Can anyone give me some feedback??? I'm considering buying this tool in the
near future. Is it worth the $1000-$1200? Can you really do a 32 inch wide
panel without seeing a seem?

thanks

Pierre,

Delta may have fixed their problem by now but on the original model it used
a rubber cogged belt to move the bed up/down. The belt had a nasty trick of
slipping every now and then and when it did - you had to realign the top.
Not a fun task so I understand. When I got my Performax 16/32 I also had
the opportunity to play with the Delta and sure enough, the belt slipped. I
went with the Performax.

As for being able to do a 32" wide panel without seeing a seam - yes. There
is an adjustment knob that allows you to cant the drum upwards a thou or two
so when you make the two passes, the center will no be scored by the end of
the drum. A quick sanding with a ROS and that slightly high center is
brought down flat.

If you do a search on Google for "Performax" it should bring up the minor
modifications you can make to the adjustment knob and a number of
discussions covering the same question you asked.

Bob S.


"Pierre Boucher" wrote in message
...
Can anyone give me some feedback??? I'm considering buying this tool in
the
near future. Is it worth the $1000-$1200? Can you really do a 32 inch
wide
panel without seeing a seem?

thanks

I have had the 18 X 36 Delta drum sander for about 12 - 18 months. I like it
for light, medium grit, sanding jobs and I have used it a lot. It will
flatten the surface of a panel extremely flat - much more so than any other
method I have used. It will do a good job of preparing stock for final
finish sanding - I have been consistently successful in sanding up through
120 grit on most stock without any trouble and doing a finish sanding by
hand using my random orbital sander to higher grits. Since the panel is so
flat it requires only minimum sanding by hand at higher grits to have the
panel ready.

It does have some limitations. The drum will leave burn marks on stock
accessional - particularly at higher grits if much stock is being removed.
It will not remove very much wood in a single pass - It is powered with a 1
½ hp motor. I have had difficulty on several occasions in working stock that
is more than 4 or 5 inches wider than the sanding drum - The stock came out
slightly cupped.

It has consistently preformed very good on stock up to about 22 - 24 inches
wide. It will not leave a seam, when properly adjusted, on stock wider than
the sanding drum. The machine was delivered properly adjusted and has
remained in adjustment with moderate amounts of use. Based on my experience
in using my machine, I will not continue to try to get it to sand panels
that are wider than 28 - 30 inches






"Pierre Boucher" wrote in message
...
Can anyone give me some feedback??? I'm considering buying this tool in
the
near future. Is it worth the $1000-$1200? Can you really do a 32 inch
wide
panel without seeing a seem?

thanks

$1000 to $1200? I thought the 16-32 was in the $800 range.

I have this drum sander and have mixed feelings about it. I have the cog
belt drive another poster mentioned, but have had no problems with it. My
biggest issue with this machine is that it burns sandpaper so friggin' easy.
It's fine for rough sanding (80 to 120 grit), but step up to 150 or 220 and
you have to feed your stock through VERY SLOWLY and take a TINY, MINUSCULE
bite. It takes forever to run a big panel through. If you don't do this,
it will burn the sand paper so fast you won't know what hit you. One of the
reasons I bought this sander was to take raised panel doors and other wide
panels and run them through for a near-ready-for-finish sanding. Just hit
it light with the ROS afterwards and apply finish. I don't need rough
sanding - I have a planer to cut that stock down.

I'm told the Performax is guilty of this burning as well, but not as bad.

There are lots of posts on this drum sander. Just do an archive search.

My two cents.

Bob


"Pierre Boucher" wrote in message
...
Can anyone give me some feedback??? I'm considering buying this tool in
the
near future. Is it worth the $1000-$1200? Can you really do a 32 inch
wide
panel without seeing a seem?

thanks

Pierre,

A few years ago I was making considering the Delta and the Performax.
If you do a search of the archives you will find David Eisan's excellent
post comparing the two. As a result of this I went with the performax
and purchased a good used machine where David Eisan works at Federated
Machinery in London, Ontario for about $900 Canadian. I do not regret
my decision and would highly recommend the Performax.

Drum sanders are a little tricky to use but with a little experience
problems such as burning can be kept under control. The main things I
learned was take a minimum of stock off in each pass, particularly with
the finer grits. The 120 is as fine as I usually get although you can
go to 150 depending on the material. Avoid sanding at the edges of the
roller when possible and make sure the sandpaper is snug. When I change
paper I usually re-tighten the paper after using it for a minute or two.
Also, avoid wood that that is gummy.

Good luck and go with the best.

Glen Duff
------------------

Pierre Boucher wrote:

Can anyone give me some feedback??? I'm considering buying this tool in the
near future. Is it worth the $1000-$1200? Can you really do a 32 inch wide
panel without seeing a seem?

thanks

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 06:18:07 -0500, Glen Duff
wrote:

SNIP

Drum sanders are a little tricky to use but with a little experience
problems such as burning can be kept under control. The main things I
learned was take a minimum of stock off in each pass, particularly with
the finer grits. The 120 is as fine as I usually get although you can
go to 150 depending on the material. Avoid sanding at the edges of the
roller when possible and make sure the sandpaper is snug. When I change
paper I usually re-tighten the paper after using it for a minute or two.
Also, avoid wood that that is gummy.

SNIP

I don't have a particular recommendation between your choices(I have a
Ryobi and wouldn't recommend it) but I do have a couple of tips in
addition to above all of which I heartily agree with.

Get one of those big 'eraser blocks' used to clean sandpaper and
clean off the paper with it every few passes but be careful near the
ends as they are prone to tearing.

I find(other have disagreed) that higher feed speeds work better for
me and I NEVER turn height adjustment more than 1/8 turn. Also, on
final pass, send the board/panel thru a couple times and you will get
a much nicer surface.

On longer boards, I find it advantageous to apply downward pressure on
the outfeed side of the sander as the pressure rollers are very wimpy.
Don't cut panel to length, if you can avoid it, prior to sanding as
the aforementioned wimpy rollers can result in some snipe if you're
not v. careful on both infeed and outfeed sides- roller stands help
if aligned properly