Supermax or Jet Performax?

HowardH

HowardH

Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2007
Messages
1,572
I need an open ended drum sander and am considering both of these units. The Jet is a 16-32 and the Supermax is 19-38.  I was told today by local Woodcraft manager that the Supermax guys were actually the Performax designers who started another company after they sold the Performax line to Jet a number of years ago.  The Supermax has a bit more capacity and a unique system of using a level to raise the end a millimeter or two when the need arises to sand a panel that is wider than the capacity of the belt.  It supposedly eliminates the "ridge" than can be created otherwise.  The Jet doesn't have this feature but I'm not sure it's all that valuable for me since I'm mainly going to use this for cutting boards that are too wide to go through a planer for flattening.  The Jet is also on sale for about $1000 and the Supermax is $1400 plus shipping I'm sure.  I have heard people either love the Jet or curse it.  Any comments about either one?
 
Supermax.

I used to be the Manager of Performax before Jet bought them. The people who used to be Performax are now SuperMax. The Performax/Jet line is all made in China or Taiwan, while the SuperMax product is either totally or mostly made in the USA. The support from SuperMax is unbelievable and you can talk to someone who speaks english as a first language!
 
wow said:
Supermax.

I used to be the Manager of Performax before Jet bought them. The people who used to be Performax are now SuperMax. The Performax/Jet line is all made in China or Taiwan, while the SuperMax product is either totally or mostly made in the USA. The support from SuperMax is unbelievable and you can talk to someone who speaks english as a first language!
Click to expand...

I have and like the SuperMax, but while it might have started out being made in the USA I think it is made in Taiwan now.  It's been a few years now, but if I remember right the SuperMax website said made in USA but a magazine review said made in Taiwan so I emailed SuperMax and they wrote back that they were now being made overseas. When I was looking at the Jet and SuperMax side by side it looked like they were both being made at the same factory.

Tom

 
The Jet is made in China IIRC  as they used the same casting as Grizzly , Powermatic , General ,Central  all those come from the same plants just the paint job & label is different . They just spec out to different quality points .
Taiwan makes better electric motors & the electronics are usually better as well . I am happy with mine.
fit & finish is way better than the Jet's & others   that I had seen on a showroom floors .
the added features are better as well , the loading of sanding paper is really an improvement .
Even the SawStop is made in the far east & those are some of best TS made , not saying their better than the Euro sliding  saws are  but the best cabinet saws .
Back to SuperMax the price  level & feature level is better than a Jet I M O
I feel I made a great purchase ,No regret here  
 
Slappy,

I was pointing out that they weren't being made in the USA. I compared it side by side with the Jet and chose the SuperMax. Better motor, the lever to quickly change to wide boards, the tool less sandpaper changing to the oversize belt.  I would recommend it.  I had noticed that the castings and stands looked the same on both machines. Even the oversize conveyor was just off the next size larger Jet machine.

The dealer suggested 80 grit as a good choice for sanding out planer tear out and glue ups, but it was taking a long time to sand out all the ridges the 80 grit left with the Rotex sanders. I found myself starting with 40-60 grit paper and still finding some small scratches. So now I've been using 120 grit either as the only grit or to follow the 80 before grabbing the random orbit sander.

Tom

 
The double drum machines are shipped standard with 80 grit on the front drum and 120 on the rear drum. This is the most common combination, but no means the only one.

When I am doing glue-ups I typically use 60 grit on the front and 100 on the rear. I find this to be the best combination to quickly remove small amounts of material and still give a 'glue-ready' surface. If I am going to then finish the surface, I switch to 120 on the front and either 150 or 180 on the rear drum.

My SuperMax is one of the top 5 most used machines in my shop.
 
Would anyone recommend using this to flatten stock well enough to run through a lunch box planer? I don't have a jointer at this time, and am trying to limp through till I can truly afford a jointer planer combo like a Jet 12" or Hammer A-31. Since I would have to upgrade the electrical and invest in a dust collection unit that does 400CFM or more, the combo unit will have to wait.

I am looking for solutions other than flattening one side with a handplane. I can do it, but I am not that good at it. Also considering experimenting with the RS2E.
 
FOGNewbie said:
Would anyone recommend using this to flatten stock well enough to run through a lunch box planer?
Click to expand...

ABSOLUTELY! I use mine to flatten stock all the time, even though I have a 12' jointer.

I even used it to cut the finish off of old maple flooring so I could glue it into breadboards. There was all manner of 'grit' on the edges from being used as flooring for years. I ran ONE 10' piece through my planer and totally destroyed the knives. So much for THAT idea.

I put 36 grit paper on the SuperMax and ran a couple hundred square feet of flooring through a couple times and you can't even see wear on the sandpaper! After that I ran them through with a 60/100 combination and then glued them up with the tongue edge up and the grove edge down. After they were dry I ran them through using 36 grit again to cut (yes, sandpaper CUTS) the tongue off, then flipped them over and cut the grove off. When I was down to bare wood, switched to a 60/100 combination and finally a 120/180 combination. I put a vegetable oil finish on them and gave them as gifts.
 
Awsome! Tough decisions ahead then. The only thing that stinks is I will have to buy a dedicated Dust collector to run it. I think it requires like 650 CFM. The upside is I would be in better position to get a jointer planer combo unit down the road. Now I have to rethink putting the RS2E ahead of the RO 90.
 
FOGNewbie said:
Awsome! Tough decisions ahead then. The only thing that stinks is I will have to buy a dedicated Dust collector to run it. I think it requires like 650 CFM.
Click to expand...

If you're looking at the 19-38 you'll be OK with 600 CFM but no less. If you don't have enough dust collection you'll burn the paper because stuff will get caught in the coat and burn, which will leave a burn mark on your piece as well. The other thing you need to be careful of is not to try to take too big of a 'bite' on each pass. If you follow the manual directions you'll quickly learn the machine and - like certain other machines - you'll wonder how you ever got along without one!

It's another machine that will change the way you work...
 
FOGNewbie said:
Awsome! Tough decisions ahead then. The only thing that stinks is I will have to buy a dedicated Dust collector to run it. I think it requires like 650 CFM. The upside is I would be in better position to get a jointer planer combo unit down the road. Now I have to rethink putting the RS2E ahead of the RO 90.
Click to expand...
you could put a cheap Harbor Freight  blower on it & have the flex hose run out a door when in use
 
I have the Super Max Combo drum/brush sander. It works very well in both configurations.

Only issue is wrapping the sanding bands. There is a learning curve to getting them just right.

Tom
 
I made a rolling cart for the Super Max.

One thing about this sander, my guess is all sander like this they produce a lot of dust. The SM requires a 600 CFM unit I believe. I use a 1200 CFM unit, I highly recommend a unit with a pleated filter instead of filter bag. Every time I use the SM, I have to vacuum the shop. The dust is fine enough that some goes through the bag.

Tom
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1352.jpg
    IMG_1352.jpg
    46.1 KB · Views: 1,814
  • IMG_1353.jpg
    IMG_1353.jpg
    40.1 KB · Views: 1,369
[member=4105]tjbnwi[/member]

Nice looking cart, Tom.  Looks better than some furniture I've seen! LOL

Please consider upgrading your dust collection.  I'd hate to see a great person like you get hurt by breathing in all that dust!

Mike A.
 
mike_aa said:
[member=4105]tjbnwi[/member]

Nice looking cart, Tom.  Looks better than some furniture I've seen! LOL

Please consider upgrading your dust collection.  I'd hate to see a great person like you get hurt by breathing in all that dust!

Mike A.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the compliment.

It's on the short list for replacement, I was hoping to get just a filter head they don't make one for it. I'll repurpose the blower on the current one to the spray area, can always use another 1200 CFM of evacuation there. 

Tom

Tom
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

J
Baileigh/Jet Air Cleaner
2 3 4
Replies
67
Views
6K
Imemiter
Imemiter
S
Which Sys Air???
Replies
8
Views
713
natenator76
N
Ultimate Tools Marketing
Select In-Stock Laguna and SuperMax Machines Discounted by up to 36%
Replies
4
Views
819
Ultimate Tools Marketing
Ultimate Tools Marketing
W
Felder AD741 vs SCM FS41E .... Opinions?
Replies
3
Views
1K
Peter Kelly
P
E
Kapex extreme bevel?
Replies
10
Views
2K
ChuckM
C
Back
Top