# Drum Sander verses Wide Belt Sander



## TomC (Oct 27, 2008)

What are the advantages of a wide belt sander over a drum sander? Also, why is a wide belt sander so much more expensive than a drum sander?
Tom


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## BWSmith (Aug 24, 2010)

General rambling.....probably foremost is how long the paper lasts.Belts run considerably cooler(and the longer they are the cooler yet)than drums.Its plain physics.So now lets say each has burnt/wore out paper.....the belts change literally in seconds,compared to "awhile" on drums.

All above aside for a second regarding finish.The cooler runnin belts will provide an acceptable finish,longer.Theres a cpl different kinds of each......theres single drums and dble and triple drums.Theres widebelts with and without platens....then theres single,dbl,and triple head widebelts.Some of these can approach the size of a sm room.They're fully enclosed with sm openings at each end.

A MAJOR factor in all pwr sanding(some of the widebelts can almost be called planers because of depth of cut and aggressiveness in general)is dust management.Direct corelation between size vs money vs dust collection.IOWs bigger costs more and requires more dust collection.And if that ain't enough,deep pocket books are gonna be needed just to feed pwr to some of the big-ish widebelts.They can really spin a meter base.

The end user really has to make an accurate "call" on what will suit them.Theres the lessor initial cost of drum's at the expense of downtime changin paper.Widebelts can get stupid expensive,but with that comes performance and speed.BW


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## jraksdhs (Oct 19, 2008)

*my thoughts.....*

I actually own both. I have a performax 16-32 drum sander thats in my shop and I also have a 37" timesaver that was too big for my current shop so its at an amish friend of mines shop. I only paid $2300 it, shop was closing and they wanted it gone that day. As part of the deal to "park" it my friends was he swapped the electric motors out for hydraulic ones. He shop is a few minutes away and I get to used it whenever I want. It was a win win for both of us. To me, as a "cabinetmaker" I love the 37" size because I can run finished faceframes right thought it, which levels everything perfectly. Mine has the platten, although it can be taken out. BWsmith pretty much covered everything, these are just my thoughts. 

jraks


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## sketel (Sep 15, 2010)

Wide belts can generally run many more feet per minute.


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## Anywhy30 (Dec 2, 2011)

jraksdhs said:


> I actually own both. I have a performax 16-32 drum sander thats in my shop and I also have a 37" timesaver that was too big for my current shop so its at an amish friend of mines shop. I only paid $2300 it, shop was closing and they wanted it gone that day. As part of the deal to "park" it my friends was he swapped the electric motors out for hydraulic ones. He shop is a few minutes away and I get to used it whenever I want. It was a win win for both of us. To me, as a "cabinetmaker" I love the 37" size because I can run finished faceframes right thought it, which levels everything perfectly. Mine has the platten, although it can be taken out. BWsmith pretty much covered everything, these are just my thoughts.
> 
> jraks


please forgive me for sounding sarcastic
A bell went off when you mention Amish shop - till I saw hydraulic motor, How exactly does that convert and run... Again please forgive, When I went through electronics & manufacturing, 
They didn't throw much hydraulics at us how to convert 
Or how to run that setup, please enlighten me Thanks


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## jraksdhs (Oct 19, 2008)

*no problem anywhy*

all the tools in his shop are run off air(even routers), line shaft or hydraulics. Basically out side of shop is a separate room that houses a diesel motor. Off of the motor is a shaft that runs another parallel shaft. Those shafts turn hydraulic pumps that are connected to motors on the machines. The crazy thing is that using only compressed air he can start the engine from inside the shop and also turn each machine on using air actuated valves. Hes a pretty smart fellar. Hope that explains it.

Jason


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

Anywhy30 said:


> please forgive me for sounding sarcastic
> A bell went off when you mention Amish shop - till I saw hydraulic motor, How exactly does that convert and run... Again please forgive, When I went through electronics & manufacturing,
> They didn't throw much hydraulics at us how to convert
> Or how to run that setup, please enlighten me Thanks


This is not worth understanding. It is the Amish way to get around their beliefs. Electric is verboten. Somehow the hydraulics is powered by a method which is not verboten.

This is not relevant for the majority who use electricity in their homes.


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## WarnerConstInc. (Nov 25, 2008)

Dave Paine said:


> This is not worth understanding. It is the Amish way to get around their beliefs. Electric is verboten. Somehow the hydraulics is powered by a method which is not verboten.
> 
> This is not relevant for the majority who use electricity in their homes.


They can get away with all sorts of stuff.


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## Anywhy30 (Dec 2, 2011)

Dave Paine said:


> This is not worth understanding. It is the Amish way to get around their beliefs. Electric is verboten. Somehow the hydraulics is powered by a method which is not verboten.
> 
> This is not relevant for the majority who use electricity in their homes.


I have no beef with the Amish way of life,they have found away to get around gov't over spending and not aiding with that. 
I'm here to put my ideas to paper to support my hobby ways. I'm here to learn not judge, anyway thanks for the input.


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## Anywhy30 (Dec 2, 2011)

jraksdhs said:


> all the tools in his shop are run off air(even routers), line shaft or hydraulics. Basically out side of shop is a separate room that houses a diesel motor. Off of the motor is a shaft that runs another parallel shaft. Those shafts turn hydraulic pumps that are connected to motors on the machines. The crazy thing is that using only compressed air he can start the engine from inside the shop and also turn each machine on using air actuated valves. Hes a pretty smart fellar. Hope that explains it.
> 
> Jason


He's definitely a smart fella, had to go to YouTube to look into closer, working on my homemade generator & gives me a great idea how to hook into an extra power steering unit lying around from my s-10 pickup, tell him he's linked into a great resource idea alternative.


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## Al Launier (Jan 21, 2013)

Dave Paine said:


> This is not worth understanding. It is the Amish way to get around their beliefs. Electric is verboten. Somehow the hydraulics is powered by a method which is not verboten.
> 
> This is not relevant for the majority who use electricity in their homes.


 
*"Not worth understanding"?????*

That is BS! Is this forum about woodworking, creativity, and helping others, or is it about critiquing cultures? Free speech aside, these types of comments ought to be kept to oneself & prohibited from the forum to retain its credibility and its integrity.

Perhaps the first sentence in my signature should apply!


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## jraksdhs (Oct 19, 2008)

*Amen....*

to the above comment. And to be clear. Amish are allowed to you use electricity in their shops. He just so happen to buy the farm from another amish family and it didnt have an electrical service and he already was using his alternative method in his previous shop.


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## Ameliacabinetcompany (Apr 9, 2014)

*Drum vs belt*

Thank you all for you insights they're quite helpful. I do believe you mean pneumatic not hydraulic though.


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

back to the op question. we have a single drum, double drum, and wide belt sander in our shop. the differences to me are _mainly_ one - the wide belt oscillates back and forth slightly as it runs. so unlike a drum that will leave lines on the wood, the wide belt does better at line free sanding.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*to elaborate further*



TimPa said:


> back to the op question. we have a single drum, double drum, and wide belt sander in our shop. the differences to me are _mainly_ one - the wide belt oscillates back and forth slightly as it runs. so unlike a drum that will leave lines on the wood, the wide belt does better at line free sanding.


My drum sanders, a 24" and a 12" are very sensitive to heat build up which clogs a small area and leaves a line or raised area on the board. Sometimes a knot will gum up a section of the belt leaving a line. On the dual drum, I run a 100 grit first, then a 180 and that works pretty well, but feeding the depth in very small increments is key.

My buddy who makes raised panel doors, has a 42" wide belt and because of the length of the belt, the osscillation and the great dust collection, heat buildup is far less an issue. He can use grits down to 40 as well for "thicknessing" and it takes about 1 minute to change out the belt. Used belts are great for removing finishes, while the newer belts are used only on raw wood. 

This is an older post, but offers good info. :yes:


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## WillemJM (Aug 18, 2011)

For me the biggest difference between a drum sander and a belt sander is your budget. For the amount of work I do, $1,200 to do 16/32, or 32" widest is barely justifiable for a drum sander. The same capacity for a belt sander entry level starts around $4,000.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I never cared for a drum sander. With either a wide belt or a drum sander occasionally the wood will slip on the conveyer and stall. With a drum sander before you can react to it the drum will burn a dip in the wood which is H to get out. With a wide belt it is more feathered out.


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## Fastback (Sep 2, 2012)

I have the Delta 18-inch drum sander. I don't use it a lot. Seems to take a lot of time to get the job done. It does tend to burn spots. I don't use it on pine the paper loads up too fast. I did some hickory panels a while back and ended out finishing with a hand sander because of the burn marks.

I don't think I would have bought one if I had more information at the time.

Paul


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## retfr8flyr (Aug 7, 2013)

I never had much luck with drum sanders, for all the stated reasons and the heat buildup in the paper. I can't afford a belt sander, so I started looking for alternatives and found the V-Drum style of sander. After doing a lot of research I decided to buy the Flatmaster, a prebuilt metal one from StockRoom Supply, instead of making a wooden one myself. I have this one http://stockroomsupply.ca/shop/drum-sanders/30-flatmaster-2295.html to which I added a Grizzly 1/2 HP motor and power switch. I have been extremely happy with the job it does. I have since added the optional wings to complete the setup

They are not for everyone and still require you to hand feed everything but the sandpaper lasts forever and DC is great. It is called the Flatmaster because everything registers off the flat table so you are sanding everything flat that you put through. It may give you another option if you're not happy with a drum sander.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

IMO, an ideal shop tool for sanding is a stroke sander. I would take one over either a belt or drum sander, except maybe for a Timesaver (tough choice). But produced as good or better results than my 42" vintage 3 phase Beach drum sander.








 







.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

#1 on the stoke sander. They are more versatile. I use mine to sand cabinet doors where I sand the top and bottom rail and turn it around and sand the stiles where there is only a very minimum to sand with an orbital sander. I can also take the legs off of a solid wood table and sand the top. You would never be able to do that with a drum or wide belt sander.


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## Trav (May 30, 2011)

I have a drum sander and love it. I probably haven't sanded as much as the other guys posting here, but I have run hundreds of doors and thicknesses plenty of solid wood for use in projects. Never had a burn mark. I really don't know how it could stall and stop if I were using the machine correctly. I have a. Shop fox like this one:


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