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I got the approval to buy a drum sander so I'm looking for recommendations. How small can I go and how good are the Jets and Shop Foxes?

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

i have a clayton for 22 years never had a problem , made in usa. works flawlessly, Check forums for reviews of different brands your looking for and your budget.

A thickness sander or oscillating spindle sander?

For a thickness sander, the Jet 10-20 is large enough to handle small shop luthiery tasks and was the primary thickness sander in this shop for the first 7 years of operation. Keep in mind that the older Performax 10-20 had some issues with elevation screw failures, so worth looking for the Jet-branded item.

Used Performax/Jet 16-32 models can be found, but worth the extra money to get a model with the Jet branding and SandSmart variable feed speed technology for the work we do. Our current sander is a 22-44 ODS model and is excellent...but just over $2200 and requires a dust collection system that can handle the volume of fine dust generated. The jump from hobby equipment to industrial equipment in the Jet thickness sander line occurs between the 16-32 and 22-44, so the 10-20 and 16-32 are very similar in use...just a little more width for the 16-32.

For an oscillating spindle sander, the Ridgid Edge/Belt Spindle sander is just $200 and quite good. The Jet bench-top JBOS-5 was in the shop when I arrived...odd-sized spindles, poor alignment, and generally poor construction...all at close to $600 after paying for the optional larger 3" spindle. After a year or so, the boss dumped the Jet and opted for the Grizzly GO-1071...excellent sander with the right sizes and lengths of spindles, but close to $1000. If just starting out, the $200 Ridgid is perfect and can be sold for 2/3's of purchase price when you are ready to upgrade.

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Agreed about the budget. That and the amount of space you have will drive a lot of the decision. Many people get by with the 10-20’s and just take multiple passes. I have a 16-32 which can do plates up to about a 000 in one pass but I have to do two passes on bigger instruments.

I bought a Jet used. It’s been a good machine.

Hope that helps.

Brad


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A few thoughts:

1. If you are committed to buying the smallest thickness sander that is still useful for guitar making, the Jet 10-20 is a good pick. You can thickness sand everything that goes on a guitar with one of those. I used to own one, and it worked great. The one hassle is that, for joined tops and backs, you have to tilt the drum a small amount and run the top or back through twice, once for each half. The tilt is necessary to avoid a ridge being sanded into the top/back by the outer edge of the sandpaper.

2. Moving to any sort of thickness sander means investing in dust collection. You absolutely have to do this. So, count on spending that money, too, if you have not already.

3. I used to own the 10-20 (as I said), and I currently own something bigger (Performax Shop Pro 25), and I far prefer the larger sander. I can do everything I used to do before, plus I can take a pass on joined tops/backs without flipping them around and running them through twice. So, bigger is better, in my view.

4. Consider a larger used sander, if you can find one. You should be able to find a larger used one that is around the same price as a new 10-20, or not much more.

5. If you have to buy new, I honestly think you would do better to not shoot for the smallest possible sander. If I were buying a new one today, I would look at the cantilevered Supermax or Jet sanders that fall in the 18-19" range. They really aren't that much more expensive than the 10-20, but you get a much nicer sander (in my opinion). Nothing against the 10-20; it works fine. But being able to handle a joined top/back is a very nice step up.

I've been looking for a used Supermax or Jet 16-32 for over a year. Not a lot locally here in SW MT. I passed on one that I should have bought.

But broke down this weekend and ordered a Supermax 16-32 from AcmeTools.com (no sales tax in MT and free shipping from Acme). It will replace the DIY drum sander that sits on top of my table saw and uses the TS motor. I'm looking forward to having a dedicated tool and getting my TS back for occasional tasks.

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Tony Thatcher
Bozeman, Montana

I'm considering the Jet 16 32. That way I'll only have one little line to hand sand on the rear but of a dread. Make sense.

If I chose that would a cheap dust collector be ok if it's just used for this with a short hose?

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Well, "OK" is a relative term, and depends on your goals. Dust collection is about two different things: cleaning up the nuisance of sawdust, and protecting your health. Just about any dust collector that uses a 4" hose will hook up to a drum sander and deal with most, if not all, of the nuisance dust. The harder part is protecting your health against the really tiny particles. Big sawdust is a nuisance; small particle sawdust will kill you if you breath enough of it. You can buy a small but powerful Harbor Freight dust collector, get a garbage can separator lid and a decent air filter bag, some 4" hose, and it will work. Spending more on something bigger will work better.

Agree with Don. I was surprised how much dust the drum sander kicks out. It should be obvious considering what it’s doing, I guess.

I have a harbor freight dust collector like Don mentioned. I’m having a sub panel and 220 run to the basement soon so I can update to a cyclone from Clear Vue.

It’s like a non-stop spending spree!!


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I'm afraid all of these power requirements are beyond what I can do in a rented place. 1 15Amp circuit in the garage is all I have.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

That's probably not going to work, then. You need both machines (drum sander and dust collector) running at the same time.

Maybe hand planing and/or visiting someone with a drum sander is the way to go.

Another possibility, but I don't recommend it: Roll the drum sander outside and use it with no dust collection, but wear a respirator. It will make a bloody mess, and it will probably wear out the sandpaper quicker. And your neighbors will hate you for spitting out that much dust. But at least the dust will not be in your garage.

I used a Shop-Vac on a drum sander in my high rise apartment. Use two different circuits. It works okay to get the occasional job done. You can use the bathroom or kitchen GFI 20 amp circuit as well. Not good for air quality though. You'll want to evacuate the air and or use a HEPA filter. Not ideal, but workable when you're starting out.

Having a Festool shop vac was a nice luxury on the decibel level. It's a big investment for a Vac but it's really nice, and when you upgrade your dust collection you can still use it in the shop. I love using it every time I turn it on.

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Pat

If I move this operation to the basement, I have more circuits to use. None of them are 20A. So I'm thinking if I get the jet mini or 10-20 i can run that just fine. Next i need the best 15A DC i can get. I'd love to get the Festool vac if it would be adequate. The i could also get their ROS.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I have the jet 10-20 and LOVE IT. I do make multiple passes when needed.you can adjust the tilt of the drum so that the end of the wheel is almost invisible in the work piece. Even if you get a very slight Ridge it comes out with 2-3 mins w a card scraper. Imo totally worth the saving.

I haven’t owned a larger one, it for a small shop like mine the 10-20 is the perfect machine.
Also, It rubs just fine on my basements sparse wiring without requiring any new breakers.
I run from 15 amp just like you. No tripping.

I purchased mine on amazon w prime shipping????


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Oh for dust collection I use a shop vac and a dust deputy. Cheap and works great.


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Fantastic. I'll look into the dust deputy.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Sorry misread your post. I have a performax 16-32 it was 800 $ tn 1996 , I use it with 60 grit paper . I would never buy another one, a total PITA IMHO. Totally biased on this . If I was to start over .I would invest in a few good planes and do the job , by hand, Sometimes you can find a used machine on FB marketplace or CL. Full disclosure I have a woodmaster 36 in single drum sander for 8 years, great machine and excellent customer service . They also have smaller 25 in models that can be found on the used market. Good luck

Is this the benchtop mini?

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

In the interest of keeping things small, couldn't I sand them before joining and then carefully glue them paying close attention to keeping the seam level? This small machine would be perfect for all other luthier related parts like sides and purfling' bindings and other stuff. Leveling a rosette may be a problem but I could get it close and finish with a ROS. I just don't want to be surprised by chatter or cheap parts breaking on me. I can afford a better machine if I have to.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

Just my opinion, but... I wouldn't want to get the plates close to final thickness and then try to join them. I would be worried that any little slip and I would be stuck with trying to get them back apart and jointing them again.

If you're worried about taking multiple passes, I wouldn't stress about that too much. Make sure the paper is pulled tightly into the clip to try to avoid (as much as possible) the hump from the bend in the paper. Take light passes and flip it multiple times without lowering the drum at all. It should be fine.

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Thank you. This will leave me money for a list of other things I need as well. Dust Deputy for my shop Vac, auto switch, hoses, clamps and cleaning sticks to start with. I also need a good ROS, oscillating vertical drum sander and possibly a small drill press. I have an 8" drill press but I find it to be too small to use spade bits in.

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Hutch

Get the heck off the couch and go build a guitar!!!!

I have an old Ryobi 16 /32 drum sander, and unless I went Pro and found a great deal on a better sander it is all I will ever need. It does have it's idiosyncrasies (but so do I). I use it out of doors (no near neighbors) and remove the drum cover and use a dust brush to remove the dust as the drum is spinning. A light breeze blowing in the right direction is a welcome addition.
When the weather is inclement or I have too much junk piled in from of the drum sander, another approach I use is to use a bench top planer to plane each side individually, leaving the wood a little thick, glue the pieces together, use a #4 smoother and/or R.O. sander to perfect the "show" side and install the rosette in it, then flip it over and use a hand plane and R.O. sander to final thickness it.
The close spacing on the rollers of bench top planers makes them a little safer to use than large planers for planing thin stock. Planing highly figured wood is not a great idea, but for normal stuff they work fine. Around here (Delmarva) they usually go for about $100 for good used machines.

The Dust Deputy is unnecessary. I'm not sure how much fine sanding dust it would pick up anyways.

I would say get the biggest drum sander you have room for. I had a jet 10/20 which was adequate, but the fuse on it kept blowing which was annoying. Even with very light passes. You had to wait until it stopped and hit the reset button. I had heard other people having the same problem but others did not. I did really appreciate getting a bigger one.

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Pat

I disagree I get ZERO sanding dust when thickness sanding while using my vac w the dust deputy
The 10/20 has been great with moderate use for a year now


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I've had the Jet 10-20 for close to 10 years. My shop is small so I don't have room for a larger sander. The 10-20 does a good job but you have to use small increments, I usually use about 0.005" to 0.010" per pass. As a result it does take a fair amount of time to thin the wood but I've learned to be patient and it works for me.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"