At my local tool store today, I found a Delat 31-250 drum sander in the used section. It was priced at $800, and the guy offered to knock it down to $700. It was in immaculate condition, like new. Apparently, the prior user had never used it much and traded it in for the big General 20″ drum sander. So I bought it.
Once home, I started doing some research into this purchase and am concerned with what I am seeing – lots of negative reviews as well as some good ones. I don’t know whether the negative reviews come from people trying to use it as a THICKNESS PLANER. I have three days to return it if I don’t want it. I will try to get it set up tomorrow so that I can try it out, but does anyone have any experience with this unit?
Chris @ www.flairwoodworks.com
and www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
– Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. – Albert Schweitzer
Replies
I had one and it worked very well for me. I upgraded to the Shop Fox 26" dual drum sander to get the benefits of two grits in one pass, but the Delta was a trouble free machine that did a good job.
If you have difficulty raising and lowering the table drop me a note and I'll run you through how to set it up.
................................................
Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.
~ Denis Diderot
I got a used one several months ago, use it mostly for sanding down re-sawn veneers from the bandsaw. You have to be patient with it, try taking a little too much off and it grinds to a stop. And putting on new sandpaper is a pain, it has to be just the right angle and tight. Other than that I love it, saves me time and money because I used to have to drive 15 minutes to a cabinet shop and use theirs at $30 a pop. One of the woodworking mags had a great article about 6 months ago showing a bunch of tips for using drum sanders, wish I could remember which one. If I find it I'll send you the link. You also gotta make sure you have plenty of suction to remove the sawdust!
You have adressed your reply to the wrong person.
................................................
Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.~ Denis Diderot
I forgot to mention that if you get a chance to pick up the outboard inflatable drum sander attachment do so. It is very handy.
................................................
Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.
~ Denis Diderot
I've had one for a couple years and love it. always performed well and was a better deal than the performax.
I set it up, once, when i bought it and adjusted the table to within a couple thousandths parallel over its entire width. it hasn't moved on me since. i haven't experienced any of the commonly reported issues with this tool (table hard to raise / lower, cant get it parallel to drum) and assume they are either caused by a few bad units or operator error. either that or i am just lucky. whichever, it has performed great for me.
the setup / adjustment was very straightforward.
After having sold a large number of these, I am convinced that the problems were due to operator stupidity. I'ts a nice machine as you said.
................................................
Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.~ Denis Diderot
I've had mine for about 3 years now and its had no issues on its own. People will be dissapointed if they think they can use it as a jointer. I will say that if the main table gets out, it's a bear to get back in. When the movers moved me the last time the put something on the table and caused it to get out of alignment. I spent several hours getting it back cutting flat. I would reccomend putting casters on yours if you have not already. I caught woodcraft with a sale on the good locking ones, and put them on. It makes it nice to slide around. I sure hope you have a DC, you will fill up your lungs if you don't.
The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.' - Renaldus Magnus
Thanks to all for the feedback. It seems that the negative reviews came from those expecting too much from it (planer). I set it up yesterday and it took a while to get the belt to track. In the end, the left side needed to be very loose and the right side tight. But it tracks well. I will need to adjust the height, as it sands a little deeper at the left. I will be keeping it. I have a pretty good dust collector and it works well with the sander. I haven't quite figured out mobility yet. I may drop it on castors or mount it on slides to pull out from a cabinet. I don't anticipate using it a lot, but know I will really be glad I have it when I need it. I've already been asked how much I'd charge per hour for use.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled