Thickness Sander

[mdw3332]

I picked up a used one of these today. Haven't had time to play with it. Any advice?

Performax 16-32

[M_A_T_T]

I have that. Mine came with infeed/outfeed tables, and some rolls of abrasive. Don't really have any advise as I haven't used it alot yet, except get a dust collector. Also, I never set the depth gauge on mine, I prefer to use digital calipers.

Try to only take off 1/8 of a turn of the height adjustment knob at a time, or about 1/128", with wide pieces.

Edited June 2, 2005 by M_A_T_T

[tdog]

Make very light sanding passes....don't get too aggressive......use a dust collector or the dust will begin to collect on the sand paper and burn the wood.....avoid oily woods like cocobolo, which will clog the paper and render it useless.

[bigdguitars]

I still don't understand why I have not bought one of these yet....

[orgmorg]

I have heard very good things about the Performax sanders. I have the Delta thickness sander, and I like it, but I have heard the Performax is better. From what I can see, the drum raises and lowers, instead of the table? On the Delta, the table raises, and the mechanism is a bit rickety. And, yes, you can't hog down on a board with it- multiple light passes. I have used 36 grit and was able to take off a lot at once, but then you gotta change belts.

Have Fun!

[Myka Guitars]

I have one of the 16-32 models too and it has served me very well for a few years now. I first used to use it to sand acoustic guitar backs and sides when I was supplementing my income starting the guitar business. It took some serious abuse and still works great.

Here's a little thing I do to make the conveyor belt last longer. On the inside of belt where the seam is the tape they use is only like 3/4" wide. I have had two belts rip apart when the grit on it was still fine. Take some of the wickedly sticky StewMac binding tape and tape 6" long pieces across the join at least every 1". It will really help and the belts last much longer this way.

~David

Edited June 1, 2005 by Myka Guitars

[M_A_T_T]

Did either of you guys get the promotional video featuring the guy that builds 'ukuleles?

[LGM Guitars]

I have that.  Mine came with infeed/outfeed tables, and some rolls of abrasive.  Don't really have any advise as I haven't used it alot yet, except get a dust collector.  Also, I never set the depth gauge on mine, I prefer to use digital calipers.

Oh yeah, try to only take off 1/8" of a turn at a time with wide pieces.

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Uh, 1/8 or a turn, or 1/8". There is no thickness sander out there that I know of where I'd recommend taking a 1/8" pass with. That's way to much for sanding.

[M_A_T_T]

I have that.  Mine came with infeed/outfeed tables, and some rolls of abrasive.   Don't really have any advise as I haven't used it alot yet, except get a dust collector.  Also, I never set the depth gauge on mine, I prefer to use digital calipers.

Oh yeah, try to only take off 1/8" of a turn at a time with wide pieces.

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Uh, 1/8 or a turn, or 1/8". There is no thickness sander out there that I know of where I'd recommend taking a 1/8" pass with. That's way to much for sanding.

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Didn't notice I added the inches symbol, that coulda been bad! OBVIOUSLY I meant 1/8 of a turn of the height adjustment knob, which is 1/128".

[LGM Guitars]

Phew, ok, I can take 1/16" in a pass on mine, but it's a big heavy duty machine with a 7hp motor and dual drums. I wouldn't even try 1/8" on there LOL. I figured you meant 1/8 of a turn, but alot of people who don't have a sander could read that and think it would take 1/8" on a pass, hence my reason for making the post.

[bigdguitars]

LGM how do you like that general sander? where you using a performax 16-32 before that?

what grits are you running? 80-120? then doing final sanding with 220+

Thanks,

Derek

[M_A_T_T]

I've always wondered what grit you run too, on your dual drum. To me, it seems kind of redundant to have 80 - 120 on the drums, because with every pass, you re-sand the 120 smoothness back to 80 again, and will just where out your 120 quicker. However, it would be nice to not have to shut everything down and swap out the 80 for the 120...

[orgmorg]

Some of dual drum sanders have a separate height adjustment for the second drum, so you can keep it raised until the final pass.

[LGM Guitars]

The general is great. Previous to that I used one of the Delta 16/32 units, same idea as the performax. It just wasn't heavy duty enough, for me, time is money. The general is 4 times the HP, and the dual drum is great. I run my second drum down all the time, yes, it seems redundant, but the 80 will actually cut nicer if it's on a smoother than 80 grit surface, I don't know why, but it does.

I run 80 - 220 actually. The 220 drum sits .010" lower than the 80 drum, and that's plenty to take out the 80 grit scratches. Plus, the rear drum doesn't wear out anywhere near as quick, so it's just easier to run it there all the time rather than adjust it constantly. You have to remember, that rear drum is taking a very small pass compared to the front drum, so it doesn't really wear that fast.

My biggest complaint with the open end sanders, is even with small passes, in hard woods, it sands unevenly from the closed side to the open side, it does move a little, not enough to really be a pain in the ass, but I don't like machines that aren't rigid. I can take 1/2" off on the general in the same amount of time it used to take me to get 1/8" off on the delta.

[ddgman2001]

I run 80 - 220 actually.  The 220 drum sits .010" lower than the 80 drum, and that's plenty to take out the 80 grit scratches.  Plus, the rear drum doesn't wear out anywhere near as quick, so it's just easier to run it there all the time rather than adjust it constantly.    You have to remember, that rear drum is taking a very small pass compared to the front drum, so it doesn't really wear that fast. 

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That's interesting. How did you dial in the height of the second drum?

[bigdguitars]

also is the woodtek one thats out there that looks the same is it? Also there is one on ebay called an accura, thats the same design. I may go that route...

[LGM Guitars]

I run 80 - 220 actually.  The 220 drum sits .010" lower than the 80 drum, and that's plenty to take out the 80 grit scratches.  Plus, the rear drum doesn't wear out anywhere near as quick, so it's just easier to run it there all the time rather than adjust it constantly.    You have to remember, that rear drum is taking a very small pass compared to the front drum, so it doesn't really wear that fast. 

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That's interesting. How did you dial in the height of the second drum?

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both drums are adjustable for level, the rear drum is adjustable in height with 2 bolts on the drum. Mine happened to be set up dead on when I bought it (Pro Tool City had already assembled it) and I've just left it as is since it's been working perfectly for me.

[M_A_T_T]

My biggest complaint with the open end sanders, is even with small passes, in hard woods, it sands unevenly from the closed side to the open side, it does move a little, not enough to really be a pain in the ass, but I don't like machines that aren't rigid.  I can take 1/2" off on the general in the same amount of time it used to take me to get 1/8" off on the delta.

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You can get around that by flipping the piece around, but then you are spending twice the amount of time...

[tdog]

also is the woodtek one thats out there that looks the same is it?  Also there is one on ebay called an accura, thats the same design.  I may go that route...

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BigD....I've seen the Accura machines...They look like total junk......I'd say pass. I've never seen the Woodtek. I have 2 Performax machines and can't really complain about them. Performax seems to be a good value. There are better drum sanders, but for the price....It will do the job and is built well.

[bigdguitars]

ok cool thanks for the heads up performax it will be.

[M_A_T_T]

ok cool thanks for the heads up performax it will be.

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I got my Performax from a Canadian retailer called House of Tools. They are regularly $1399CDN, but every 4 - 6 months or so they go on sale for a whole month for $999CDN, or %30 off. They also include a stand, infeed/outfeed tables and extra rolls of abrasive. That may be something to think about.

Performax are manufactured by Canwood Industrial. Canwood make three lines of tools (kind of like grizzly with their industrial line):

Household or Regular - These byte ass

Professional - Much better quality

Industrial - Way better quality, industrial grade tools

[GarageRocker]

My biggest complaint with the open end sanders, is even with small passes, in hard woods, it sands unevenly from the closed side to the open side, it does move a little, not enough to really be a pain in the ass, but I don't like machines that aren't rigid.  I can take 1/2" off on the general in the same amount of time it used to take me to get 1/8" off on the delta.

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I've had a Performax 16/32 for quite a while now, and taking light passes -- which is what it's designed to do -- it's within .001" from one side to the other.

To each his own but I can't imagine using a thickness sander to take off more than 1/8" total. I use the planer for that.

[LGM Guitars]

My biggest complaint with the open end sanders, is even with small passes, in hard woods, it sands unevenly from the closed side to the open side, it does move a little, not enough to really be a pain in the ass, but I don't like machines that aren't rigid.  I can take 1/2" off on the general in the same amount of time it used to take me to get 1/8" off on the delta.

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I've had a Performax 16/32 for quite a while now, and taking light passes -- which is what it's designed to do -- it's within .001" from one side to the other.

To each his own but I can't imagine using a thickness sander to take off more than 1/8" total. I use the planer for that.

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Which is all fine and good, but if you use a planer on most figured woods you'll tear the crap out of the grain. Like I say, I've never used the performax, just the delta, same design. I wasn't happy with it. And, as I said, they work fine taking LIGHT passes just like you said. For me, that doesn't cut it, time is money. The longer it takes the less I can get done period.