Drum sander vs Wide Belt

[Cicada]

What's everyone's opinion on Drum vs Wide belt sander or vice versa?
I've not found or possibly looked hard enough for previous conversations on here.So up goes a new thread.

I've got two drum sanders for making laminations .A Jet 18-36 and Performax 19-38,both of which are great machines. But as is with everything in life."Time is of the essence."
And upgrading to a wide belt seems like the next step.
Comments,opinions,friendly banter are all welcome.

[Roy from Pa]

For bow building you don't need a wide drum sander, but if you have other projects maybe you do.

My 12 inch drum sander.

[Cicada]

Cool little video, i do agree with you.A "wide" belt sander or even "wide" drum sander is not necessary.But if you're grinding a lot of lams.Would it be more beneficial to go with a wide belt sander for speed and sandpaper life?

[Flem]

I believe Big Jim could tell you the pro's and con's. I know a wide belt will process a lot more material than a drum and more accurately because of the increased grinding surface contact. Don't know what the cost to benefit ratio is, but I would guess you need to grind a lot of lams to make it worthwhile.

[Buemaker]

The Jet or the Performax, is it one of them you like best?

[kennym]

The drum sanders will do a plenty good job on lams.

Belts last much longer because of the added surface and are easier to change paper (or cloth).

Wide belts seem to cost considerable more than drum sanders.

[Cicada]

Thanks for the input!
As to which one i like best. There's a typo, its a Supermax 19-38 and not Performax.But i think they are two in the same or at least close.
I'd say i like the Supermax over the Jet,as it has a longer in-feed table which helps out a lot for snipe.But i did end up adding a set of springs over the in & out feed rollers to add downward pressure on the sled.
My parallel sled has a slight concave or bow in the middle,and i was getting - 0.003"-0.004" of inconsistency from the outer edges.It's a rather thin sled of max 0.375" but the stock springs would not push it down enough.

Oh and the other negative with the Jet 18-36,would be the custom width of sandpaper,which makes finding Klingspor a bit harder.With with that said,the Jet has a much more well thought out table height adjustment system.....so truing up from left to right is a breeze.
So for now the Supermax is the go to and the Jet is there in case.


As for a wide belt sander. That may be in the near future. To bad i only have 220v entry and not really looking to play around with VFD's as i can find a bunch of 24" 600v Wide Belt Sanders for rather cheap. lol

[Flem]

If you can get a wide belt cheap, might be worth swaping out the motor.

[Cicada]

That's not a bad idea!Something to keep in mind.

[BigJim]

I haven't owned a drum sander for years and won't likely ever buy another.. but then, we use both of my wide belt sanders every single day.. seven days a week unless I'm on the road.

Both of my machines are identical and are the 18" Grizzly sanders. I purchased both of them used and Have rarely had an issue to say a bad word about either one. They don't come up for sale often, but would probably buy a third if I saw one... don't know why. I guess some guys collect bows, and I collect equipment.

One of my sanders is now 15 years old. 12 of those years has been under my ownership. I couldn't imagine how many hours it has on it. We now use one machine for sanding just about everything and the other for wood and bamboo only. This way the sanding belt lasts much longer... like weeks. I can change belts in under 20 seconds and it just sands much better. Less wood burning, faster feed and no cantilever.

They are one of my many favorite machines!
BigJim