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Hello all --

I'm very close to pulling the trigger on a drum sander, and have been waffling between the Jet/Performax 10/20 and 16/32. About a month ago the 10/20 was selling for $499 plus free shipping through Amazon and Home Depot! They've since jumped back up to $579. So just now I was price comparing, and came across the Laguna 16/32 for $599, which, I believe includes the base.

Of course they make great saws, but does anyone have any info/experience with this sander?

Ken

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Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com

Ken do you have a link for info on the Laguna? I am not aware of this drum sander.

Here's the link.

http://www.lagunatools.com/platinumsander2.htm

Laguna makes good tools, although I have no experience with their Platinum Series tools, which is their lower-tier (or maybe just "price-conscious") line. I'd be surprised if they made a bad tool, though.

I agree with Todd. My Performax 16/32 has a 1.5HP and I don't think I would want less(could do with a bit more HP if anything, especially on wide sanding tasks). I would be skeptical of 1HP.

Rich

Another thought is the seemingly light build of the upper frame and the thickness adjustment. It looks like you have to loosen the knob on the outboard end and the bent metal frame (it doesn't look like a forging or casting) that the press screw adjusted is mounted to is pretty light to keep the drum exactly parallel to the feed roller. I.e., will it have problems maintaining constant thickness across the machine?

Have you seen one in person?

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Steve Walden
Aspiring Builder,
Bartlesville, OK

In addition to being perhaps underpowered the minimum height adjustment is 1/8" or .125". Although one could use a carrier board I don't have to do this with my 10-20 and I routinely take things like head plates and rosettes down to .060ish.

Interestingly, since I am not a reader of instructions and manuals..... while comparing the two I had to read the Performax specs too. Jet/Performax is calling for a minimum of 400 CFM with the 10-20. So you know that a bigger sander will need at least this much dust collection.

Be sure to consider your dust collection solution in conjunction with your drum sander selection in as much as these things really need decent duct collection or you will be replacing paper all day.

Yeah, that stamped metal bracket seems pretty suspect to me -- it would have to be removed to sand anything over 16"... The hp also seems on the low side, although hp seems to be a subjective term relative to point of origin -- I'd put a 1 hp US made Baldor motor up against a 1.5 hp Chinese motor any day of the week. That said, I couldn't confirm from the limited info on their website if this particular product is manufactured in North America or overseas.

The overall build quality of this machine seems a bit lacking to me, and considering its price, I'd bet dollars to doughnuts it's manufactured overseas.

Any thoughts on US made Performax vs. imported Performax/Jet? Forgive me if I sound prejudiced -- I'm one the most open-minded people I know, but based on many years of hands on experience with shop tools, I can honestly say that the build quality always suffers when manufacturing moves overseas. Delta/Rockwell is a perfect example, as is Powermatic.

Just my two cents.

Ken

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Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com

The Laguna seems very similiar to the Steel City 16-32 drum sander and the King 16-32 sander. The King and Steel City are surely the same manufacturer but the Laguna isnt too far removed. I wonder if they are simply different versions of the same machine. There are weight differences as well as horsepower but some other specs seem the same. It seems to me that I have seen the Steel City sander with and without the outside support bracket. Makes me think that perhaps the support was added in later models and probably didnt require being overly strong. I dont have any of these sanders but someone who does might chime in.
Warren

I like the idea of the lock-down device on the open end of the machine's gantry. I think I'll steal the idea and make a homebrew version of it for my Performax 16-32.

Cheers,
Dave F.

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Cambrian Guitars

"There goes Mister Tic-Tac out the back with some bric-brac from the knick-knack rack"