Thread: Carbatec 600 mm wide sander

hereward, did you ever buy that sander? if so are you happy with it - I am also considering the Carbatec or the Hafco 600mm drum sander. cheers Peter

No, not yet, still getting the other equipment together. I am somewhat discourage by the fact that only relatively course grits are available.

There are grits up to #400 available from Hafco. They are simply strips of suitable abrasive material cut to 80mm width, which you spiral wind around the drum. Years ago I worked at Hermes Abrasives in Melbourne, and we used to sell lots of these. Any abrasives supplier will be able to cut them to any width, the Sandpaper Man (online) should also be able to help. I have not yet made my purchase, I am still trying to figure out a way to get the thing through the door without management noticing...

hello hereward
we brought a 625mm drum sander last year at the Deloraine community shed and we used 80/60 grits but now we use 80 grit on both drums, and then go to 80 grit on the RO SANDER it seems to work very well.

regards john

hello hereward
correction on the drum sander grits we now use 60 grit on both drums

john t

The Sandpaper man here sells various grits in the correct width strips. If you buy by the metre, it's a lot cheaper than cut lengths at C-tec.
While drum sanders are good, they are not for fine sanding. Anything much finer than 240 will clog up pretty well straight away.

We use 80grit in a Performax 22/44 at the Bundaberg Woodworkers, I also like to finish it off afterwards with #120 with an RO sander and then even with finer grades with a sanding block.

Originally Posted by AlexS

The Sandpaper man here sells various grits in the correct width strips. If you buy by the metre, it's a lot cheaper than cut lengths at C-tec.
While drum sanders are good, they are not for fine sanding. Anything much finer than 240 will clog up pretty well straight away.

I have used finer grits but you need to keep cleaning the paper with the big rubber stick on almost every pass. It also depends on the timber. Resinous timbers will be obviously worst of all but it you accidentally take too big a bite you will get burning in even the best and driest hardwoods.