More drum sander questions.

[brianlanning]

I asked some questions in another thread earlier today, but I was a late arriver to the thread. So I'm posting them again (with more questions) so that more people may see them. I hope this doesn't start a holy war. :-)

What is the advantage to having dual drums? Is it worth the extra expense and setup time?

Do you put the same grit on both drums, or different grits?

What would you say is the difference between a finish sander and a thickness sander? Could one machine be both or are they mutually exclusive?

So on a thickness sander, what is the finest grit sandpaper you use?

How critical is a variable speed belt?

Flat drum with spring clips or velcro?

What happens to the velcro type belts when they heat/stretch?

At what point is the machine too big for a typical home shop dust collector (say 1200 cfm)?

Should the drum spin in the direction of board movement or against it?

And lastly, is there a consensus on the goodness or badness of the grizzly G1066R & Z?

tia brian

[Leon]

I am not for sure on this but if you put a finer grit on the follower drum you make half as many passes and finish in half the time.

See above.

A finish sander can be used in the same direction as the grain. A thickness sander cannot always be used in the same direction as the grain particularily when sanding rails and stile panels.

With out it you may stall the drum.

I would be leary of Velcro. IMHO the cushy backing may deliver inconsistant results.

[bf]

Two drums is less sanding time. I just bought a dual drum, haven't had a chance to use it yet (I need to rearrange my shop to fit it in). The second drum has it's own height adjust relative to the first drum. So you could put 60 grit on both drums to start if you want, then you could do

80/120 after you were done with the 60.

I've used up to 150 .. I think they sell 220 girt (and maybe even finer). To me, it's not worth it to sand down to the real fine grits.

It's very nice.. If you start to feed in a piece and you feel you've taken too big of a "bite", it's nice to be able to slow the drum down. It's also nice to be able to speed the belt up on narrow pieces.

Never used Velcro. The clips work great and can be changed fast.

The one I just got says 1200 is the minimum.. that's the cfm I have also, and I might have to upgrade. Mine has two DC ports on it. For a point of reference, the one I just got is the Performax 37" wide. (got a deal on a used one).

Against it. If it spun with it, wouldn't it tend to want to fling the board forward? Although I am not 100% positive, as I never paid attention.

[Earl Creel]

(SNIP)

For me no. If you have large quantities of the same material to sand it may be practical but too much trouble to wrap and adjust the second drum for small batches. I have completely disconnected the back drum on my old Kuster by installing a shorter belt that only goes from the motor pulley to the front drum. The belt now makes contact around 180 degrees of both pulleys and belt slippage even with heavy cuts is eliminated. Earl Creel