Delta Drum Sander Use

Folks -

I've had the Delta Drum Sander for about 3 years now, and have been very happy with it, within the limitations of how the machine should be used... I use it for sanding figured woods and thin work, relying on my planer for rough dimensioning.

I have found that only a very small amount of stock can be taken off at a time, which is okay. But I needed some *very* thin stock yesterday, for some banding and.... wow! I had a whole mess of strips of maple and walnut to sand down and I was able to consistently get them down to 1/64th, perhaps a little less, and the thicknessing was consistent across the width of the drum. I was surprised that I was able to take them down that far, have the thickness be accurate (within a few thousandths) across the drum and be able to REPEAT the process so that all of the stock was of a consistent thickness. I didn't loose ONE piece of stock and had no problems at all with tear out, snipe or the strips being "sucked" into the drum and ruined.

I haven't had to do a lick of maintenence to the machine since I got it, other than to blow the motor out and keep it clean.

I've been happy with the sander since I got it. Yesterday's experience only confirms my opinion.

YMMV,

John Moorhead

Same experience here. I've taken up marquetry lately and have been using the Delta to create veneers. I resaw the wood and then sand it down to

3/64. I find it easier to work with the thicker veneers than the commercial stuff that is typically 1/40 to 1/50 of an inch. I have sanded some stock down to 1/50th to match the commercial veneer with no problem at all.

I did have to do some adjusting of the table when I first got it to get it parallel to the sanding head. I haven't had to adjust it since.

With that said, I'm not completely satisfied with the way it handles surfacing thicker figured material. The motor seems to be a bit under powered and if I'm not careful, I get the head to stall or the wood to burn.

I would seriously consider the Performax next time when this one gives up the ghost if it can handle the veneer sanding the way the Delta does.

Jeff Zahnle

john moorhead wrote: