Thread: Drum Sanders

Hey Chook,

I have a Leda 25" drum sander & like all my Lead machinery, it is fantastic.

I am telling you this to give you another option to consider.

Back to your original question, just at a glance, I noticed the Carbatec has a 50watt feed motor, where the H&F & the Leda have a 1/8hp which equates to about 93.2 watts.

Also, from my experience, Leda are more willing to negotiate their price than some other companies.

Horizontal Drum Sanders : LEDACRAFT DS-1632A 16 INCH (406mm) SINGLE DRUM SANDER

ALSO, you have the Brisbane Wood Show 18 - 20 may, buy it there & compare them in the same place.

Steve

The Jet are worth that much more as they are that much better.

I always wonder why when companies copy a machine they copy the one from about 10 years earlier , where if they copied the later models they would have an equal machine.

Originally Posted by Jim Carroll

The Jet are worth that much more as they are that much better.

I always wonder why when companies copy a machine they copy the one from about 10 years earlier , where if they copied the later models they would have an equal machine.

I will wait till the Wood Show and have a look.

I never really considered a Leda machine until now.

Over several years of looking & wishing I had the room, my impression is that Jet is trying to cheapen their drum sander as quickly as possible - I have been particularly un-impressed with the top cover/dust collection hood, which seems to get flimsier & made of poorer quality plastic every year.

The price difference would pay for a pretty flash new top from a ducting/sheet metal shop if you couldn't make your own.

I own several Jet machines including a table saw & drill press which I really like.

Originally Posted by chook

Hare and Forbes and Carbatec both sell a 16 inch drum sander. So far as I can see they are both the same except for a few minor specs and the price. Does anybody have experience of these machines. If they are the same then I will go with the cheaper one.

I hope nobody will try to make me sad by telling me how much better the Jet sanders are unless of course you are going to give me the extra $600 required to buy one. Sometimes (most times) what I buy has to take into account the money I have to spend.

I have the Carbatec machine. Its a decent quality machine that appeared to me to be similar to the Jet. I am happy with mine and definitely do not regret not buying the Jet 16-32. If I was going to pay a lot of money for a drum sander I would look at the jet 22-44, which is in a different price bracket again.

Now, you do NOT need a 4" dust outlet and big dust extractor for these drum sanders if you have a decent vac. However, the average shop vac is not be the best to use. I use a Festool CT-26 with a dust deputy ( which fills surprisingly quickly) and there are no issues at all with dust from the machine. The Festool on full power has a tremendous flow rate and can handle the 16-32 drum sander. However, trying it with a wall mounted Shop Vac with 2" hose, did not yield the same results. It still worked but I had to clean the sanding belt occasionally and it had more wood dust build up than with the Festool vac.

I have a 1200 cfm dust extractor which I suppose I could use by modifying the dust outlet on the sander, But I also have a INOX-36 Dust Extractor which seems to suck a fair bit of air and I suspect would do the job okay. Carbatec have sold a lot of their 16 inch sanders and I suppose lots of people must be happy with them. I hope I turn out to be one of them.

When you use the thing to sand boards wider then 16 inches by making two passes how does that work? Do you get good results?

I have been seriously considering a drum sander for several months now.
The Leda is only slightly cheaper than the Jet 10-20 and for my interest the smaller size is fine if it gives me better quality.
The H&F/Carbatec/Leda design just seems to be a bit flimsy with that large open casting.
I wonder about the chances of Jet machines being on sale around the Sydney show.

Originally Posted by chook

I have a 1200 cfm dust extractor which I suppose I could use by modifying the dust outlet on the sander, But I also have a INOX-36 Dust Extractor which seems to suck a fair bit of air and I suspect would do the job okay. Carbatec have sold a lot of their 16 inch sanders and I suppose lots of people must be happy with them. I hope I turn out to be one of them.

When you use the thing to sand boards wider then 16 inches by making two passes how does that work? Do you get good results?

Sanding boards wider than 16" eg coffee table top, can produce good results. Alignment of the drum is paramount here, but it is possible to get it right. It can be a pain to align though. I have used it a fair bit like this