Drum Sander Pros:Drum Sander Cons:It takes longer to change the sandpaper. Wide belt sanders usually come with a platen, which is used to give your wooden stock the final finish before you apply a random orbit sander or stain the surface. If you need premium-quality sanding rolls for your drum sander or wide belt sander, our experienced abrasive technicians are here to help you realize the maximum return on your investment.
Greater depth of scratch takes much more time to sand out with Random Orbital sander. Less scratch depth means faster hand sanding with Random Orbital sander. These old machines can be as cheap as new drum sanders but with much more versatility and less cost per piece.
09-10-2013, 5:43 PM #1 I am interested in adding a sanding machine to my shop and would like to know the pro’s and con’s of both the drum sander and the wide belt sander. 09-10-2013, 6:45 PM #5 After considerable reading about drum sanders, i skipped the drum sander and went with the Grizzly G9983 small wide belt. All the wide belt sanders I’ve seen are really made for commercial production environments not the home shop like mine… it would be really nice if someone like Delta or Powermatic would make a wide belt sander for hobbyist – something along the lines of a 25″x48″ belt and run it off 120v with 1.5hp would be more than sufficient – what I have now is overkill for my needs, but there’s really no alternative.
From contributor B: I wouldn’t buy a drum sander unless it was just a crazy amazing deal, too good to pass up, and will get you by until you can get a wide belt sander. Drum sander is better than no sander, but a belt sander is way better than a drum sander. “I didn’t like the open ended drum sander I had when first starting out. It was very slow and usually burned a door in every run when the paper stretched and overlapped. Trying to do wide parts in two passes was always rolling the dice. I then had a dual drum 37” Extrema for a few years until I could afford a wide belt.
To find out the differences between drum sander vs wide belt sander, you need to know about them individually first. The wide belt sander is electrically driven but relies on air pressure to control the corrosive belt. The main difference between drum sander vs wide belt sander is the drum sander is for the light refinishing of home or shop & the wide belt sander is for heavy industrial use.
difference between drum sander and wide belt sander Related Question:
Is a wide belt sander better than a drum sander?
In short the wide belt wins in every way except cost, there’s really no competition. A drum sander is a nice tool that’ll get you buy for hobby work, or even as a small shop until you can afford a wide belt. But trying to compare a drum to a widebelt is not fair to the drum.
What is a wide belt sander used for?
The wide belt sander is used to machine stock flat and to specific thicknesses. It can be used with solid wood and composite boards such as plywood and MDF. A rubber conveyor carries your stock through the machine while a wide abrasive belt removes material from the top surface.
Is a drum sander worth it?
The drum sander is an incredibly useful tool that will have a huge impact in your workflow. It will also open up a bunch of doors for you, especially when it comes to the world of home-sawn veneer. Although they aren’t inexpensive, I do consider them to be a worthwhile investment.
What is a drum sander good for?
A drum sander is a large sander that uses a rotating sanding drum. The drum sander typically has a wide workstation that allows the user to work with larger pieces of wood. The tool is used for sanding wood for finishing but also can be used to shave layers of wood off for leveling.
How much material can a wide belt sander remove?
As mentioned earlier, abrasive belts can only remove a certain amount of stock dependent on grit size. With a three-head sander you can run a grit sequence of 100-150-180 and remove approximately 1/32 inch in one pass.
What grit sizes are commonly used on a belt sander and why?
Choosing the Right Sanding Belt Grit The heavier the job, the coarser the sanding belt you’ll need. 40 to 60 grit is best suited for the heaviest work. When you’re performing tasks such as smoothing surfaces or removing minor blemishes, you’re better off using sandpaper with 80 to 120 grit.
Do I need a belt sander?
Belt sanders are highly effective tools for removing roughness and preparing woodwork for less aggressive tools in the process like random orbit and finishing sanders. It is crucial to belt-sand with the wood grain rather than across it. Otherwise, the belt sander’s lateral action can ruin the work.
Can you use a drum sander against the grain?
Kevin Hancock: Absolutely not. Sometimes it is the only way it can be sanded. Use a finer grit than you usually would as cross grain sanding tends to cut faster. Sanding up to about 320-400 grit will make most of those sanding scratches disappear under the finish.
Will a drum sander flatten a board?
The thing about these relatively small drum sanders is the infeed and outfeed rollers that hold the work down don’t really exert much pressure like a planer does, and therefore they don’t force the stock flat to the table.
What is the widest drum sander?
SuperMax’s new 25-50 open-sided drum sander is the widest on the market, with enough muscle to support a 49-in.
Should I buy a drum sander or a planer?
Answer from Lee Grindinger: “A planer will remove stock much, much more quickly than a drum sander. A sander is built to sand. For surfacing you’d be using a very coarse grit and this means several grit changes to get to the smoothness you’re looking for in a drum sander.
How much tension should a belt sander have?
Most wood sanding applications (such as mould sanding using narrow cloth belts) require a belt tension of approximately 40 psi. However, there are some special exceptions. For example, abrasive planing operations using coarse grits typically demand belt tension in the range of 70 to 90 psi.
How much pressure should be in a belt sander?
The proper range for the tension pressure depends on whether your belt is paper, cloth, or Polyester. For paper – 45-55 psi, cloth – 55-65 psi and Polyester – 65-85 psi. Q) Is there a way to increase the life of the wide belt? A) Yes!
Which type of sander is best?
Orbital Sanders Are the Best Type of Sander for Fine Jobs As you may have guessed, the orbital sander operates using an orbital action. This is the best hand sander for fine-finish sanding, but it is not efficient for jobs that require the removal of a lot of stock on a large surface.
Is a belt sander faster?
Belt Sanders are high-speed, which can save time. They’re also powerful, able to remove any material and the best sander for aggressive removal down to the wood. When working with the grain, they are the perfect sander for large surfaces.