advise on sanding alder panels.

Thanks Bob,

Well I haven't read any good reviews on the woodtek, but there is barely anything out there on it. It has been on the market since the early 90's - I read some about it in an "American Woodworker" article that can be found online, they say very little, but score it below the performax. The Woodtek is a 220 18 amp unit and that is a fair bit more motor that the 16-32 performax. They take up about the same amount of space.

Last night I sat with a tape measure and imagined a 10 feet a minute feed rate. I could see sending a few pieces at a time through a machine, but I wouldn't want that rate to go a whole hell of a lot slower that 10 fpm, as I think I would fall asleep. It would seem that I would be less likely to slow the rate down on the woodtek.

The performax cannot accept my 3.5" thick legs either, (though thats only 2% of my sanding needs). While I am not extremely excited about a rebuilt machine, it doesn't scare me a whole lot. I have had a very good working relationship with woodworker supply, their warrantee calms my concerns some.

In regards to a rebuilt performax, no I haven't found one, but that doesn't speak volumes of their quality to me. In fact, I am finding it difficult to locate any one of my three sanding machines options on the used market (in the seattle/portland area) Even the enormous craigslist falls short. Looks like its new/rebuilt for me. I have been looking for weeks.

I have only read good things regarding the performax, I like them, but that woodtek still appears to be more machine. There is a five year old fine woodworking artile that is very uncritical, and says all the machines tested sand very well. They did not test the woodtek. What I would love to know is which machine (between the woodtek and performax) can make the smoothest surface with the least amount of final cleanup on an alder board. Most people speak of stopping at 150, I would love to go up to 180, or hell 220, and just lightly hit everything with a sanding block. But I fear one or both of these machine have a bit of chatter that makes for a fair bit of post sander cleanup. If I need to use both 150, and 220 to clean up my drum sander, I ain't buying one. (some have mentioned this)

Does anyone have a recent one of those fine woodworking tool guides sitting around? What does it say?

Tor

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tor
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Tor,

You make some good points and maybe someone in the group has some hands-on experience with the Woodtek you're considering. I've used both the Delta and the Performax (which I have) but never had any time on a Woodtek.

One thing you need to know about sanders in this class. You still need to do the finish sanding either by hand or with a ROS. These drum sanders use a rotating drum, meaning they leave straight line striations on your stock and are noticeable no matter what grit you use. Be extremely careful going above 150 grit as it's easy to burn and burnish the wood faster than you can blink. That's what others meant about light passes. About the most I take off in one pass is 1/8th of a turn (1 turn = 1/16") for fine grit rolls.

From what you have stated so far - you're not using it to plane rough stock (i.e. use 36 to 80 grit) where you can crank it down and remove more stock. I don't care if the Woodtek has a 10hp motor, when you're using fine grit you'll just be touching the surface and that 3hp motor isn't doing you any better than a smaller motor. So from what I see, if you need more than 3" height adjustment, then get the Woodtek or even have a look at the Delta. I beleive there drum sander has been modified so as to overcome the table problem (belt slips on raising/lowering table) on the earlier models. I'm not positive but I think that does more than 3" and the table moves up and down versus the drum.

Whichever you end up with be sure to buy extra rolls of paper to get thru the first weeks learning curve. Cheap paper will not save you any money so get the best and do not be impatient with the feed rate and your paper will last. Also get a big gummy eraser for cleaning the paper and do it often. After you waste the first $50 worth of paper - you'll beleive me. And don't forget to get a good ROS and plan on using 180, 220 and 320 (if needed) on that to do the finish sanding.

Bob S.

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Bob S

Bob,

Thanks for the time. You are painting a good picture of what I can expect. A shop here in town sells the performax 16 and it's got a few rebates going on right now. I like it the most, I just don't want to kill it. I appreciate the description of how you sand. That clarity was what I was needing.

I am still very open to anyone with experience with the woodtek 13 wide belt sander. In particular, how well it handles that sensitive place where one uses finer grit papers.

thanks again Bob,

tor

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tor

One thing I may not have made clear. You want to feed the stock at the fastest rate (10fpm) on the Performax to minimize the potential for burning. To give you an idea of how light you'll be adjusting the height of the drum - with both motors off, place the stock under the drum and lower the drum while spinning it by hand. Lower it until it will not spin by hand and stop. Now back off (raise the drum) until you can again spin the drum - it will be rubbing on the stocking. Remove the stock, now start both motors, feed the stock in at a slight angle and let it go thru. Without making any adjustments, flip the stock and put it thru.

Now take a pencil and draw a couple of lines (one on each side of stock) and feed it thru again - both sides. If you adjusted the drum properly (light touch) you should still be able to see the pencil line on about 90% of the stock. Since you haven't tweaked the settings yet or know the secret handshake for minimizing snipe (yes - snipe does happen on a drum sander). Keep in mind that the drum and paper will warm up with use. You may have to tighten the roll after a bit of use. So be aware that as the paper and roll warm up, any resins in the stock will cause instant loading up of the paper and a long burn streak/s will occur on the stock followed by a loud "Ah Sheeeeeeeeet.....!". Can't overemphasis it enough - light passes, 1/8th turn max on drum height adjuster or pay the piper. You will anyway......;-)

When you get your Performax, come on back and ask how it's to be setup. There's a couple of minor tweaks and a very small modification you can make to the head adjustment which makes life a bit easier. If you get the WoodTek, hopefully somebody here can offer some advice but at the moment, no one is jumping in and saying anything about a Woodtek - have you noticed?

Unless you have some reviews or others saying it's a good machine I wouldn't let a 3hp chiwanese motor be the decision maker. Get your hands on one or at least make an agreement with the store you deal with about returning it if you don't like it (and watch the restocking fee's).

Bob S.

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Bob S

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