# DS-1632 Drum Sander, Any Good.



## wm460 (Feb 12, 2012)

I am thinking of purchasing a DS-1632 Drum Sander 

L110 | DS-1632 Drum Sander | machineryhouse.com.au 

and wondering if any one can advise me to there good or bad points.


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## allthunbs (Jun 22, 2008)

wm460 said:


> I am thinking of purchasing a DS-1632 Drum Sander
> 
> L110 | DS-1632 Drum Sander | machineryhouse.com.au
> 
> and wondering if any one can advise me to there good or bad points.


Hi Mark:

I took at look at the link you provided and I'm not confident in the design. I find the extension that holds the drum could be prone to flexing and perhaps vibrations.

I use a "V"-Drum sander and I find the results much more predictable than belt or thicknessing-type sanders. That's the key. If you're looking for a thicknessing sander, you may find the DS1632 quite adequate. But, I use my planer to establish a common thickness and my plane/scraper/sander to remove mill marks. 

You can get info on the "V"-drum sander at .: Stockroom Supply :. Sandpaper | Stockroom Supply and they can put you onto vendors in your neck of the woods.


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## Gene Howe (Jul 10, 2007)

Ron is right on!
I sold my drum sander after numerous attempts to align it....and have it STAY aligned. Used the $$ to get the 30" V Sander from Stockroom supply. Never looked back, and was SO happy to rid myself of that POS sander and the frustration that it caused. 
If a drum sander is an absolute necessity, please save your self countless hours of non-productive fiddling around and, spend the bucks and get one that supports the drum on BOTH ends!
However, as Ron says, a planer and the V Sander is a great combination that can be used for other tasks as well.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi

JUst one more user of the Stockroom supply drum sander..

I would rate it at 1 1/2 stars out of 5 stars..  a 300.oo+ buying error on my part..

===


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## Gene Howe (Jul 10, 2007)

Bob, what doesn't it do that you thought it would? 
I bought it strictly to flatten boards for face to face lamination. Works well for that.
Had a couple of motors so, around $200 was my investment. Well....plus the different grit paper rolls.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Gene

The joke was on me, after getting all the parts and putting it in a cabinet I just didn't like it..but it makes a great place to stack up boxes on. 
But diff. strokes for diff.folks..

===


Gene Howe said:


> Bob, what doesn't it do that you thought it would?
> I bought it strictly to flatten boards for face to face lamination. Works well for that.
> Had a couple of motors so, around $200 was my investment. Well....plus the different grit paper rolls.


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## Gene Howe (Jul 10, 2007)

WOW, Bob. Like everything else you do, that is *NICE*. I definitely see $300 there.
If I didn't already have one, I would be happy to take that one off your hands.


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## allthunbs (Jun 22, 2008)

bobj3 said:


> Hi Gene
> 
> The joke was on me, after getting all the parts and putting it in a cabinet I just didn't like it..but it makes a great place to stack up boxes on.
> But diff. strokes for diff.folks..
> ...


But, what was wrong with it? What didn't it do that you expected it to?


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## allthunbs (Jun 22, 2008)

Hi Mark:

I'm going to take this to the next step.

The amount of material removed is measurable with the V-Drum. For example, with 80 grid sandpaper I can take off 30 thousanths of an inch. With 150 grit I can set it up to take off 10 thou and so on. It is the only sander that allows you to predictably remove material. At one point, Stockroom Supply published a grit table that showed how much each grit would remove.

That said, I still swear by scrapers. I'll work things down with the planer and for a good finish I'll use the scrapers and for paint, I'll use the sander.


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

Hello Mark.... The sander you've linked to is almost identical to an older 16/32 Ryobi drum Sander I have used for several years now. The only difference I can see is that the unit you linked has a decent depth gauge whereas my Ryobi had nothing except a pretty flimsy pointer and sticker. I've since installed a Winn Dixey digital gauge... 

Cons:
Installation of the sandpaper rolls can be a pain in the butt! Not so much on the open end of the drum but more so on the backside. The mechanism used to clamp the paper in place is rather flimsy. It works, it does hold the paper i place as designed, but I think they could have come up with a much better means to do so. 

Depth adjustment as it came from the factory is poor. Again, it works and works ok if close is good enough for you. Even now, with the Winn Dixey digital gauge installed I still reach for a micrometer. Reading are always within a couple .001ths, just old habits i guess..*L*

You need to be very much aware of feed rates and just how much you're taking off with each pass. Trying to take off too much at once and/or feeding your stock too fast will burn and clog up your paper. If you catch it early enough, you can save your paper and save yourself alot of extra work with your work piece. If you don't, the sand paper can be almost impossible to clean up and you run the risk of running a good size 'groove' down your stock. This is something you can run into with most types of drum sanders. I can't speak to the "V" type of sanders mentioned earlier. Here's just another version of the "v" type sanders..

Sand-Flee Drum Sander

Neutrals: 
Cost of sand paper is reasonable. Even better when you but it in 100 foot rolls. Make yourself a jig to get the right taper on both ends and cut to length.
Dust extraction is fair to good. I'm sure this will depend on how you go about it. But it is an absolute necessity!!!! Don't even think about not using some kind of dust collection.. even with, some sort of dusk mask isn't a bad idea..
Noise level is nothing out of the ordinary... ear protection isn't a bad idea..
The mat that the wood rides on can get slippery and needs occasional cleaning or just a good dusting off with a shop brush. They do wear out and need to be replaced occasionally. 

Pros:
Set up is easy!!! 
Operation is straight forward. With the only real learning curve being getting used to feed rate and just how much you try to take off.
Finish when used correctly can be excellent!!! At 220/240/320 grits you can end up with a ready to go surface. This just depends on how "picky" you are. 
I've had no problems with any kind of snipe. 

Parts for my Ryobi are becoming increasingly difficult to get. I cut all of my own sand paper or use Jet's 16/32 paper (a bit more expensive, but good quality) I bought my sander used and found that it would not give me a perfectly parallel surface. The open end was always .007-.010 higher than the closed end. I easily corrected this with a couple paper shims. I like mine enough that when it finally craps out, I will look for another of the same design. 

HTH
bill


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## wm460 (Feb 12, 2012)

Thanks for your replies,It certinaly gives me some thing to think about.
I was did wonder about it only being supported on one end. 
I sent Stockroom Supply's an email to see what there shipping is. 

With the V drum sander and the Sand-Flee Drum Sander is the any problem of the timber timber lifting up as it passes over the drum?

Sand-Flee Drum Sander, not at the Aussie price :fie::fie:

http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&r...moXcCw&usg=AFQjCNEY08AQCFzn289yXRRq7JeyBTCfWQ


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