Replies

1. 
   8quarter | Oct 05, 2005 05:05am | #1

   Forget the drum sanders. its a crap shoot if you get one that is any good. i would put my money on the 15" open end wide belt like sunhill and some others sell. I've used the Sunhill and it is sweet. And they got real people to talk to you :)

1. 
   PlaneWood | Oct 05, 2005 05:58pm | #2

   I find a drum sander to be quite useful for thicknessing smaller stuff.  For long wide boards, no.  With what I do, a drum sander is the best choice in my opinion.  I rarely use mine for anything over 12" long or 6" wide.  For general woodworking I would definitely pick a wide belt sander if I had the money. 

   Like anything else, your tools need to be matched to what your doing. 

   PlaneWood by Mike_in_Katy (maker of fine sawdust!)PlaneWood

2. 
   JeffHeath | Oct 06, 2005 02:09am | #3

   guru

   I agree with Planewood.  I have an open ended Performax drum sander.  I don't use it for long boards, but I resaw alot of my own veneer, and it's great for sanding off the bandsaw marks down to 3/32's or so.  Also, when you have a lot of small parts for a job, they really save a lot of time. 

   Jeff