Which Drum Sander is Best for You?

What Drum Sanders Are

Drum sanders have horizontally computed single or dual drums over a sanding belt. They are surrounded by abrasive strips to remove unwanted imperfections. Although these are not the best for removing a lot of surface at once, they have different functions that can come in handy to you. Drum sanders can give a fine finish, give a flat surface to surfaces or furniture, smooth out floors made of hardwood, and can give an exact thickness for thinner sanding works. These drum sanders should not be used to remove stock, only to finish your surface, because it can lead to bigger problems like damaged or burned/overheated surfaces. 

Types of Drum Sanders

Open drum sanders and closed drum sanders are the two types of drum sanders. Open drum sanders can enable you to go over wide surfaces because the drum hangs over/supports the moving belt. You can also look into conveyor belts when you need extra precision and easier functioning. Closed drum sanders have less width capacity due to the fact that they are held by four pillars and are closed at either end. They can only be used when the material is able to fit into the closed drum sanders opening. To finish your sanding job a lot faster, a lot of closed drum sanders have dual drums. They also have rear drums that can achieve more control when it is in use. To complete two steps at once, you can use a high grit drum with a low grit abrasive. 

Features of Drum Sanders

Drum sanders come with different features that may be useful for you to consider. These features that need to be considered include; speed, capacity, platen, dust removal, quality, motor power, budget, noise reduction, etc. Drum sanders can come with different speed options which lets you pick what to use when dealing with larger or smaller workpieces. Going along with smaller or larger workpieces, capacity can come into play here as well. For larger surfaces, an open drum sander is best to use whereas a closed drum sander is more efficient for smaller surfaces. Platens that are wider by one inch than the drum can help with vibration and friction. Dust removal is important if you want to minimize a coating of dust getting on your work or in your eyes. Drum sanders with good quality will help you tremendously. Motor power depends on how much power you need -- they usually come between 1 to 5HP.  Going back to quality, budget can also be factored into this. A better more expensive one will come with a lot more features, however, that may not be a necessity for you. Noise reduction features can be something you enjoy because the drum sanders create a lot of noise.

Abrasives to Consider

Aluminum oxide, especially the open coat aluminum oxide, can give you a good cut for all kinds of wood -- the open coat can eliminate built up material and a type of cooling system to avoid overheating.