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| Home: Tools & Hardware: Performax 628900 Mini 10"x20" Benchtop Drum Sander |
Performax 628900 Mini 10"x20" Benchtop Drum Sander- Amazon |
The Right Tool
2005-10-19
Just the tool I was looking for...big performance in a small package.
An excellent sander for small work.
2005-10-10
After reading many of the reviews I was a little hesitant to purchase this sander but with 30 years of mechanical experience behind me I decided I could fix it no matter what. Was I ever dissapointed - there was nothing wrong with this sander! The tracking was perfect, belt tension dead on, and the sanding drum was set within .003". I build small items. I wanted something to take out planer marks and resaw imperfections on small pieces. It does this perfectly. I don't know how large a hunk of wood would be realistic to try and sand but for small boxes, toys, splines and the like it is perfect.
Works well and quieter then expected.
2005-09-15
I was impressed with the 10-20 drum sander. It came properly adjusted and flattened my segments for bowl turnings in a snap. If it had been a little lighter I could have changed it out with my planer and let them share a stand, however it now has a roller base of its own.
It actually only had one piece to assemble even though the instructions indicated that the belt guides needed installing. They were already in place but it took a bit to discover that. 
Motor Needs Improvement
2005-07-27
I've been using this tool for several months now doing both exterior trim (Western Red Cedar) and interior trim (Douglas Fir) for a house I'm building. I've also had a chance to run some Teak and Mahogany through my machine. Overall the results have been outstanding, but the machine is somewhat frustrating to use at times.
My biggest beef is the drum motor thermal cutoff. As previous reviewers have stated, it's extremely sensitive to even the slightest overload. Here's an example: I was running a cedar 2x6 through, using an 80 grit belt. I advanced the depth adjustment ~1/4 turn (~ 1/128th of an inch) after a previously successful pass. It gets about halfway through the board when the protection circuit shuts down the motor. At this point you get to stand around twiddling your thumbs for 1-2 minutes waiting for the breaker to reset itself. Are they joking? 1/128th of an inch in a very soft wood like cedar is an overload? This is typical. I don't know if I got an overly sensitive machine, but I can't recall a session where it didn't shut down at least once on me. I have a planer, so I don't use this for heavy stock removal. If you have ideas about using this machine as a substitute for a planer, you have a mountain of grief lying in wait. Another frustration is belt tracking. It took a while for me to get the drive belt running true. It seemed like just when you had it, something would stretch or shift and it would go out of wack again. The adjustment mechanism is sort of a Mickey Mouse affair, making the frequent adjustments that much more of a pain. I will say though that the belt now seems to have stabilized and it's been running true for some time now. Luckily I haven't seen any of the severe wear other reviewers have experienced, becuase replacing the drive belt is an expensive proposition. A final annoyance is snipe, but this has a lot to do with technique. I typically use my machine with roller stands on each side. If a board reaches the end of the stand and drops or bounces a bit, it can produce a nasty mid-length snipe. These cause one to groan especially hard because the whimpy motor means you might be looking at 5-6 additional passes to get rid of the damage. I've now learned to be very careful to support the workpiece as it feeds in and out. Currently I don't have the optional table extensions installed. I have a feeling they would help the situation. On the upside, the results have been well worth all the effort. This machine leaves an unbelievably uniform surface. It's just the ticket for removing mill glaze and planer marks leaving a surface ready for final finish. The dust collection is also a plus. These machines make a huge amount of very fine dust. Even when only hooked to a shop vac, the dust chute picks up almost all the dust. I would think hooking it to a 4in shop line would be even more effective. Another plus is the belt installation. It goes about as smoothly as you could expect and the Tuff-Tool they include does come in quite handy. Once you get the hang of it, you can change belts in probably around a minute or two. 
Huge Disappointment
2005-05-12
When I saw this tool advertised, it was just what I wanted. A compact sander to do finish work. I was excited when I bought this tool and when it arrived it appeared to be an excellent piece of equipment. It looks like a well engineered and well built piece of equipment. Then I tried using it. I always thought Performax to be a good manufacturer of machinery and had little doubt that this would be a quality piece of equipment. I have been a semi-professional woodworker for over 25 years and have purchased equipment made by numerous manufacturers. I have never been more disappointed with a purchase than this one. The manufacturer states that it can be used for stock removal and comes with a 60 grit belt installed. As I said, I wanted it for finish sanding and replaced the belt with a 120 grit. A 1/4 turn on the height adjustment knob is stated as a cut of 1/32 of an inch. However, this sander can not take off 1/64 of an inch of relatively soft stock without throwing the internal breaker on the motor. The 1 HP motor does not appear to be under strain, but it continually throws the breaker-even with an incredibly light cut. No way can this tool be used for stock removal.
It took me over an hour to get the infeed belt to track correctly and after about 30 minutes of use the abrasive began to peel off the belt at the seam. I can't get the drum set up parallel to the infeed belt to sand stock wider than 10" and get an acceptably smooth surface. I have adjusted it numerous times according to the instruction manual but can not get it to work. I can not begin to describe how frustrating this machine is to use. It looks good in my shop, but it is a useless piece of equipment as it simply does not work.  Read for more: http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html%3FASIN=B...
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