Official Luthiers Forum!

well I bought a performax 16 32 sander ( used), not what I wanted to start with , but I realy am not set up to plant a 500 lb beast in my house at this time so....it showed very little use .. I set it up and made some cuts with it to test it, and it was height cutting way off from the left to the right . so what I did was make a sled for it > I bought a piece of malamine from home cheapo, cut it down to 15" wide , kept sending it through the sander in the same direction, until it was cut all the way accross , which took 6-8 1/8 turns of the handle . so now my sled top is parralell to the sanding drum, and as long as I send the sled through with the same orientation each time , it should sand very close to level. I am wondering though if they are like this new ? or if maybe this one took a spill? Jody

Mine came from the factory in almost perfect alignment, only being about .004 off from side to side...

Then,

My nephew came over to work on a table and hogged several pieces of spaulted maple through it, trying to take 1/4" at a time... off went the settings. Took me 2 tries to get it back in line again using 1" steel blocks placed on each side of the drum and sitting on the belt. Now I am back to around .004 to .006 off again, which is acceptable.

At some point in life I will replace the 16/32 with a drum sander that has stable sides and not a cantelevered system. For now, it is suiting my needs with a little care taken not to hog off too much at once.

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Reguards,

Ken H

The Performax is designed to be adjusted to level. Look for the four bolts that fix the motor and drum, and the adjusment screw with the black handle (it is on the switch and converyor control side, below the motor).

Peace,Rich

P.S. If the owners manual didn't come with it, maybe you could download one from the manufacturers site.

My 16/32 was about .030 out (side to side) for sanding tops/bottoms when new 6 months ago.
That's a lot. I shimmed out the 2 lower drum mounting bolts and I am now only .005 out. I work around that by flipping the pieces around so both sides are same leaving the center about .003 thicker. This is a very small amount and a slightly thicker center is probably a good thing for tops.

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Rick Hubka
Chemainus BC Canada

You can usually get these back into alignment fairly quickly using a few different methods. I would try and download the manual and give it a shot. A sled is a nice idea, though if it works well for you. It prevents the drum from eating up the belt when getting down to those really thin passes. Good luck.
-j.

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“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
-jack handy

Hi Jody,

I've had a 16/32 for years (since they first came out IIRC). Mine was off by over 50mil end-to-end from the factory. I found the adjuster (at the back by the motor) didn't have enough range to bring it to parallel. I ended up putting shims in the works to bring it into alignment.

One thing to pay close attention to is how tightly you wind the sandpaper onto the drum. In the early days, I'd swear that the drum was moving out of parallel all by itself. It turned out that I wasn't winding the sandpaper onto the drum tight enough, so that at one end the paper was looser than at the other. The net result was that the loose sandpaper end, under centrifugal force, sanded slightly deeper than the tightly wound end, giving me an uneven surface. Of course, I only saw this when taking off very small increments of material (about 1/128th).

Another thing not to do is to try and take off too much in one pass. This will force the drum UP at the open end and you will find yourself cursing and having to turn your work through 180 degrees and putting it through again (and again, and again, and...... ) This is something to watch for particularly if you are sanding glued-up soundboards or backs that are wider than 16" where you turn the work to sand it in two passes - be careful to only take very small cuts - it will take longer, but it's worth it in the end.

FWIW, I can't wait till I have more space and can get a 25" or bigger drum sander in my workshop....it's first on my list of tool upgrades!

HTH,
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"

I would download the manual. Here is a link. They are .pdf files. http://www.wmhtoolgroup.com/
Like Rich has stated that sander is designed with adjustments. A sled sanded to match the slope of the drum is not such a good idea. Fix the problem first and then re-sand your sled or make a new one. I cover mine with sandpaper for better grip and change it when it wears out.

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thanks everyone , i appreciate your responses , and good advice. Jody

Fortunately there is no evidence that a perfectly uniform top or back is sonically superior.

The 16/32 can be very finicky. I have a love-hate relationship with mine. I swear some days it knows what I am thinking.........

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