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I'm looking at a 16x32 performax, and a Delta X 18". Prices are comparable, 575 for the performax, 650 for the Delta. both are like new condition. All opinions welcome. I've used the performax recently and they are nice, but I also own a lot of quality Delta tools.

Thanks

Jimmy

IMO the Performax is less prone to uneven sanding.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

If you review the many posts on drum sanders, you will find that overall, performax sanders are rated higher. There are folks who prefer the deltas, but objectively, performax tends to rate higher.

With the Performax/Jet design the drum is on the elevator, the Delta has a moving table -- in my view a real PITA especially if you decide you'd like in and out feed extensions more than a couple inches long

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

I'm using the Performax and am very happy with it.

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guitarsbygiltzow.com

I recently bought a Jet 10-20. Yes, it is a "baby" and requires two passes for anything wider than 10", but it was easy to set up to sand evenly from side to side and to sand wider pieces without an edge or dip in the middle where the drum overlaps. I bought it for it's small footprint - necessary in my overcrowded shop. It also sands very short pieces of stock and sands down to 1/32" thick.

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Complete newbie to guitar building, but experienced amateur at building other stringed & wind instruments.

Off topic but:

We have one of those 10-20 in our shop. I have to warn you that the lift screw (because it is in an aluminum housing) is fragile We went through two housings and its now out of warranty so I had to improvise. I highly recommend that you never turn the height adjuster while material is feeding under the drum, over tightening with that action I believe adds excessive pressure on the very fine threads and will lead to even quicker failure.

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

Thanks!

I did some reading and found out that the problem seems to have been a batch of undersized lift screws. This sounds like your problem as it failed twice, and will likely fail again and again unless you replace the lift screw. The lift screws in question all had an OD of 0.535" - 0.537". My machine has a lift screw 0.547" in diameter, so perhaps I will avoid the problem. 0.010" inch can make a big difference in thread strength.

This guy came up with a clever and permanent, heavy-duty solution: http://forum.ukuleleunderground.com/showthread.php?59514-Performax-Jet-10-20-Design-Problem He repaired several of these back in 2009.

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Complete newbie to guitar building, but experienced amateur at building other stringed & wind instruments.

Jim my second housing already failed I bolted on an auxiliary tap plate with a 1/2 - 13 thread and fab'd a lift screw form a piece of 1/2" threaded rod, a double stop bolt and a stop collar. I will make another with a steel tap plate (this one is aluminum) works fine but I loose about 1/2" in capacity.

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

I'm a fan of the 10-20 too and mine has had a LOT of use with over 50 tops put though it just a few months ago.

It's never gone out of adjustment but I do see the beginnings of what Ken is talking about happening to mine though but not an issue yet.

I've used mine for countless back and side sets, tops, nut and saddle blanks and always flawless, precise, results. I could not be happier.

Also another OLFer some years back had a 10-20 too and upgraded to at 16-32 and then posted here on the OLF that he wished that he had stayed with his 10-20. He believed the 10-20 to be more precise and less finicky and was grieving the decision to upgrade. He also wanted his 10-20 back....

Some other considerations: If you are not keen to upgrade your dust collection to say a 1,100 CFM minimum unit the 10-20 does work fine for me with only about 130 CFM and all of the openings and cracks in the hood taped off. I've used mine with either my shop-vac on steroids a Festool 132 CFM unit named Monica... and with our General 1,100 CFM unit and the results were the same with either vac.

Larger thickness sanders do benefit from as much dust collection as you can muster and afford. Two things are happening in the dust collection cycle with one being dust collection..... and the other being cooling the drum and paper which resists the gumming up of the paper.

So my point is if one buys a drum sander larger than their needs you also get the opportunity to discover that you now have to spend even more of your coin on ungraded dust collection.... An important financial consideration that I believe needs to be mentioned.

Lastly.... some 10-20 users have experienced feed belt issues with the belt always wanting to migrate to the right side stops. Mine does this as well and it does not matter how much we resettle and adjust the feed belt, even replace it, this continues. But in my case there is no down side in performance and I still have the original feed belt on mine after trying a new belt and having the same issue.

And really, really lastly that migrating to the right side belt thing if you just let the machine be free to be how ever it wants.... incidentally corrects the tendency of the machine to create a very slight ridge when double pass sanding. The left most side of the material if it's riding slightly off the right leaning belt edge gets hit less by the drum resulting in no ridge.... Go figure. But it works in our favor so I just leave it that way...

Hesh, good points. For the home enthusiast like me the 10-20 works just fine. IMO and fwiw.

Best,
Miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Performax 22-44. Recently upgraded to a poly belt, I never had any trouble with the factory belt tracking but this is so much better. http://www.timberww.com/contactUS.aspx

Hello Clinchriver,

this is very interesting. I also have a 22-44 and would like to upgrade to a poly belt, but I can not find a company here in germany. May I ask how much you had to pay for this belt fitting the 22-44?

Cheers, Alex

I have the Jet 16-32, and it's indispensible for me. Wouldn't hesitate to buy it again, but the belt tracking can get annoying if not adjusted properly.

http://www.timberww.com/contactUS.aspx Mel or Raeann will fix you up I believe it was around $90.00

A follow up on the 10-20 so not to leave the wrong impression. I think it is a very handy machine and we use it every day -- that's how we wore out to housing. The aftermarket fix is really simple and inexpensive -- here a pic of my temp fix which will likely work forever, I had a wood tap handle laying around so I use it instead of modifying the wheel.

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

If the Performax/JET has the old rubber feed roller and old style feed belt, you may find it impossible to track. I eventually replaced it with the new metal feed roller and new style feed belt, which now work fine. I do not know which part was the culprit. I have a hunch that the old design caused the diagonal seam in the belt to interact with the rubber roller and continuously shove the belt off to the side.

Hi guys, I went with the performax 16-32. $500 couldn't beat it


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I have a Jet 16-32 and have never had a problem with the belt tracking.

If you can spend a few hundred more dollars you can get a Supermax 19-38, and not waste your time with these toys you mentioned.

http://www.supermaxtools.com/products-s ... um-sander/

Edit: I read back and noticed you are looking at used drum sanders. I doubt you will find a Supermax 19-38 used. They are around $1400 or so new which is not much more than a new Performax/Jet 16-32, but the Supermax is a much more robust and well built machine.

Good luck.