open-end vs closed end sanders - single vs double drum

In article <[email protected]>,
Rob V <r_b_v@v_e_r_z_e_r_a.com> wrote:
>Im in the market for a drum sander - My budget is 1500-2000 which gives me a
>pretty good range of sanders.
>The 2 front runners are the Performax 22-44 and the General 15-250.
>
>The main difference is the performax is a single drum open end and the
>general is Double drum closed end (will handle up to 24 inches)

I'm not familiar with either of those, but one thing to look at is the
spec for conveyor speed. I've got the Performax 16/32 and it's very
S-L-O-W. The closed end machines have double the conveyor speed (and
a lot more horsepower on the drum motor to keep up with it). I very
rarely need to sand anything wider than 24" so I think I'd have been
happier with a closed end 24" machine that I could get stock through
quicker. A lot of people take the view "I'm just a hobbiest so speed
isn't that important". I take the opposite view - I get little enough
woodworking time as it is so if I can do a machine operation at twice
the speed I've bought myself more shop time. I don't mind going slowly
at a pleasant operation like hand planing or cutting dovetails, but if
I'm pushing boards through a machine I want it to go fast.

--
Scott Post [email protected] http://home.insightbb.com/~sepost/

Rob V wrote:
> Im in the market for a drum sander - My budget is 1500-2000 which
> gives me a pretty good range of sanders.
> The 2 front runners are the Performax 22-44 and the General 15-250.
>
> The main difference is the performax is a single drum open end and the
> general is Double drum closed end (will handle up to 24 inches)
>
> I can see the pros and cons to each - can anyone give some real life
> experiences w/ them?
> Also - anyone go from an open end - to a closed end and go oh sh*t -
> why did I do that!

I've got the 24" double drumGeneral and really like it. I had some learning
issues with what it would really handle in terms of width. Twenty-four
inches is pushing the limit of this machine in that the ends of the paper
are very narrow and subject to the most pressure when feeding wide stock.

A 3HP motor is also not strong enough when you try to push this machine.
I've bogged it down (another learning curve) and now know that this machine
is for sanding, not planing. It's a nice tool to have when you need to take
very small amounts of material off (example was routing slots for 1/4" mdf
dividers and finding that the routed slot was a hair undersized for the mdf
so I had to send each of the dividers through the sander....much easier than
re-routing all of the slots).

The variable speed feed is also a nice feature which helps when trying to
take a deeper cut.

Plan on having a good dust collector. The General has two 4" dust ports and
for good reason. I made the mistake of trying this tool w/o the collector
running!

I can't really compare it to the Performax since I've never seen one in
operation. There are times where I wish I had the capacity to sand a larger
piece and the open ended design would allow this but for the most part, the
24" fills my small commercial shop needs.

Gary