Official Luthiers Forum!

These polls got me thinking about tools again. Off and on I have been thinking about adding a thickness sander. Initially I thought I would build one but it seems like way too much work along with too much uncertainty about whether it would work well enough to justify the effort. Any recommendations on good choices. I have seen mixed reviews of the lower end Jet and Delta drum sanders. Some people seem to love them and others hate them. It might be operator error or expectations that are too high. Anyone have any recommendations? What has worked well and what hasn't? Do you use them for thicknessing or mainly for sanding a smooth surface?

Appreciate any input.

Thanks,

Joe Volin

Hello Joe

I have the jet 16/32 Model, which I am delighted with, There are not many days when it is not being used for something, The Jets Drum is only attached from one end, the disadvantage of this is it is not as stable as some of the more expensive fully fixed drum and twin drum models. This said set up correctly it will work to a close tolerance across the drum, The advantage of the open ended design is you can make double passes on wider boards. I used mine for all of the thicknessing tasks involved in the construction of guitars and find it works very effectively. That said you can't take massive amounts of material off in a pass I take around .3mm per pass.

For heavy thicknessing tasks it is not the tool to use and the planner thicknesser is a better tool, and probably more economical to run, the drum sander comes into its own on highly figured irregular grained woods as you do not get the chip out you get with a planner.

It short for the money I am delighted with the jet.

Bruce Dickey, who used to post here a lot, was very high on the WoodTek Machine.

It seems to be very nice for the money.

I have a Performax 16/32 and while it is "ok" I would like to have a bigger unit with a better conveyer. Plus I am not a big fan of the cantilievered design.

For just a little more you can get a bigger unit like the WoodTek.

Just my .02 worth.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

I have used a Ryobi 1632 for the last 6 or so years. It is slow but has worked well for the time. I just replaced it with the Powermatic dual drum unit. Wow! Super fast and dead on accurate. When looking for a unit I looked at the Woodteck, Grizzly and also the General units. The Powermatic was a few hundred pounds heavier, and extremely stable. It was the most expensive of the group but is very stable and powerful. Built for a lifetime of use.

   I like the grizzly http://www.grizzly.com/products/item.cfm?itemnumber=G1066R This is a dual drum sander also.

I have the Performax 10-20, because I'm pretty short on space and at the time I was also short on cash. I'm happy with it, especially after I spent some time getting it set up to take multiple passes for wider pieces.

What I have to rave about is their customer service. I had a problem with the inboard spring clip that tensions the abrasive on the drum. When I called, I asked if I could purchase an additional clip just in case it happened again so I didn't have to do without for a couple days. It turned out it would be pretty pricy to purchase one so I said to forget about it. When I got the warranty replacement part, they had paid for Sunday delivery and they included an extra spring clip at no charge.

Based on that level of customer service, if I ever get in the market for a bigger sander, Performax will be first in line.

Also make sure and include a dust collector in your budget if you don't already have one.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

I have the 24" Grizzly left over from my furniture building days...I've used the absolute "poop" (PARENTAL ADVISORY!! EXPLICIT LANGUAGE!!) out of it for 10 years or so, and it's worked superbly...the lutherie thing is a walk in the park for this sander...a 150 grit setup, and only a few passes per guitar project. I'd never be able to justify selling it and replacing it with something smaller, though I would like to have the space back in my shop! I used a Ryobi 16/32 model before I got the Grizzly, and found it to be a little anemic for furniture, but I think it'd be great for lutherie.

Larry

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

I have the Peformax 22-44 and It works good for me although I have to say that for all the sanding I do I should have bought I dual drum.

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

I've been using the Ryobi 16/32 for 10 years or so and it wirks OK. I'd like to upgrade one of these days but probably won't until it brakes or I hit the jackpot. Question for those of you with the dual drum machines, can/do you use a finer grit on the second drum?

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Thickness sanders are so usefull in guitar making that I think it's worth the money to spend on one (any model). I have an old performax supermax 25x2 dual drum that I bought used for $1200 and have never regretted it. I would say to get the widest drum sander you can afford. The ability to send oily back and side wood through the sander in one pass across the grain will save alot of gummed up paper and time in the long run. You can find good deals in used tool stores since a lot of cabinet shops are going to the large belt sanders these days.

I am absolutly sold on the General Tools. A little more expensive but the Quality is much higher than most. I have the General 2 drum 25" sander and love it.

I want this one by Grizzly.   It seems like it would do all I need for lutherie, and the price is reasonable for that sort of unit.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I've got a 24" Woodmaster drum sander. American made, very substantial,
& extremely accurate.
Within a day of setting it up the only question I kept asking myself was
why didn't I buy it 10 years earlier!
-C

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Freeborn Guitars
and home of BeauGuard©

I have the performax (and had the ryobi) 16/32.

They work, but are slow and if you sand cocobolo or brazilian be prepared to go through some belts. I have used 36 grit to take down material quickly and paper is relatively easy to change but they are slow.

Now if speed is of no concern, the 16/32's are a good value.

Don, your link brought me to Grizzly's home page, but if I know you, you are eyeing the 18" wide belt. (nice, and I was talking with someone at the symposium who was raving about his)

Hmmm...the link works fine for me...

John-O, yes you are exactly right my friend! Exactly the one I'm drooling over. My 24" Kuster sander works pretty good, but I hate using a drum, and I have to tape the paper to it. Eventually it all tries to move toward one end of the drum, and is a pain in the neck. The belts are supposed to be way easier to use.

Try this link instead.Don Williams38527.528900463

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Don,
I've had my eye on that one for a while it is very similar to the one Somogyi and Sylvan use ( if not the one). Anyway, having used Somogyi's, it is/was awlful difficult to go back to the old drum sander.

By the way I am still selling my like new ( slightly used) Delta thickness sander...$450 plus shipping comes with add on drum sander and additional belts. Paid over $1000.00 new just 2 years ago. Anyone interested?

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Dave Bland

remember...

"If it doesn't play in tune...it's just pretty wood"

I lucked into a used Performax 16/32 about a year ago. Almost perfect shape, including the infeed and outfeed tables, for about half the price of a new unit. That fit my budget.

The Performax and my bandsaw are my two most frequently used power tools. Dunno how I'd be getting along without it.

True, you can't hog off a whole lot of material in a single pass. But then, it's accurate enough where I can usually thickness my wood down to the exact thickness I want.

Cocobolo and other resinous woods tends to clog the belts, although I've found that switching to 80 grit helped quite a bit. Also Performax recommends soaking the belts in turpentine (or mineral spirits? don't remember which)to remove the caked on deposits. Haven't tried this yet, but it sounds good. :)

Best,

Michael

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Live to Play, Play to Live

Hi Michael

I have found the same with Rosewood etc. I use 80 Grit Belts for them.

I also have a belt cleaner and find this really effective for removing the resin etc.

[QUOTE=Don Williams] Hmmm...the link works fine for me...

John-O, yes you are exactly right my friend! Exactly the one I'm drooling over.

...SNIP...

Try this link instead.[/QUOTE]

I want to build one of those, because I'm never going to talk the wife into letting me buy one. This has been on my list since I left the Air Force and their 48" wide belt sander. The used ones that seem to be available use too much amperage to fit into my house. All the ones I saw on ebay used 40Hp motors.

I looked at the manual for the Grizzley, and it looks nearly identical to Jim Olsen's homemade sander. It seems they both could have copied it from the same sander.

I built my own, twenty odd inches wide. Built mostly from odds and ends and scrounged parts, I think it probably cost me ~$AU120 that's about a hundred bucks in your money. I used a 1 1/4HP motor from an old vacuum pump.

It only took around about the best part of two weekends to build, but I wasn't building it to look professional or even pretty, just to work as accurately as possible, not breakdown, and not take my arm off - which it could do in a jiffy if not properly guarded.

Seeing the $1000+ models on display in the showroom always makes me smile. Would make me smile even more if I'd spent the difference on a nice set of brazilian, but buying one wasn't an option at the time.

Like Russell I too have a Jet (perfomax) 16-32 plus. We don't have the big range of reasonably priced sanders available over in the UK, due I suppose to the limited market. The Jet has done everything I've ever asked of it, the addition of the rubber conveyer belt made an enormous difference in my opinion. I don't think I'd want a bigger cantilevered machine but have had no trouble with either setting it up or it's working at any time. For the hobby builder I can't see that a more expensive twin drum machine could be justified. The 16-32 is already $1400 over here and and the cheapest twin drum about $3400, don't even ask what wide belt sanders cost! I generally keep fine loading on the Jet as most of my course thinning I do on my dedicated drill press mounted vertical disc sander, now that's a tool I could not do without, and if it wasn't for a birthday and a kindly wife is what I would quite happily still be using for all of my thicknessing.

Colin Colin S38531.412025463

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

I have the Delta drum sander and am very pleased with it. It ain't n wide
belt sander (wish I had room for that..) but for what it is it works very
well. The one david is selling is a sweet deal. I paid $950 for mine about
1 year ago and like it very much.

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

I have the Delta drumsander as well. I had a little trouble getting the feed belt to track properly but other than that it does a great job. It's easy to change belts on, takes about 5 mins. It also came with an inflatable drum that you can attach outboard on the spindle.

All in all, it's a prett good tool for the money.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Hi Colin

Good to see you back on Dry Land, are you around for long ?