I need to replace my current sander and are looking at these two
offerings by Steel City. The DD sander looks like many others on the
market while the wide-belt unit appears to be in a class of it's own
at it's price point. Has anyone had any experience with either
unit. Or a general comment on wide belt vs drum sanders. Thanks, JG

http://www.steelcitytoolworks.com/pr...0&tool=5522 5

wrote:

I need to replace my current sander and are looking at these two
offerings by Steel City. The DD sander looks like many others on the
market while the wide-belt unit appears to be in a class of it's own
at it's price point. Has anyone had any experience with either
unit. Or a general comment on wide belt vs drum sanders.

IMHO, drum sanders designed for the home market are purely toys when
compared to a commercial unit.

Have never considered a home drum sander when for less than $30, you can get
a lot of tops sanded.($26/15 min, then $1/min)

The guy I use has a 48" wide, 75HP machine, just to give you an idea.

Lew

On Sun, 25 Nov 2007 11:59:06 -0800, "Lew Hodgett"
wrote:


IMHO, drum sanders designed for the home market are purely toys when
compared to a commercial unit.

Based on specs you're right.

However, I use my Performax 22/44 on early every project. I normally
keep it loaded with 120 grit, but have gone down to 36 for
thicknessing figured woods.

I'll normally use the 22/44 and 120 for the last planer pass (2 passes
on the sander), followed by a Veritas #4 1/2 for furniture or a 120 &
150 grit ROS for trim. For figured woods and veneer, I'll go
36-50-60-80-120-150 on the 22/44, followed by a scraping plane.

I am truly blown away with the use the thing gets.

Based on specs you're right.

However, I use my Performax 22/44 on early every project. I normally
keep it loaded with 120 grit, but have gone down to 36 for
thicknessing figured woods.

I'll normally use the 22/44 and 120 for the last planer pass (2 passes
on the sander), followed by a Veritas #4 1/2 for furniture or a 120 &
150 grit ROS for trim. For figured woods and veneer, I'll go
36-50-60-80-120-150 on the 22/44, followed by a scraping plane.

I am truly blown away with the use the thing gets.

I'll agree, I have the 22/44 also and use up to 180 on it. I am going
straight from the planer to the 180 on hard maple on a couple of higher end
jewelry boxes that I am building. I have 448 1/2" wide dado's that need to
have a perfect fit. I cut the slide pieces to fit those dado's on the TS to
,"close" and use the drum sander to perfect the fit.

I like my Woodmaster 3875. Picked it up from a cabinet shop that went
under, very very inexpensive. It is a 37" drum sander that works nothing
short of fantastic, easy sandpaper change and easy to use controls.

Jon
wrote in message
...
I need to replace my current sander and are looking at these two
offerings by Steel City. The DD sander looks like many others on the
market while the wide-belt unit appears to be in a class of it's own
at it's price point. Has anyone had any experience with either
unit. Or a general comment on wide belt vs drum sanders. Thanks, JG

http://www.steelcitytoolworks.com/pr...0&tool=5522 5

I actually haven't used the larger open sided units like this but have
used the Performax\Delta style. I think they are OK for material up to
the belt width but trying to feed wider material is sketchy. I suppose
these larger units suggest the same method of having the outside
(free) side of the unit slightly higher (a few thousandths) so when
you send a wider part back through for a second pass you don't get a
cut line but rather leave a very small ridge. I was just never happy
with the concept. I could get it to work OK but I always knew I was
introducing some inaccuracy into my work.Everything I do is to try and
get flat square cuts so everything squares up nicely during assembly.
I just didn't like to have every piece of material slightly out of
square. I sand everything before I start my final milling and if the
sander is slightly high on the outside I am sanding out of square.

At the AWFS show this year I looked at every mid-sized double drun
sander on the floor. I came away with the best impression fo the Shop
Fox 24 or 26" (can't recall exact size). It seemed like the best value
at 5hp and easy access and good attachment for the sand paper and
priced around $2k. I don't know how much these open side Steel City
units are but if about the same, I would surely go with a double drum.

BW


On Nov 25, 3:17 am, wrote:
I need to replace my current sander and are looking at these two
offerings by Steel City. The DD sander looks like many others on the
market while the wide-belt unit appears to be in a class of it's own
at it's price point. Has anyone had any experience with either
unit. Or a general comment on wide belt vs drum sanders. Thanks, JG

http://www.steelcitytoolworks.com/pr...ction=2&catego...

lookie:

http://www.woodweb.com/exchanges/mac...sts/417081.htm

have a good day, woodstuff

Wow, super deal. Supermax is a great company. I thoink the original
guy sold the technology and then bought back the name or something
like that. Wish I had the bucks right now, that isn't too far away.
I'll have to think about it real hard.


On Nov 26, 12:39 pm, "woodstuff" wrote:
lookie:

http://www.woodweb.com/exchanges/mac...sts/417081.htm

have a good day, woodstuff

"SonomaProducts.com" wrote in message:
| Wow, super deal. Supermax is a great company. I thoink the original
| guy sold the technology and then bought back the name or something
| like that. Wish I had the bucks right now, that isn't too far away.
| I'll have to think about it real hard.
|
I met the guy (weak mind and can't remember his name) who sold and got back
the designs. Said he didn't like the way that the product was being made by
Jet or whoever. He was at a show at Louis & Co. in Grand Prarie, TX. Nice
guy, machine does good. Wish I had one for me. I am looking for a wide
belt (single) that I can afford, maybe $1000-1500, maybe a little more.
btw, as of now the ad for the Supermax has been pulled.

have a good day, woodstuff

oops! I was wrong (first time ever!)

The ad is still there for the Supermax. I would grab it today if it were
closer to Texas...

have a good day, woodstuff

Yeah, I had to change the url to end in html before it would open. I
suppose some browsers are smart enough to do that on their own.


On Nov 26, 3:36 pm, "woodstuff" wrote:
"SonomaProducts.com" wrote in message:

| Wow, super deal. Supermax is a great company. I thoink the original
| guy sold the technology and then bought back the name or something
| like that. Wish I had the bucks right now, that isn't too far away.
| I'll have to think about it real hard.
|
I met the guy (weak mind and can't remember his name) who sold and got back
the designs. Said he didn't like the way that the product was being made by
Jet or whoever. He was at a show at Louis & Co. in Grand Prarie, TX. Nice
guy, machine does good. Wish I had one for me. I am looking for a wide
belt (single) that I can afford, maybe $1000-1500, maybe a little more.
btw, as of now the ad for the Supermax has been pulled.

have a good day, woodstuff

You had to do that post didn't you. After waking up a few nights in a
row dreaming about that Supermax for such a great price... I bought
it!

I'll pick it up this weekend.

BW

On Nov 26, 12:39 pm, "woodstuff" wrote:
lookie:

http://www.woodweb.com/exchanges/mac...sts/417081.htm

have a good day, woodstuff