Which Small Drum Sander?

I lost a Delta Sander (31-250) in a flood and went to replace it only to find that Delta has discontinued their drum sander line. Performex seems to have become Jet now, and Grizzly has come out with one with the movable table (like the Delta had). Has anyone had any experience with either? Or do you have another recommendation? Any experience with the Steel City Wide Belt? My shop is in my basement and I would have a problem getting a large one down the stairs unless it came apart easily. Thanks, JG

Reply to
JGS
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I have the Jet (Performax) 10-20 and really like it. I rarely do anything wider than 20 so it was a good fit for me, plus takes up minimal room in my very overcrowded shop.

I don't know if Jet cheapened them when they started to be made in Taiwan, but I do find that the drum to bed parallel adjustment needs frequent checking and reseting. Easy to do, but seems it ought to stay put better than it does. I permanently mounted it to a plywood stand and it doesn't need adjusting quite as much as when I would move it around.

Reply to
BillB

The Delta is still available unless you have some inside information.

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shopped'em about 18 months ago and was going to get the Performax 16/32. I ended up with the 22/44 Performax. The biggest turn off for me on the Delta and the styles like the Delta is the table that raises and lowers. If you use in feed or out feed tables or supports these will have to be constantly adjusted. Having said that these machines can be used in place of a thickness planer but I strongly advise against that as it is a very slow process. Use the machine for sneaking up on a thickness and to sand a surface flat. If you don't thickness sand rough stock your adjustments should be minimal and your out feed and in feed supports will not be so touchy regarding height adjustments, so the style machine may be a moot point. Don't scrimp on size. Actually I was looking at the 10/20 as I mostly wanted the machine for sanding veneers that I cut on the band saw. I decided that this smallest size would perhaps be too small and thought

16/32. My wife and another 16/32 drum sander owner talked me in to the 22/44. I am very happy that I chose the larger size. I find that with the extra width I also get extra height. Extra height is great for flattening the tops and bottoms of drawers and boxes. This was especially handy when building a couple of 12 drawer jewelry chests a few months ago. I built the drawers to fit with no clearance on the top and bottom sides and used the drum sander to make the height fit perfect. The Performax came as 3 separate pieces, the base cabinet, the conveyor belt and the drum sander assembly. This makes putting the sander in a specific location relatively easy. It is still heavy in the 22/44 configuration, lots of cast iron, but 2 people can move the unassembled sander relatively easily. It probably weighs between 200-300 lbs. total. IIRC the 16/32 and 10/20 versions use a lot of aluminum and are considerably lighter weight. Buy your paper in bulk. Typically the 22/44 paper in precut 3 roll boxes cost between $8 and $10 per roll. In bulk as little as $3 per roll.
Reply to
Leon

I have the small preformax which is now jet. It works great for all my small projects. I looked at the grizzly at the time that I bought this one and decided to go with the JET. Randy

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Reply to
randyswoodshoop

. My wife and another 16/32 drum sander owner talked me in to the

Your wife talked you into a bigger toy? I must have really done something bad in my life. Lou

Reply to
Lou

I agree with Leon. The PerforMax 22/44 Pro is a great tool and well worth the extra money. Every piece of stock making up my pieces has been through the drum sander. I use it for sneaking up on final thickness to ensure uniformity accross all material. There is a side benefit for figured material. The planer will cause chip out of figured woods. The drum sander does not.

Joe......

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Reply to
Chiefwoodworker

Or his wife did.

Reply to
B A R R Y

Joining the chorus!

I knew what I wanted the machine for, but am blown away with how much use it actually gets.

Reply to
B A R R Y

Hi Leon, I was told by a local dealer that Delta has dropped the line and is just getting rid of their stock. Apparently, after they shifted production to China, issues that were sometimes annoying on the US made machines became a source for a never ending stream of complaints.

As to the Performax, do you have the standard model or the PRO unit? Also, their pricing seems a bit strange. Any idea why the deluxe model PRO is cheaper than the regular PRO and if you drop down to the regular 22/44 the unit with an enclosed cabinet is cheaper that one with an open stand. Cheers, JG

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Reply to
JGS

The example I'm lauding is a 22/44 Plus.

Reply to
B A R R Y

IC

I have the standard unit with the enclosed mobile stand.

You got me on that one unless there is some old stock at old prices.

Reply to
Leon

I told them so

Frank

Reply to
Frank Boettcher

That's depressing ... but, I also contributed with two depressing mistakes today:

Read the Houston Chronicle (thrown in my yard without permission); and called/attempted to call the Social Security Administration to get them to straighten out a year missing on my benefits statement which was apparently the results of a computer snafu between them and the IR'erS.

... ruined the rest of the month in two swell foops. This entire country is increasingly nothing but shitheads, wherever you may look.

Reply to
Swingman

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