Thread: Which drum sander?

you're looking at two different width capacities
I have a Jet Performaxx 16-32
I think it's a brilliant machine
16 inches (400mm) is, in my opinion, around the minimum practical width

which ever machine you decide on you MUST team it with a dust extractor

Originally Posted by Blackstar1099

Any opinions?

Hi Blackstar,

I am not a luthier and I do not own a drum sander. All I offer is general advice on buying tools.

Unless price is no object, one of the main things to look at is the cost of the consumables. Look at the replacement drum costs on the available suitable models and also at the durability of these items. What may look like a bargain may not be as soon as new consumables are needed. You need to balance out the initial cost against the ongoing cost of keeping the machine in service.

Also look at the features of the machine, but you have to look in the right way. An example is the the minimum thickness that your two machines will sand to. the carbatec machine goes to 6mm, the jet goes to 0.8mm. I imagine a luthier would want a minimum thickness of less than 6mm, This does not rule out the carbatec as you can still run your pieces through on a sheet of MDF or similar to support them and get it down as thin as the grain of the timber will allow.

What I am saying is look at the features and see if there is a suitable and practical work-around for ones that arent up to what you need. look at widths, depths and thicknesses, motor size and power, and as I said in the earlier paragraph, the range and cost of consumables.

Of course the final choice is up to you, but over teh years I have found that it is better to buy the machine that will do MORE than you think you will need rather than get the one that will just do what you need now. Leave a bit of room for "growth"

Hope this helps.

Doug

I was considering the JET 10-20 about 12 months ago - missed out on a few used ones that sold for almost the new price....

When it came time to buy I actually ended up getting a new JET 16-32 instead. A much more capable machine in many ways, and all for just an extra $200??? A complete no-brainer IMHO.

I looked at the Carbatec unit many times, and really couldn't find anything wrong with it. The head assembly seemed nice and sturdy, but online reviews are very variable indeed. Some people seem to swear by this machine, others swear at it . It seems universally agreed that the dust port on the Carbatec machine is too small, and several users have modified this by cutting a larger hole in the plastic lid to take a 4" port.

Most people I know who have the JET 16-32 seem happy with it (provided you take the time to set it up properly), and I'm glad I spent the extra $$$ to get this machine.

Thanks for the info guys! I'll think I'll go for the Jet 16-32. I didn't realize it was only $200 more and yes I will be getting a 2HP dust extractor as well.

Originally Posted by Blackstar1099

Thanks for the info guys! I'll think I'll go for the Jet 16-32. I didn't realize it was only $200 more and yes I will be getting a 2HP dust extractor as well.

Get a cyclone too. With the amount of dust the 16/32's generate you will not regret it, especially when it comes to clean-up time for bags and filters.

Picked up the Jet 16-32 drum sander and the Carbartec dust extractor this morning.



After a few hours of setting up both I tried a few passes on a rosewood fretboard blank that was too thick. It came out perfect. I didn't have to do any alignments. It took only 5 minutes to take a few mill off. Then I tried a mahogany body blank I had glued up. I tried a crude router sled jig a while ago and ended up accidentally taking out about a 5mm chunk out of the middle. After a half hour or so it came out dead flat. It was a little too wide for the drum sander so I just planed of the high part of the left edge and I'll run a few passes through again. I'll be making an Gibson SG style out of this one.



I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship

Cleaned out the dusty yet?

Originally Posted by burraboy

Cleaned out the dusty yet?

I haven't had a chance to read any maintenance part of the manuals yet. Do you mean the dust port of the drum sander?

Nice job - congrats on your new toy !

I run my JET 16-32 with the same 2hp Carbatec dusty, but have fitted the pleated filter to mine in place of the standard needlefelt bag. When you are dealing with LOTS of fine sanding dust, you'll find the needlefelt clogs up really quickly giving greatly reduced airflow. With the pleated filter you just rotate the handle to clean it and all the fine dust drops down into the bag. This also avoids the cloud of fine dust that comes off the needlefelt bag when you turn the dusty on......and you get a higher and more consistent airflow as well.

The other alternative, as suggested by burraboy, is to get a cyclone so that most of the dust is separated out before it gets to your dusty.

A cyclone or the pleated filter will probably cost much the same by the time you have everything plumbed in.

One of these in fact:

Pleated Filter Cartridge - to suit FM-300 : CARBA-TEC