Small drum/thickness sanders

[amowry]

Does anyone have experience with the smaller drum sanders available on the market? The ones in particular that I'm looking at are the Performax 16-32 and the Grizzly 12". There is also a Shop Fox 12" that is identical to the Grizzly but seems to sell for a bit less. The Performax is more expensive (although I'm looking at a used one), but being an open-ended one it may be susceptible to flex. I've heard a few folks complain about that, as well as the difficulty of changing sandpaper on that one. The Grizzly uses hook and loop paper, which I assume is a bit more expensive. I wouldn't be putting it to hard use, so I'm not terribly concerned about longevity, but clearly I don't want something that falls apart when I look at it funny.

I'd appreciate any thoughts!

[thistle3585]

I had a Performax 16-32 and it started to sag over a period of time. I used in in my woodworking business, so it was used almost daily to sand hardwood panels. I sold it after about 3 years because I could no longer adjust the sag out of it. There wasn't a tremendous amount of sag but enough. I would bet that it would serve your needs for some time. I didn't think the Grizzly sanders used hook and loop paper. I am currently looking at a Grizzly.

[amowry]

Thanks-- I'm actually looking at a used 16-32, so it's possible it has already sagged.

I think only the smallest Grizzly uses hook and loop. At first it turned me off because I wasn't sure if it would introduce inaccuracy, but it sounds as though there are some very nice sanders out there that use hook and loop, and I haven't heard of any problems.

[Chris Baird]

I have a 16/32 performax. The sander requires a "tune up" about once a month. That involves paralleling the drum to the table. It does get out of whack, but, I've always been able to get it back in position and have it stay that way for about a month. It is easy to change the paper.
I've always had problems with the conveyor belt on mine. It is really difficult to get it to track right. I've had to take about an inch off the conveyor belt so that it can creep a bit without immeditately tearing itself apart. It will creep about an inch for every 10 mins its on. I've tried every adjustment and can't fix the problem. This is likely a relatively isolated problem as others haven't reported the same issue.

[amowry]

Chris, I was actually browsing some other forums, and I saw several accounts of the problem that you describe. It may be fairly widespread.

[Jim Hilburn]

I just came out of the shop where I was using the Performax to thickness some rib stock and saw this thread. Maybe I got lucky but mine always tracks perfectly. I never think about it. I did get a set of ceramic tracking guides when I bought it and maybe that's the secret.
This seems to be all the sander you could possibly need in a luthiers shop.

[thistle3585]

A friend of mine, who builds guitars, has been using a 10" tabletop drum sander for two years without complaint. I think a Performax unit is in the $500 range. I think I'd be wary of a used one.

[amowry]

I was condsidering the 10", but I think I'd like something a hair bigger, so I can put a mandolin plate through every once in a while. A local store carries the 10", and it seemed to have a little more flex than I would like to see.

[Jim Hilburn]

After reading the comments about sag I figured I better check mine after about 5 years. It's dead on.
Andrew, if you run your rim through make sure its fully supported in a mold both inside and out. the first time I tried it with nothing supporting the inside all went well till it got to the tail block. It tilted and basically exploded, ripping the sides in two.

[amowry]

Yikes! Thanks for the tip, Jim.

[David Newton]

I have the Grizzly 12 baby, for about 6 months now. I like it ok. I saw the shop fox last week, it looks identical. It came ready to go out of the box, as far as setup goes. There is some small amount of inaccuracy, probably due to the hook and loop system. As soon as I get to the point of changing the abrasive, I'll look and see if the loops (or hooks) can be removed and PSA used. I only use it on figured stock and making binding, using a small planer for everything else.

[Mandoborg]

Andrew, have you considered building your own ?? I've built a few and the latest is a 12" that works just fine. You have to stand there and manually feed it, but i'm never much in a rush, but your numbers are increasing so i can see where a conveyor feed would be nice...... http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif) I could take some pictures of this one, but MIMF and the GAL books all have had the same basic idea. Just a thought.

Jim Combra

[amowry]

Jim, I have considered making my own, and went as far as tracking down a few parts, but lately I've been thinking that a power feed would be pretty nice. I'm definitely still considering my options, though.

[Jim Hilburn]

Your either building tools or your building mandolins. I leave the tools to the pro's.

[David Catalfamo]

check woodworkers supply , they have a benchtop jet, also Andrew if you are still interested in my gemini carver ,lets talk

[amowry]

Thanks! I think I'll have to hold off on the the Gemini, especially if I buy a sander now. I'll keep it in mind, though. I'm sure it would be another big time saver.

[Graham McDonald]

I have had a Taiwanese Performax 16/32 clone for 8 years or so , and apart from the sanding belts slipping occasionally it works fine. I shimmed the outside edge of the feed belt around .020" to level it when I got it and there is now around a .040' difference between the inside and the outside. I suppose I could re-shim it but I suspect the flex in the cantilever that holds the drum would just flex a bit more. The solution is not to try to take to much off at one time and run the piece through twice, the second time after rotating the bit of wood. One of those rubber belt cleaning sticks is very useful, especially with hardwood. Thicknessing oily Indian Rosewood is a great way to go through sanding belts very quickly

cheers

[GD Armstrong]

I've had the Performax for 6 years an have had no problems with it except for tracking of the power feed when I first got it. I think that was caused by operator error, trying to take too much off per pass. If you start building more octaves or guitars the 10 or 12 inch models will be too small.

GD