Conference noted::woodworking_and_tools

    Jewell,
    
    I've always wanted one, as I hate sanding and scraping (WILL). Anyway,
    I'll take it off your hands for $200.00...;*)
    
    Anyway,
    
    Are you taking light cuts and not trying to thickness sand? Are you
    using one of those crepe(sp) sanding drum cleaners? That will help 
    get the crud out of your paper and make it last longer. Also, What type
    of wood are you sanding? If its a softwood then I imagine it would be
     a pain in the ass to use sine softwood it loaded with pitch and will
    load quickly. I would also assume that your using a dust collector
    of pick up the sanding dust so it doesn't re-deposit on the paper.
    
    Good Luck and let us know how you make out.
    
    RT

     I probably have $200 worth of accessories on the sander.  But I'll 
     consider the $200 offer made by reply 2102.1 as a starting bid for this 
     drum sander.

     I've try to use both 35 and 80 grit sandpaper to sand down 2' x 6' 
     glued-up oak panels.  Two problems occur:

      o  The sanding drum is unsupported on the open end and the weight
         of the panel is heavy enough to cause the table to sag away from
         the sanding drum and to rotate around the stand.  It's not alot
         of movement, but it's enough when you're trying to get a table-top
         smooth finish.  I've added a couple of support arms to help stabilize
         the table.

      o  3" strips of cloth sand paper are affixed to the drum in a spiral
         fasion. When sanding the glued-up panel, the surface deviates alot 
         on the first pass.  And when a high-point crosses the sanding drum, 
         it can cause the sanding strip to ride up on itself or tear at the 
         weakest point, usually the end of the strip that is attached into 
         the drum itself.

    For me to become proficient at using this machine, I'm going to have to
    acquire a better feel for height adjustment.  There seems to be a balance 
    between making a pass that doesn't exert alot of pressure on the drum
    and taking enough material on each pass so you don't spend all day
    dancing around this machine.

    And finally a note on design. Why would Performax design their sander
    so height adjustments are made by raising the table & motor rather than
    lowering the sanding drum?  The weight of the sanding drum is much less
    than the table and by making the table stationary they could beef up the
    supports.

    Jewell,
    
      I think, IMHO, your asking this machine to do too much. This isn't a 
      Timesaver (commercial unit) sanding/thicknessing unit. I don't think 
      thicknessing on this unit is wise at all and I don't think I would 
      have bought it to do so. It appears to be a small finish sanding 
      unit that will, given many passes, do thickness sanding in 
      the realm of 1/16 to 1/32". Your right, one end in hanging off in 
      space so there is no support/limited resistance so you will have 
      a skew across your board if your too aggressive.  You also didn't
      say what your trying to "plane" down so if I guess at a softwood
      with 35-80 grit sandpaper I can see why your having problems with
      paper loading. Have you tried "near" finish sanding on this machine 
      with something along the lines of a 120-150 grit paper?  
    
      Ray

  Ray,

  Make no mistake that these drum sanders are marketed as abrasive planners
  and not just finish sanders. (see http://highland-hardware.com/catalog/
  performax.html#37x2).  I'm using mine (model 22-44) to finish glued-up 
  panels made from oak boards planed down to about 7/8".  I don't believe 
  this is an unrealistic expectation based on Performax's product statements.

  Since writing the base note, I bought the support rollers that go with 
  this machine, swapped to a different brand of sandpaper, and installed
  2 additional support arms.  The machine is working much better for me
  although I'm still disappointed with it's speed and setup. 
 
  From rough-sawn 4/4 oak to 3/4 finished stock you have to make at least 6
  passes with 80 grit paper. Your estimate of 1/16 to 1/32 inch per pass is
  probably right.  36 grit was quite aggressive, but left the wood pretty 
  rough.  I think the 60 grit paper I have on order will be a good compromise.
     
    
                               -Jewell

    Jewell,
    
     I never got as far as you in terms of checking out system specs and
     marketing statements. I was always seeing the tool advertised as a 
     sander, I must have missed the thickness planning lines. 30 grit paper 
     clogging oak is probably reality as you said since its very aggressive.
     Good luck with your upgrades, they seem to be working. Have you tried
     sanding in the 120-150 range?
    
    Ray 

    On last weeks New Yankee Workshop Norm commented on his new drum
    sander. Don't recall it being a Performax but what was interesting was he
    made it a point of saying "after a few hours of sanding" he was able to
    clean up some antique pine boards. He said he was limited to about 1/64 
    per pass. This particular unit had two sanding drums of different
    grades.
    
    His only positive comment was that he could spend less time with his
    metal detector looking for nails to protect his planer knives. Sure
    seemed like the surface plane was faster even with the metal detector.
    
    ~jeff