John,
I have the Grizzly sander you are looking at. It works great. Mine did not require any set up to get the sanding arm to be perfectly level. Maybe I got lucky, but it was dead flat from the factory. I am very happy with it, it takes up minimal space, is quiet as can be when running, and is easy to move since the stand has two wheels and handles! I would definitely buy it again if I had the choice. I only build 3 guitars a year, and do not have a ton of space since my shop is my garage and I keep a 66 mustang there as well, so a larger machine, while it might have fit, would not have been convenient. Plus, I use a shop vac as a dust collector and it works just fine. I used my rosette circle cutter to make a piece of wood to cover the outlet port. I do not use the curved tube that came with the sander, just the outlet port right on top of the drum cover. I tried keeping the curved tube on, but dust would collect in it, and not make it all the way out. Putting the vacuum right on top seems to work much better. I get minimal dust coming out of the end of the machine. FYI: You can not sand down backs, sides, tops, or any other wood to less that .25" without a carrier board of some type since the minimum the machine will sand down to is .25" plus or minus. For the price, I am more than willing to deal with that issue. Plus, having never used a drum sander before this one, It is not like it added an extra step for me. Worth the money in my opinion.
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). It is, after all, the American way, right?