Rick500 Posted March 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2008 (edited) After a lot of digging, I found that the Steel City 16/32 drum sander is actually a clone of the Ryobi sander. The specs say the minimum sanding thickness is 1/8". The Jet/Performax's is 1/32". I could have gotten the Steel City for $699 delivered, but I just happened to stop at Woodcraft today and they had all their power tools on sale today only for 10% off, with a Jet rebate on top of that, so for about $85 more than the Steel City, I bought the Jet/Performax 16/32. I didn't actually decide to go for it until a few minutes ago, so I have to wait until tomorrow to pick it up. Can't wait to get it up and running! Now I guess I need some real dust collection. Edited March 1, 2008 by Rick500 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted March 1, 2008 Report Share Posted March 1, 2008 After a lot of digging, I found that the Steel City 16/32 drum sander is actually a clone of the Ryobi sander. The specs say the minimum sanding thickness is 1/8". The Jet/Performax's is 1/32". I could have gotten the Steel City for $699 delivered, but I just happened to stop at Woodcraft today and they had all their power tools on sale today only for 10% off, with a Jet rebate on top of that, so for about $85 more than the Steel City, I bought the Jet/Performax 16/32. I didn't actually decide to go for it until a few minutes ago, so I have to wait until tomorrow to pick it up. Can't wait to get it up and running! Now I guess I need some real dust collection. Cool, you will love it. As for dust collection, that is a big fat yes! Get a good one, dust collectors don't just keep things tidy. They will improve the performance of your equipment. Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted March 2, 2008 Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 I wouldn't even consider using my thickness sander without my dust collector. Not in a million years. Did it once, a single thin pass on a rosewood headstock veneer, because I was too lazy to move the hose from the bandsdaw to the thickness sander, and very, very quickly stopped the machine, hooked up dust collection, and did the three remaining passes. Seriously, it's an absolute necessity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted March 2, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 2, 2008 I have a large shop vac I've been using so far, but I'm going to upgrade to a dedicated dust collection system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desopolis Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 maybe im just an idiot, but I dont understand what forces the board against the drum. I HAVE seen small table top drum sanders where the user pushes against the drum, and in planers I know there are very strong abrasive wheels(VERY STRONG) but ive never seen them in these large sanding units, just a belt. Is the belt all thats used? or is there something else? Besides thinner boards V. Cuttout what is the large advantage of using a drum sander Vs a planer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted March 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 There is a wide, abrasive-surfaced motorized conveyor belt that draws the piece through the sander and under the drum. The advantages of the drum sander over the thickness planer are that the sander leaves a smoother surface, can be used with any abrasive grit for progressively finer sanding, and can handle figured woods that the planer would have trouble with (flamed maple comes to mind). There are still plenty of things I'd use a planer for though. The sander will probably end up being a finishing step after a trip through the planer in a lot of cases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 maybe im just an idiot, but I dont understand what forces the board against the drum. I HAVE seen small table top drum sanders where the user pushes against the drum, and in planers I know there are very strong abrasive wheels(VERY STRONG) but ive never seen them in these large sanding units, just a belt. Is the belt all thats used? or is there something else? Besides thinner boards V. Cuttout what is the large advantage of using a drum sander Vs a planer? Drum sanders have infeed and outfeed bars, but they do not need the same amount of pressure a planer requires. The system works(speaking to the Performax at least as that is what I have and use) and is fully capable of accurate surfacing to about .003" per. pass (this is the rate that I thickness my soundboards down, checking stiffness after each pass). Advantages over a planer. Obviously very smooth surfacing, lower per. pass min., can thickness binding or veneer down to about .03" (good if you make purflings or want to make lay ups) and can certainly work well in the sub 1/8" range (a must for many details, backs, sides, soundboards, and such especially on acoustic instruments). There are other advantages, but it all comes back to finer control, surfaceing, and lower risk of tearing. Disadvantages, they are not designed to take heavy passes. Removing a half inch of stock is not a drum sanders forte. Removing about 1/16" per pass is about all you want to do, and it is a pain in the butt to take that many passes when removing a lot of stock. I personally will slice wood with my bandsaw if it needs more than 1/4" removed. It is cool for me because I get veneers and potentially usable stock and veneer. If I needed to work lumber for cabnets, and had no use for the extra stock. A planer would be much easier. I don't run stock like that for guitars, and most of the wood I do surface is expensive and I want those extra bits, so resawing is well worth it. That is about it. Both tools have strengths. Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Drum is cantilevered (or fixed at both ends), wood is pushed between the drum and the table. On commercial units, a power feed drags it through, on others (hand built), you push it through manually. The spinning drum holds it down, although there are hold-downs at infeed and outfeed (spring-loaded rollers). The big professional units use wide belts and a platen parallel to the feed bed. We're not talking about those useless 'sand flea' type drum sanders, which are only useful for surface finish, but not for accurate thicknessing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted March 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 I personally will slice wood with my bandsaw if it needs more than 1/4" removed. It is cool for me because I get veneers and potentially usable stock and veneer. Me too. In fact, if there's any chance at all that I can get it through the bandsaw and end up with a usable slice, I'll give it a shot. I can't bring myself to throw away any scrap of wood that's big enough to make even a truss rod cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desopolis Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 I guess in my head I just remember shooting a piece of wood across the shop at high speed when the large belt sander I was working on took hold and yanked the piece from my hand.. I keep seeing these and think that the drum would do simmilar.. Good to know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 I just got my regular Woodcraft flier....Performax 16-32 on sale for $850. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted March 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 Just got it from them for that minus 10%, minus $25 rebate. Couldn't pass it up. Unfortunately, and they didn't tell me this when I paid for it over the phone, it's been backordered for three weeks. (I would have bought it anyway.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrentis Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 (edited) I can't bring myself to throw away any scrap of wood that's big enough to make even a truss rod cover. You and me both. I've a box now of small and midsize scraps that I can barely slide around. Its actually quite useful when you want to test finishes or test mounting holes sizes, like for bridge posts or tuners, make clamping cauls or sanding blocks or a million other reasons, plus like you said you can make truss covers, pickup rings, small cavity covers, and even inlays. I find its worth saving the stuff, even the little bits. The only thing that scares me is the thought of ten years from now, when that box I have turns into a small mountain of wood. I guess I could always unload some to guys at Rockler as pen blanks and such, they'd probably grab some of it up, I always thought that was a great suggestion from another thread, I think maybe mike suggested the idea. J Edited March 4, 2008 by jmrentis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted March 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2008 So, the sander I was supposed to be able to pick up two weeks ago, was actually backordered but it came in today and I finally got it home and set it up. It seems to be saying "buy me some dust collection, and infeed and outfeed tables!" I've officially run out of space for tools, now, I think. Anyway, first impressions: I'm glad I held out for the 16/32. The drum wasn't adjusted perfectly parallel to the table from the factory. It was a little bit of a fussy procedure to get it adjusted... took me a half hour or so. The belt tracking took some adjustment too. And the adjustment doesn't seem to work exactly as it's explained in the manual. The tracking adjustment wrenches are captive to the screws that run through the nuts they adjust. Nice touch; I tend to lose small parts. They seem to have beefed up at least some of the bolts and nuts. Several of them are larger than the manual says they are. Definitely, definitely, need good dust collection, as was said earlier in the thread. The sander didn't come with a 2.5" adapter for a big shop vac, but the manual mentions that one is available. I don't know how much good a shop vac would do anyway. I'm going to have to buy a dust collector. I thought the garage door opener circuit was a 20 amp circuit, but it's 15 amps, as is the other circuit in the garage. The sander seemed to do fine on a 15 amp circuit by itself, but I only ran a couple small pieces through it. I bet it really needs 20 amps for, say, a body blank or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted March 16, 2008 Report Share Posted March 16, 2008 I doubt very much it needs 20 amps, honestly. Then again, I'm on 220v here, so there draw might be different (more volts, less amps needed), but I've run thick, wide stock, heavy passes, though the sander with the dust collector on the same circuit, and I've never, ever managed to make the breaker flip. I'll also note that while I have the extension tables (I have the Ryobi-type version, which looks like it has a LOT more vertical capacity than this unit. Not sure that's useful, though, but anyway), I haven't installed them. Firstly because the stuff I've put through it (nothing longer than guitar side, to date, so 32") does fine with just hand support on infeed and outfeed, and also because my shop is even tinier than yours and the machine wouldn't fit if I mounted the tables Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrentis Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 (edited) Delta Dust Collector sale;Rockler I don't know how much juice you need, but this guy is on sale, for what seems like a fairly decent discount at least for Rockler it does. Plus its free shipping for the next week or so. May be worth a look, also all the connectors and hosing seems to be on sale, it shows some at the bottom of the page. Not sure if this is what you're looking for, but seems like something that could work. Best of luck Rick. J PS: Your inbox is full again, lol. Edited March 17, 2008 by jmrentis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 Give it a go on a 15 amp circuit you will most likely be just fine. The overload on the unit will probably trip before your circuit breaker. Infeed and outfeed tables are really handy. Be sure though the tables are not set too high though as they can push the wood up and screw up the sanding. I use the table to catch and rest the material on. You could easily make tables that would be as if not more functional than stock(I have stock tables, but would make my own if I didn't have these already). Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted March 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 Thanks, jmrentis. I checked that out earlier (got the e-mail), and it's a good price. They tack on a $50 "special shipping charge" but $229 shipped is still a good price. I'm still shopping around...there were a bunch of dust collector reviews in one of the woodworking mags recently; I'll have to head to the bookstore and re-read the article. Good to know 15 amps will probably be okay, Rich. I didn't fancy the idea of running another line in there. And I'll consider building the tables. I'd hate to shell out $100 on a couple pieces of sheet metal anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrentis Posted March 17, 2008 Report Share Posted March 17, 2008 (edited) Ouch, yeah I didn't see that! Too bad you don't have one locally! I spend more time at Rockler just walking around dreaming about everything I want. As you said it probably still a good deal since its such a good price plus no regular shipping charge. Let us know what you decide upon! Congrats on the sander, killer machine. J Edited March 17, 2008 by jmrentis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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