Drum Sander - 2 Rollers vs 1 Roller
- Thread starter krudawg
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I have a Performax 22/44. It has been a great sander for me as I am the original owner. I purchased it in the early 2000’s, 2002 I think? Performax was bought by Jet around that time. After they sold to Jet they started Supermax a few years later. IMO, Any of those sanders, Performax (used), Jet (new or used) or the Supermax are of very similar design and are all pretty great for the home shop.
luvmytoolz
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I've got the 25/50 Supermax, and frikkin love it! It seriously is such a game changer, and time saver.
Apart from the bandsaw it's probably my most used machine, and I would struggle to do without it now. I do a tremendous amount of thickness sanding with 40-60grit belts, going up to 120g for fine sanding.
I did spend several months reviewing all the machines available, and the Supermax just kept coming out on top, and I have to say it has been phenomenally reliable over the many hundreds of hours it's done. I buy the rolls of sandpaper in the 100-110mm width and cut to size. Although kept clean the belts last many times longer than I would have thought.
Wider belts are better, the 75mm wide rolls tend to attract swarf under the edges more I found
With 2 rollers, if that limits the length of stuff you can put through you may regret it. I can safely put pieces around 100-125mm without issue, I've even done down to 80mm but it's a bit awkward.
Whatever you get, dust extraction is key!
Apart from the bandsaw it's probably my most used machine, and I would struggle to do without it now. I do a tremendous amount of thickness sanding with 40-60grit belts, going up to 120g for fine sanding.
I did spend several months reviewing all the machines available, and the Supermax just kept coming out on top, and I have to say it has been phenomenally reliable over the many hundreds of hours it's done. I buy the rolls of sandpaper in the 100-110mm width and cut to size. Although kept clean the belts last many times longer than I would have thought.
Wider belts are better, the 75mm wide rolls tend to attract swarf under the edges more I found
With 2 rollers, if that limits the length of stuff you can put through you may regret it. I can safely put pieces around 100-125mm without issue, I've even done down to 80mm but it's a bit awkward.
Whatever you get, dust extraction is key!
deepcreek
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I had a Supemax 37" double drum sander and never used the second drum.
In my experience, drum sanders always leave linear scratches that have to be sanded out with a ROS anyway. I used mine for surfacing starting at 60 or 80 grit and moving up to 100 or maybe 120 grit and then switched to an ETS 150/3 at the same grit as the last one in the drum sander to begin my sanding progression. I always take shallow passes at a relatively slow speed with the drum sander to avoid a dreaded stall which will leave a burned indention. So I never saw any sense in using the second drum.
I have since sold that 37" sander and switched to a Supermax 25/50. The main reason being the 25/50 head adjusts up and down rather than the table (like the 37") which made it impossible to use roller stands for infeed and outfeed.
In my experience, drum sanders always leave linear scratches that have to be sanded out with a ROS anyway. I used mine for surfacing starting at 60 or 80 grit and moving up to 100 or maybe 120 grit and then switched to an ETS 150/3 at the same grit as the last one in the drum sander to begin my sanding progression. I always take shallow passes at a relatively slow speed with the drum sander to avoid a dreaded stall which will leave a burned indention. So I never saw any sense in using the second drum.
I have since sold that 37" sander and switched to a Supermax 25/50. The main reason being the 25/50 head adjusts up and down rather than the table (like the 37") which made it impossible to use roller stands for infeed and outfeed.
luvmytoolz
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One thing I forgot to mention is the capacity of the drum sander. I started out looking at smaller units, but when you consider the cost of belts, and the loading up of them, going to a wider one is far better as you have more sanding area so it tends to load up dramatically less.
Doesn't sound like much difference when comparing sizes, but going up in size could mean 2-4 times more use out of the sandpaper due to less loading up and less heat generated (which tends to bake the dust onto the sandpaper).
Doesn't sound like much difference when comparing sizes, but going up in size could mean 2-4 times more use out of the sandpaper due to less loading up and less heat generated (which tends to bake the dust onto the sandpaper).
I have the Supermax 16/32 and it is working fine for me.
It has one drum, and I have never had a dual drum sander, so I really can't compare. I generally leave 120 grit on it. I can do final thicknesing on it and gives a decent finish. For me, final sanding is always going to be with my random orbit sander. I agree with deepcreek -- a random orbit sander will give a much nicer finish than a linear sander of the same grit.
It has a digital depth display, but I never even turn it on. I measure the workpiece with my calipers. Yesterday, I got my pieces to within a few thousandths of nominal size. Their Intellisand adaptive feed is another feature I never use, but I am just a hobbyist, speed is not a critical factor for me, and I take very slow, light passes.
The one thing that is a little cheap about it is that the conveyor rollers are running in bronze bushings, not antifriction bearings. I suspect this is common in sanders of this price range.
It has one drum, and I have never had a dual drum sander, so I really can't compare. I generally leave 120 grit on it. I can do final thicknesing on it and gives a decent finish. For me, final sanding is always going to be with my random orbit sander. I agree with deepcreek -- a random orbit sander will give a much nicer finish than a linear sander of the same grit.
It has a digital depth display, but I never even turn it on. I measure the workpiece with my calipers. Yesterday, I got my pieces to within a few thousandths of nominal size. Their Intellisand adaptive feed is another feature I never use, but I am just a hobbyist, speed is not a critical factor for me, and I take very slow, light passes.
The one thing that is a little cheap about it is that the conveyor rollers are running in bronze bushings, not antifriction bearings. I suspect this is common in sanders of this price range.
Brian Livingstone
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I had a Laguna Supermax 25/50. Sold it, as I thought it was just okay. I do have a Laguna 37 dual drum sander on its way. Someone I follow on IG was raving about his Powermatic 37 dual drum sander. I am hoping for great things as it will be the most expensive tool in my shop.
Brian
Brian
smorgasbord
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I have a General 15-250 25" wide dual drum sander, no longer made. Grizzly sells similar sanders today. You can get them in narrowish widths (like 12") depending on what you want them for.
My General is somewhat finicky in a few ways:
1) Getting the conveyor belt to track straight is hard and I'm always tweaking one way or the other.
2) On heavy cuts the conveyor belt stalls. Probably user error on my part
3) While the rear drum is adjustable for parallel to the conveyor belt, the front roller is not. Mine is off a bit. That's somewhat compensated for by the rear drum.
4) Although there's a ton of cast iron there's enough flex that different width boards come out slightly different in thickness.
That all said, for removing thickness planer scallops it's a huge time saver. I mostly run 80/120 or 100/150 grits, which means I can finish sand with RO or even a LS130 or by hand as well.
You can sand things like butcher block tops (end grain), or even take light passes on assemblies. They really are huge time savers. I don't know what I'd buy today though.
My General is somewhat finicky in a few ways:
1) Getting the conveyor belt to track straight is hard and I'm always tweaking one way or the other.
2) On heavy cuts the conveyor belt stalls. Probably user error on my part
3) While the rear drum is adjustable for parallel to the conveyor belt, the front roller is not. Mine is off a bit. That's somewhat compensated for by the rear drum.
4) Although there's a ton of cast iron there's enough flex that different width boards come out slightly different in thickness.
That all said, for removing thickness planer scallops it's a huge time saver. I mostly run 80/120 or 100/150 grits, which means I can finish sand with RO or even a LS130 or by hand as well.
You can sand things like butcher block tops (end grain), or even take light passes on assemblies. They really are huge time savers. I don't know what I'd buy today though.
Birdhunter
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I have a very old Performax that sees occasional use. It is perfect for those times that I need to do a lot of rough sanding. I leave 120 grit on all the time.
It is very difficult to adjust the head so that it is perfectly parallel to the transport belt. Without being parallel, you get an uneven transition when you are sanding a wide board that has to go through from both sides. If you don't care if there is a slight "slant" on the sanded board, the drum sander is great. You have to be careful with how much material you are trying to remove. It is easy to burn the paper on the drum or even stall it.
A neat trick if you are trying to adjust the thickness of a thin piece is to double sided tape the thin piece to a long straight board and feed through the sander. it is possible to remove just a whisker off the thin piece.
I've been doing woodworking for over 40 years and I have never seen the need for a double drum sander.
It is very difficult to adjust the head so that it is perfectly parallel to the transport belt. Without being parallel, you get an uneven transition when you are sanding a wide board that has to go through from both sides. If you don't care if there is a slight "slant" on the sanded board, the drum sander is great. You have to be careful with how much material you are trying to remove. It is easy to burn the paper on the drum or even stall it.
A neat trick if you are trying to adjust the thickness of a thin piece is to double sided tape the thin piece to a long straight board and feed through the sander. it is possible to remove just a whisker off the thin piece.
I've been doing woodworking for over 40 years and I have never seen the need for a double drum sander.
