Grizzly Baby Drum vs Shop Fox W1740

[DoubleLung]

Hello All,

I'm starting my process of vetting drum sanding machines. I'd like to get a machine in the next few months and have some questions. Any recommendations between the Grizzly and Shop Fox W1740? I like the closed on on both units as it seems like it would be easier to get parallel across the width of the lam.

With the Grizzly, I've heard there is a gear on the belt drive that is subject to stripping and that Grizzly does not provide that part any longer. I called and verified this with Grizzly and they indicated since 2009 the drive assembly is made differently replacing that teflon gear with a brass gear that will not strip. Has this been your experience?

Thanks for any info you can give.

[Mad Max]

read the reviews
a lot of us have the grizzly 12" baby drum sander
my 2 cent

 https://www.amazon.com/SHOP-W1740-12-Inch-Drum-Sander/product-reviews/B001R23T94

I was shopping for a sander and saw a lot of reveiws on the Grizz...  You hit the nail on the head... I would make sure that new sander has metal gears in the drive or send it back...

[Roy from Pa]

They are junk, don't buy one...

LOL. I love mine.

 

[jess stuart]

Look at the  Jets sanders.  I have a small 10-20 and it has worked very well for several years now.

[Krasus]

I got myself a delta. Love it

[mikkekeswick]

I've got a Jet 10-20 it has made well over 300 lam bows in the last 6 years.
Good machine.

[Wagstaff]

We own and use the Grizzly.. Its working fine, worry free, and gets a regular workout.!  It uses a hook and loop sanding belt that you can buy in a roll, and cut replacements as needed..

Perhaps someone with the Jet can chime in, but I think Jet drum has retainer clips for the sanding belt instead of the H&L..  ?

[kennym]

They have upgraded the Baby Drum, I bought one when they came out, had the gear prob and no hook and loop system.

[DoubleLung]

Well, I did some more research and actually called Grizzly. The shop fox machine is the exact same machine made in the same place as the Baby Drum Sander but is their retail model with different paint and an extra year of warranty.

For some reason it's on sale on Amazon today for $432 with free shipping so I grabbed one. Hope I have the same luck as you all have had with yours.

[Crooked Stic]

I have two of them. I had to upgrade the older ones feed drive. I keep dieter entry grits on each one. And can be a back up if one does fail. I could not tell you how many feet of wood has been thru the older one. At least eight years old.

[Roy from Pa]

You will love it. A word of advice, when running anything through it, make sure to check the thickness of both ends first. A few times I've been making lams from boards cut from logs. I'd  check one end for fit in the sander, and it seemed ok. Ran it through and heck, the other end was a tad thicker and it smoked the hook and loop paper, right down to the metal drum. Had to replace both pieces of Velcro. The drum has the stiff plastic Velcro on it, then the sand paper roll has the fuzzy side of the Velcro on the back of it. Other than operator error on my part, the grizzly 12" baby drum sander has made me a few hundred feet of perfect lams.

[DoubleLung]

Thanks for the advice Roy.  I'll be sure to keep an eye out for that.

[jess stuart]

My Jet 10-20 has the clips instead of the hook and loop.  No experience with hook and loop but, no complaints with the hook system.