The hardest part is walking from the front of the machine to get the sanded pieces off the conveyor belt. Paper is very easy to change, good people to deal with. Got this in July, no payments till January 2005. I have already made enough $$ to pay for the sander in labor savings.

1. 
   riverr1 | Aug 21, 2004 09:25pm | #15

   Can't add much more then what has been written, but if you have the chance at all, pass up a dc drive for ac. I'm on my third drum sander and dc drives are the biggest drawback of most machines perfromances. Also on my first single drum machine, and can't now see what 2 drums ever did for me. Also, 5 inch drums are ok, but 6 inch is beau coup better. Smaller then 5, junk.

   Don

11. 
    Sprucegum | Aug 22, 2004 06:56am | #16

    I have the Delta 18. As an amateur hobbyist it does everything I want it to, and only needs 110 volts. The paper is easy to change but the feed belt does wander. The stand has always seemed too tipsy so I finally built a cabinet on wheels that allows easy movement and stores the paper.

    I do multiple light passes at a high travel speed , tedious but still far faster and smoother than by hand.

    Yes,I made it. No,not hard. Yes, a long time.

12. 
    JohnWW | Aug 25, 2004 02:56am | #17

    Buying a drum sander to compensate for the problems of your planer seems like the wrong way to go.  Why not just put fresh blades on the planer for final clean up and then each drawer front would only need a few seconds of hand sanding. 

    On a planer with disposable blades changing the blades takes only a few minutes, way less time than passing all the wood through a sander and the money saved would by a lot of blades.

    John W.