Replies

1. 
   camel | Jan 05, 2003 12:19pm | #1

   Hey Joe- I've been in the same situation for a while too. For awhile I was going to get the performax 16" openend, then maybe the Woodmaster 25". Back and forth for months on different models and brands. If money wasn't an issue, I'd get a 37" combination wide-belt in a minute. But it is for me and my 1 man shop right now. I've decided to go with the 38" Northstate double drum sander. There's a few issues that I feel a little unsure about, but hey. One being, yes it's taiwanese factory made. Put it next to the General International and they're identical. The hell with it I thought. It's not life and death. I can get it delivered for just under $3000.00. A 25" would suit me for 80% of my work. But then there's the times where maybe every other job, I'll have 28-32" x 10-12' solid wood tops for a run of built in cabinets. It's just not economical to handplane, scrape, sand by hand as I would on a table top. Just my thought, maybe you're in the same situation. I have the same problem with the cabinet shop guy being arrogent about his wide-belt and how he charges vary all the time. Piss on him, I'd rather do it by hand til I get my own.

   John E. Nanasy

1. 
   riverr1 | Jan 05, 2003 04:21pm | #2

   John,

   I did a web search for NorthState drum sanders and didn't come up with anything. Who carries this machine. It's hard to imagine they have a machine identical to the GI 37 inch drum sander for 3k. I'd like to take a look at it. The 25 inch can be had in Canada for $1200 US. Tools-Plus is selling them for 1699.

   Don

1. 
   MStehelin | Jan 05, 2003 10:38pm | #3

   Buying in Canada sounds like a good idea. I think that the exchange rate works in your favor. Make sure you do the math but the canadian dollar dropped at the end of this year.

   Cheers

   Mitt

1. 
   riverr1 | Jan 05, 2003 11:09pm | #4

   I just took delivery of my machines. Taking advantage of the exchange rate I saved about $750 from the prices in the US, but I paid and extra $100 Canadian for delivery to the US. This involved at least 6 hours of the dealers time. The want that US greenback. As for the exchange rate, I lost 3 cents on the dollar by not paying before the end of the year. Oh well, I still made out all right. I did talk to a US dealer but because of broker fees there was no way he could match the exchange rate price. Besides, Canada is closer then he was anyway.

   Don

2. 
   camel | Jan 06, 2003 01:54am | #5

   Hey Don- I don't know if they have a website. I seen they're ad in the current Woodshop news. They're a company similar to Bridgewood. They're one of many who get an identical (almost) product from a Tiawanese factory and maybe make a few changes, different color paint, and put their logo on it. Their 25" (looks) identical to the General International, except the Northstate has a 5 hp instead of a 3 hp. Same with their 38" compared to G.I. 37" . Like I said maybe the 38" is a piece of sh!t, I'll let you know about the middle of January.John E. Nanasy

2. 
   Rich | Jan 06, 2003 10:44am | #6

   John, in your post you didn’t say what your needs are as far how wide of panels you wish to be able to sand so I don’t know if this will help but I give you my experience anyway.

    

   I have a Bridgewood wide belt sander. It take a 16 inch wide belt and is an open-ended sanding machine so by turning a panel around and feeding it thru the second time you can sand up to 32”

    

   I’ve had it for two years now and am very pleased with it. The first thing people want to know is “can you really sand wide panels and not have a overlapping line down the middle when you finished”. The answer is yes, I can sand a 30 inch panel and see no line when finished. Second question is usually is it reliable, do you have to adjust it all the time? Yes its reliable and in the two years I’ve had mine I have not had to make one single adjustment to the machine.

    

   The wide belt is so munch quicker and easier to change the sanding medium that the drum sand are (of course they cost more.) 

    

   When I bought the Bridgewood it was going for $3600.00. I believe the Bridgewood, Jet, and the SunHill and made in the same off shore factory, however the SuhHill doesn’t have the option of getting a sanding platen on their machine. Also if you buy Bridgewood from Wilke Machinery the will setup the machine and put an American made motor on it before shipping. It’s ready to go right out of the box as the say, really.

    

   The last belts I bought from Klingspor were about 12.50 a belt and they last a long time.

    Hope this helps.

3. 
   AlanTurner | Jan 22, 2003 12:37am | #8

   Hey Spokeshave,

   I was following your posts on the Northstate, and wondered if you would follow up and let us know about your new 38" drum sander.  What is the contact information on Northstate, as I cannot locate them.  Thanks.

   Edited 1/21/2003 6:14:42 PM ET by s4s

2. 
   chairmake1 | Jan 07, 2003 01:36am | #7

   Hello-

   You did not mention how wide of a machine you would need or the size of the parts/panels you need to sand. anyway

   I have a 37" Preformax dbl. drum sander for last several years and am very happy with this pc. of equipment. I've ran some 34" material thru using 36 and 60 grit paper for flattening the slabs and also ran walnut strips down to 0.060 thick for laminating curves. The paper cost about $ 75.00 per box per grit and I get 5 loads from each box. The amount of time between paper changes vary but if I take care of the paper and keep it clean it last a long time. I had the Preformax 16" open ended machine before this one and it also preformed very well over a four year period.

   I hope this helps,

   Robert Phillips