# Dual Drum Sanders



## Bellarosecabinets (Jan 28, 2017)

Ok so I can't fit a wide belt and I'm not going to spend 10k on one either so I am down to two dual drum sanders.
Grizzly G1066R - 24" Drum Sander, the same as SHOP FOX W1678 5 HP 26-Inch Drum Sander with little differences.
Or 
Delta 31-481 Drum Sander, the same as Baileigh Industrial Sd-255 220v Single Phase 3 Hp 25" X 5" Drum Sander, same as WOODTEK 25" DUAL DRUM SANDER
same as MSANDS26X2-3-0320, Laguna Tools DDS|26 Sander.

I will ask about it but the price may disqualify it. 

or

Powermatic 1791290 25 In. Dual Drum Sander, 5 HP, 1PH, 230 V

thoughts on?

The SuperMax 25x2 Double Drum Sander – Single Phase but I really don't like how it looks but if you have thoughts I would like to here.


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## Bellarosecabinets (Jan 28, 2017)

Super Max


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

hold out for the wide belt sander. we spent 10k for a 37" safety speed new, but you can find used ones. sold the grizzly dual drum sander. trust me, you will thank me for that advice.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*I have a General 24" dual drum*



TimPa said:


> hold out for the wide belt sander. we spent 10k for a 37" safety speed new, but you can find used ones. sold the grizzly dual drum sander. trust me, you will thank me for that advice.


This is a very nice sander and well made. However, it is very finicky and will not take a very deep cut without stalling and burning a groove in the surface. 

A "stroke" sander would be a better deal IF you can't afford a wide belt:
http://www.grizzly.com/products/Stroke-Sander/G5394?utm_campaign=zPage&utm_source=grizzly.com

Or this with more features:
http://www.grizzly.com/products/6-x...679?utm_campaign=zPage&utm_source=grizzly.com

It has a lot of length in the belt to distribute the heat and distributes the pressure over a much wider area than a drum. The drum has a concentrated pressure area and relies on the moving belt carrying the wood to avoid burning. How do I know this? ..because I own one.


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## David_Siebert (Nov 15, 2016)

...anything that says Grizzly on it is a good choice. If you have questions about which model to choose give a call to the engineering guys in Springfield, they've been very helpful to us. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk


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## Larry42 (Jan 10, 2014)

If this is just for hobby work you may think it is a solution. Changing paper takes much longer than either a wide belt or a stroke sander and needs to be done a lot more often. Depth of cut is very little per pass, OK if you don't have anything else to do. A stroke sander will give you a better finish, a wide belt will be much faster. If you're still set on the drum sander look around for used. Many people give up on them and are willing to sell cheap.


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## Catpower (Jan 11, 2016)

A couple years ago I made the dive and bought the Grizzly stroke sander, it is the regular one not the convertible, man I love that machine, yesterday I was having a brain fart sanding some doors with RO sanders, then ding ding dipstick you own a stroke sander,damn it is so much faster it is unbelievable, and with a 220 belt, the wood is almost polished, it is as smooth as 400 with w RO sander

I paid about $1500 delivered, and it has been worth it even though I am retired and my labor is free LOL


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

woodnthings said:


> This is a very nice sander and well made. However, it is very finicky and will not take a very deep cut without stalling and burning a groove in the surface.



is this comment referring to the safety speed? if so, just curious in what way do you find yours finicky?


fwiw, wide belt sanders are not intended as thickness planers.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*General Internation 24" dual drum*



TimPa said:


> is this comment referring to the safety speed? if so, just curious in what way do you find yours finicky?
> 
> 
> *fwiw, wide belt sanders are not intended as thickness planers.*


This is the one I have:
http://www.general.ca/products/1_general/15_sander/15-250.html

As far the dual drum, being a thickness planer, no, but a wide belt with a 36 grit will take down a surface easily and depending on the wood, up to 1/16" depth.

My buddy down the road has a 42" three phase which I have seen him use many times to surface a door or laminated tops he has made. Changing belt grits is quick and easy and he keeps some worn ones on hand for Pine and other problematic surfaces, maybe one with staples or other fasteners.

The depth on my General is super finicky and sometimes less than 1/4 turn is too much of a cut, so I am always creeping up on the depth of pass. As long as I am careful, it works just fine, but it's definitely a learning curve. Also changing the paper is a real pain. When you get a "gum" streak on the drum, that is left as a high spot on the work. They are not easily removed with the gum rubber eraser either, and that is a rather dangerous operation in itself.


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## Bellarosecabinets (Jan 28, 2017)

So let me say that I already have a grizzly 24" spiral head planer so I don't need a sander to do what a planer does. So it will not have anything but 220 sand paper on it. Also, I owned a 25" dual drum steel city and loved it they do not make a dual drum anymore. But look like they sold the rights to everyone else on the planet that was the Delta, Luagan, Baileigh and Woodtek. It was a great sander but I just want thoughts on what people like the most but it looks like that everyone hates drum sanders.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Unless you are doing long lengths I would rather have a stroke sander.


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## Bellarosecabinets (Jan 28, 2017)

To fix the problem with drum sander someone really needs to make one that is water cooled and replaceable drums on one end. I have seen one drum sander that can do this but it was a home built drum sander.


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## Bellarosecabinets (Jan 28, 2017)

Yes I am sanding long length boards and cabinet doors


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

With enough practice on a stroke sander you can sand the stiles and rails of a cabinet door with little or no cross grain marks. I worked at several cabinet shops that did all the sanding on a stroke sander and never sanded any of it with an orbital sander. 

When I make doors I make actual raised panel doors. You can't sand a door like that with a drum sander.


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## Bellarosecabinets (Jan 28, 2017)

Why can't you sand raised panel doors on a drum sander?


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Bellarosecabinets said:


> Why can't you sand raised panel doors on a drum sander?


The term raised panel door means the face of the door panel is raised above the face of the stiles and rails. When shops started using timesaver and drum sanders to sand their cabinet doors it was necessary to make the face of the panel flush with the door frame. They still called it a raise panel doors but the term is incorrect.


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## TimPa (Jan 27, 2010)

the greatest advantage of wide belt over dual drum is the finish. the paper on the dual drum would always get spots where (the glue I think)) removed some of the grit on the paper/drum. this would leave lines down the length of the wood which needed to be sanded off. the wide belt oscillates left and right so any unsanded spot on the wood is sanded by the paper behind it. we leave 80 grit in our machine. 


yes Bill we also do some thicknessing with the wide belt, but that is not its strength. we use it to thickness down to 1/6" when we need to make veneer. our planer doesn't do that well.


the wide belt shines on sanding glued up stile and rail assemblies.


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## woodnthings (Jan 24, 2009)

*It's about the contact area ...*



Bellarosecabinets said:


> To fix the problem with drum sander someone really needs to make one that is water cooled and replaceable drums on one end. I have seen one drum sander that can do this but it was a home built drum sander.


The drum is only touching the work along a very small contact area even though the drum is spinning fast and the belt is moving the work underneath it can still stall and burn if everything is not working perfectly. Mine does a beautiful job IF I have everything set just right.


I don't think water cooling is the answer to a limited contact area.
Replaceable drums sounds like a cool idea to save time when changing grits, but that would get real expensive and require a "one armed" or cantilevered type machine.

Dust builds on the conveyor belt and may cause the work to slip if not removed immediately also. I wipe the conveyor belt with brake cleaner to remove any residue and refresh the rubber. If you had good luck with the dual drum, then there's nothing wrong with getting one. They just have a learning curve as I stated before.


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## Larry42 (Jan 10, 2014)

Many stroke sanders have cantilevered arms that permit through sanding of long work. I can sand a 4X8' sheet on mine. I leave 150 grit belt on and it produces a ready to finish surface that is much better than a random orbit sander with the same grit. Paid $200 for it at auction, it didn't need any work done. I've got a 36" widebelt that is often used for taking material down in thickness, 40 grit. It won't do it very fast because it only has 20 HP. Nice thing about abrasive planning is no chip outs. I don't have a 36" wide planer. I think all the ones you pictured are Chinese except maybe the Super Max.


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## retfr8flyr (Aug 7, 2013)

Bellarosecabinets, if you are going to use it for finish sanding have you considered an oscillating drum sander? I have the Jet 22-44 OSC and it does a fabulous job, without any burning problems. It doesn't seem to load up the paper like a non oscillating sander does and being a cantilevered design, gives you the 44 inch capability. I find I don't even need to go to 220 grit, the 180 grit comes out so smooth it's not necessary.


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## Larry42 (Jan 10, 2014)

Wide belt & drum sanders produce cross grain scratches that must be taken out. Usually with a random orbit hand held sander. Takes more time than if you just run your stock through the molder and get an excellent ripple free surface. Accurately machine the door parts and you can quickly random orbit the face and not have to fight cross grain scratches.


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## Bellarosecabinets (Jan 28, 2017)

Oscillating sander and drum sander are not the same thing and don't do the same job but a good thought


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## retfr8flyr (Aug 7, 2013)

Did you look at the Jet? It's a single drum sander with oscillation. It can be used with, or without the oscillation feature. I know it's a single, not a dual drum, or a belt sander but it really does a great job finishing and like I said, the oscillation feature seems to keep the paper from getting hot spots and burning.


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## Bellarosecabinets (Jan 28, 2017)

"Replaceable drums sounds like a cool idea to save time when changing grits, but that would get real expensive and require a "one armed" or cantilevered type machine.
''

This is already what a wide belt sander does it has a floating end that is on a fast bolt system. 

For the water cooling, it is time, not surface area. A wide belt gives time to the sander paper to cool before making contact again with the wood. That is way most drum sanders have aluminum drums,
If it was the cost they would use steel, stronger, harder and cheaper. "Stronger yes and no" let's not get into metal chemistry if you want that lesson I can explain metals plastic deformation.


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## Bellarosecabinets (Jan 28, 2017)

woodnthings said:


> The drum is only touching the work along a very small contact area even though the drum is spinning fast and the belt is moving the work underneath it can still stall and burn if everything is not working perfectly. Mine does a beautiful job IF I have everything set just right.
> 
> 
> I don't think water cooling is the answer to a limited contact area.
> ...




Sorry the message above is referring to this quote.


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