"Leuf" wrote in message
...
On 4 May 2007 18:45:54 -0700, marc rosen wrote:

Hello All,
I just acquired a drum sander and was looking over the available grits
and applications in the owners manual. My goal was to use it mostly
for finish sanding with occassional rough sanding or glue line
removal. I have thickness planer too and a sampling of hand held
sanders from over the years. So I guess my question is ; What do you
use you drum sander for and what grit wraps are you using the most?
(My current project is a cherry bed and a dining room table, chairs
to follow).
Thanks in advance for your opinions and suggestions.

My experience on my shop-built drum sander is that it leaves a worse
finish than the same grit done just about any other way, and if you
use anything really coarse on it you'll have a heck of a time getting
the scratches out. I've also found that fine grits don't seem to last
too long on the drum. So I tend to use between 100-150. 100 seems to
be the best for me as far as stock removal, paper life, and a surface
that I can work with. I will sometimes take a couple passes at 150
after, but usually I go straight to the ROS after that. I will often
even back up one grit just to make sure I get all the scratches the
drum sander made. You may get different results on a "real" drum
sander.

Sadly no; my 16-32 does the same.
I use it mainly on glued up panels; things I would put though a 20" planer
if I had one.
I used to use 80 grit and it was okay but slow, so I switched to 60 grit.
Getting the 60 grit lines out is so much work that it is easier to use the
80 grit even though it takes longer. I suppose it would work to do 60 and
then 80 grits, but changing the paper over takes too long for a couple
panels.
There is no such thing as a free lunch.