drum sander advice needed

[pviser]

Hi Guys,
I'm getting tired of leaving swirl marks from my 21 X 3 belt sander. Therefore, I'm now in the market for a drum sander. The Jet oscillating 22" drum sander seems like a good choice. While I'd love to have a monster 5 HP Powermatic wide belt sander, I have to be practical. All I really want to do is handle final sanding after planing, then add no more than touchup with the ROS. Please give me some advice on this.
Thanks,
Paul

 

[Bill Clemmons]

"Final" sanding will depend on the grit you use in your drum sander. I have the dual drum Performax and use 80 on the front roller and 120 on the back roller. I tend to think of it as a thickness sander rather than a finish sander. It's great for bringing a board to it's final thickness and removing the marks left by my planer. But it still has a fair amount of scratches in the wood that have to be removed by sanding.

I usually go from the drum sander to a ROS w/ 120 grit, then proceed up through the grits until I get the surface I want.

One suggestion for using a drum sander: take very small bites on each pass or you'll burn the wood and ruin your paper. I usually advance mine 1/8 of a turn each time.

Bill

 

[pviser]

thank you for your very specific advice

 

[Bas]

+1 on what Bill said. I have the JET 16/32 drum sander and it's ideal for sanding doors, panels, final thicknessing of small parts etc. You still need a lot of work with the ROS to remove all the scratches, but all the heavy lifting (e.g. removing a big ridge because you overtightened the clamp...) is done by the drum sander.

 

[scsmith42]

I'll add this - buy as much HP as you can afford, and if there is any way to get a WBS instead of a drum you'll be glad that you did.

The main "practical" advantage to a WBS over a drum is that it is much easier and faster to change grits. I run from 24 grit all the way up to 400 grit in mine, and it beats the heck out of hand sanding.

 

[pviser]

thanks guys

 

[Bill Clemmons]

I'll second what Scott said. If I had it to do over I'd try to get a wide belt sander for the ease of changing belts. W/ the drums like I have, you dont' change the grits on a whim. :nah:

Bill