Replies

1. 
   ted | May 23, 2009 08:14pm | #1

   I had a big open end Performax back in 1990 or so. I was never really happy with it. I tried all sort of adjustment and gerry-rigging to get that cantilever from drooping and was never able to take it out. Flash forward six years later when I was working at Woodsmith Magazine and they had a smaller open-ended Performax and same issues with the open end sagging a bit causing it to take a bigger cut on one side. Not a huge amount but enough to bug those of us that are anal about such things.

1. 
   weelis | May 23, 2009 10:14pm | #3

   Ted, What drum sander do u use now?

1. 
   ted | May 24, 2009 12:10am | #5

   Don't use a drum sander now. I have a wide belt sander in the shop I work at that I can use.

2. 
   Cincinnati | May 23, 2009 08:52pm | #2

   My experience is with a Performax 16/32 plus. Opposite to Ted's experience, I found it very easy to set up and adjust. I used dial calipers to measure the left to right thickness of a 10" board to within .0025 and made no attempt to get any closer. You actually want about 0.005 thicker at the center to assure there is no edge marks when sanding 16" to 32" wide material.

   Look at this post:

   http://forums.taunton.com/n/mb/message.asp?webtag=fw-knots&msg=46753.15

   Greg

   •••••••

   Exo 35:30-35

3. 
   mrbird90 | May 23, 2009 11:59pm | #4

   I have the Performax 16/32 and don't know how I got along without it. It is not a thickness planer but a finish sander. You can only take a 1/64" per pass but it does a great job. A 14 " wide board sanded the other day was within .005' from side to side. Go for it.

4. 
   kreuzie | May 24, 2009 05:04am | #6

   I own a Shop Fox 26" double drum sander (non-oscillating).

   .002" difference between left and right ends.

   kreuzie

   
   

   ---

   Edited 5/23/2009 10:06 pm ET by kreuzie

5. 
   frenchy | May 25, 2009 04:56pm | #7

   I have the Grizzly G048 18" open end drum sander and it works fine once you understand it's limits..

     First

    It's not a planner.  Forget any idea of removing a large amount of material.

    Second

   Patience, to do a really great job you need to start coarse and work your way to fine.. That will require changing sanding belts often.  so plan on doing all the coarse work first follwed by finer and finer sanding strips  .  you'll need a place to hang up the used strips since they will still be in good shape when removed and they are too expensive to simply throw away.

     Third

    Long pieces will need infeed and out feed tables. 

    Fourth

     Some woods simply are not good when run through a drum sander..  Maple for example is extremely easy to burn and once burned it will continue to transfer that burn from piece to piece.  Best practice I've found is to remove that belt, replace it with another and use it the next time I sand a more forgiving wood like oak.

   Then remember to reduce the amount of material you are attempting to sand and increase the feed speed a lot