Drum Sander

The 19" drum sander excels at flattening or smoothing lumber. While a planer can be used for the same purpose, planers can cause tearout on difficult grain. A drum sander will never cause tearout. Special precautions must be taken with the drum sander, however, as the machine is not as robust as a planer.

1. You must be checked out on this machine before using it. Check with the instructor or aide for detailed instructions prior to using the sander.

2. The drum sander is for finish smoothing only. It should not be used for removing more than 1/16” of material TOTAL, by making several light passes through the sander. Each pass should be about the thickness of notebook paper. If you must remove more than 1/16” of material, use the planer first.

3. Follow the setup instructions on the machine every time. If anything is out of adjustment, ask the instructor or aide for assistance.

4. If the tracking is out of adjustment, the belt will not oscillate. It will move to one side of the machine and hit a limit switch, stopping the machine. If this happens, ask the instructor or aide for assistance in adjusting the tracking mechanism.

5. Always start with the coarsest grit available. Attempting to dimension lumber with finer grits will overwork and ruin the abrasive.

6. The depth of cut should be 1/16 of a turn of the table height adjuster at a time.

7. Always leave the machine with the coarsest grit installed.