Look what I found!

[RodKirby]

You guys have it too...

http://www.woodwrighttools.com/store...965bfdc9190b46

Made in Taiwan by the same people that made my Table saw!
http://www.maoshan.com/p4_ds-1632a.htm

[rickd]

thanks for the heads up, rod. that's a very good price for 16" drum sander - especially like the open end enabling 32" sanding!

[cgallery]

Are people using these in place of surface planers? Or are they really just for sanding?

Thanks,
Phil

[drumpriest]

These sanders have a multitude of uses. You could thickness with them, but that would take a LONG time. But if you need to thickness a piece of curly maple, you plane it oversize, and finish it with the drum sander, no tear out. You can sand large panels through these, or you can flatten panels. You can sand off band saw blade marks for resawing or creating veneers.

This is one of those tools that once you get one, you'll ask yourself how you ever lived without it. I dont' have one, but "borrow" one from a local guy's shop. It's on the top of my wish list.

[monte]

Attractive pricing too. Thanks for posting it Rod.

[Ken Massingale]

Hummmmm, if Amazon doesn't get off the pot soon and ship my Performax I may have to look at this seriously.
Thanks Rod

[Stan]

I agree with Keith. Once you have access to a drum sander, it's hard to imagine working without one.

As far as being used as a thicknesser -- it all depends on the power of the unit. We have 3 drum sanders at work -- all in the 48" plus width range.
One is used for thicknessing door stiles/rails to size. Using 36 grit on the drum, it can easily take off up to 1/4" of stock per pass. Granted, these are not standard 'home-shop' sanders. For home-shop use, I'd think that a standard blade thicknesser in combination with a drum sander would be just the ticket.

[drumpriest]

Stan, are those "drum" sanders or "wide belt" sanders?? One has a wrap of a strip of sand paper, the other uses giant sanding belts.

[Stan]

Stan, are those "drum" sanders or "wide belt" sanders?? One has a wrap of a strip of sand paper, the other uses giant sanding belts.

Wide belt.

[beetee3]

Strewth, Rod! Another toy store in me own back yard, and I've never heard of them before. Might have to go take a looksie...

[beetee3]

Caveat emptor

Well that was an interesting trip . A quick google for Woodwright Tools, San Jose produced a map pointing to a funky round building. It turns out that the funky round building is actually Oakridge School, and it is in the middle of a residential area. No sign of any businesses operating in that neighborhood. I guess it could be someone operating out of a back bedroom?

I did a bit more digging and came across this thread

Smells fishy to me.