Replies

1. 
   mrbird90 | Jan 24, 2009 07:48am | #1

   I am not familiar with the Laguna but I do have the Performax 16/32 and for a one man shop it has been a great investment. I have used it extensively for the past two years and it has preformed to my expectations. I can sand boards 16" wide to a thickness variation of .008" from side to side, narrower boards even closer. I think Jet now markets the Performax sanders. Have a good dust collection in place as it creates loads of very fine dust.

   
   

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   Edited 1/23/2009 11:50 pm ET by mrbird90

2. 
   KiddervilleAcres | Jan 24, 2009 03:10pm | #2

   Hi Greg,

   As mrbird has I've got the Performax 16/32 also and yes you NEED dust collection.  I hook mine up to my Delta 1½ HP DC via a 4" x 2" connector and it gets all the dust.

   One thing though, don't expect it to hog out lots of wood, it aint gonna happen.  It does have a nice cranking mechanism for height/depth of cut that ¼ turn gets you 1/64th.  About all you want to take with it, and sometimes too much depending on what you're sanding.

   It does leave a very smooth flat surface.  I suspect that it exerts little if any pressure on the material as does a planer.  If your material is not flat you will be making many passes to get there so stock preparation is a must.

   What I first started using mine I didn't like the idea of sanding wide panels in both directions, i.e. sanding one side then reversing the piece and sanding the other.  Grain direction and perhaps being a picky old phart.  Your mileage may vary. 

   What I do is sand one side, flip the stock over end for end, sand the other half, roll it over and repeat to get all 4 parts of the piece.  PITA but I get it sanded with the grain.

   The unit also has a speed control and I have found that the faster the better.  Burns wood easily if you either go too slow or try to take too much material off in one pass.  And it will bog down and trip the breaker. 

   Oh, and that's another thing - the drum motor has a built in circuit breaker.  Took me quite a while to figger that one out.  Me the 'puter geekster and didn't read the freakin manual!  DOH! The sander has two motors, one for the drum and one for the feed roller.

   Changing belts will test your patience or at least that is my experience.  I think part of that may be that I don't use it often so the muscle memory may be suffering from sometimers. :-)

   Guess I did babble on about this, mebbe more sometimers, but I want to tell you that I really like the machine.  But I'm no expert cuz FWW aint knocking on my door to do tool reviews.

   Regards,

   Bob @ Kidderville Acres

   A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!

3. 
   chs | Jan 26, 2009 09:07pm | #3

   I too am considering a drum sander. I have looked at the Lugana, which make excellent tools (have their band saw and love it), but for the price you can get a Delta 18/36 for about the same price. 1100.00.  however I am trying to locate a used one if anyone has any leads.

1. 
   rshelly | Jan 27, 2009 04:02am | #4

   Looks to me like you can buy the Laguna direct for $795 with free shipping. A few days ago it was $745.....

2. 
   Cincinnati | Jan 28, 2009 03:05am | #5

   The Laguna will sand up to 5" material thickness. The Jet I think has a max of 3".The Laguna comes with infeed/outfeed tables and casters. The Jet has these as add-ons. This makes it a $795 Laguna verses $1260 Jet.Greg

   <!---->•••••••

   Exo 35:30-35<!---->

4. 
   JLMCDANIEL | Jan 28, 2009 05:30am | #6

   After looking at drum sanders and how they work I finally decided on http://www.stockroomsupply.com/Flat_Master.php 

    

   Jack

1. 
   BStev | Jan 28, 2009 07:10am | #7

   Jack,

   Not sure I understand why you would buy one of those over a drum sander?  Looks to require way to much fiddling and paper changing to work efficiently.

   Bob

1. 
   JLMCDANIEL | Jan 28, 2009 08:10pm | #9

   Actually it's less paper changing than a drum sander because the paper lasts longer. And paper changing is easier than most drum sanders. It doesn't heat up so you don't get glue line burn or clogged sandpaper. Dust collection is nearly not required. It sands flat because there is no roller pressure on the lumber to press out cups.

   Jack

2. 
   Cincinnati | Jan 28, 2009 03:16pm | #8

   Jack. Thanks. I have seen stockroom's products. I want a thickness sander to finish thin veneer's before glue-up. Maintaining uniform thickness is a need. The price of these units, once you add a motor is approaching the same cost as the
   Laguna drum sander,Greg

   <!---->•••••••

   Exo 35:30-35<!---->

5. 
   JeffHeath | Jan 28, 2009 09:19pm | #10

   I can strongly recommend the Performax 16/32.  I've had one in my shop for about 10 years now, and use it for alot of different things.  Paper changes are easy, less than a minute.  I use it for sanding shop cut veneers to thickness, and with a 36 grit belt, to remove grit and grime from air dried boards with gunk on them.  I saw my own lumber, and the critters around here get into the woodshed and make homes and bathrooms everywhere.  It's been perfect for all of these reasons, as well as thicknessing and flattening glue ups, etc.....

   Jeff