JET 22-44 PRO 22-Inch Drum Sander Stationary Drum Sanders: I also use it for many other guitar building and repair duties around the shop. Guitar Making Tasks: Tool Cautions: First of all this is not a planer and don’t use it like one. When I talk about thickness sanding on this piece of equipment, I mean taking just a bit more than a whisker off the wood. This would be up to 1/8″ at most, unless there are special circumstances. Usually you would use it strictly for precisely sanding you top and back plates, sides and neck woods. Use it to cleanup the planer marks on wood, final thicknessing a fretboard or finishing up block for jointing purposes. When applying new sanding material to the drum, take extra car that the edges of the spirol are tightly aligned and that you have absolutely no slack in the sanding material. Run your stock through the machine at a slow feed rate to ensure complete accuracy and fine finishing work. How To Operate The Tool: I use mostly a medium grit paper on the drum – usually a 180 grit. This proves to give a good cutting rate and a very smooth finish. Leave the final sanding chore to you portable palm sander, as you will need to do a fair amount of this anyway. Accessories: Additional Shop Operations: Alternative Stationary Drum Sanders I Like: Technical Details Infinitely variable-feed control produces the ultimate finish at a rate from 0 to 10 feet per minute Drum Sanding on a Budget: Laguna Tools Platinum Series 16/32 Drum Sander.If you have fairly low production, say under 20 guitars / year, here is a great option for you to consider. The only ting that I don’t like about it is the maximum width is 16″, which is barely enough for a guitar top plate or back plate that is joined. Technical Details of the Laguna 16/32 Drum Sander Max. Sanding Width: 16″ Max Workpiece Height: 5″ The Last Word: Please Share Your Experiences:
Source:Tools and Materials
Another of my very favorite tools is the JET 22-44 PRO 22-Inch Drum Sander.I love it because of the precision thicknessing I get from my top and back plates.
Sand backs, sides and tops to thickness
Sand neck heel block prior to gluing
With a special Jig I can thickness sand Saddles and Nuts
Sand necks to thickness
Sand Headpieces to thickness
Sand bracing to precise thickness
Sand Head and Tail Blocks to thickness
Finish sand linings, bindings and purflings
Sand fingerboards flat
Several things to be concerned with on this tool.
The drum operates at one RPM setting. The way to vary the RPM vs the speed of the wood feed is by means of changing the feed motor speed setting. Use a slow speed for wide wood as we aren’t using this for mass production.
Buy the best sanding accessories you can afford. For this machine I recommend Performax 60-2180 Ready to Wrap Abrasive Strips for Performax 22-44 Drum Sander 180 Grit(3 wraps in a box)
This tool can save you tons of time and money. The 22-44 will save you about 4 hours of grunt time trying to get you back, tops and sides perfectly sanded, but it will be more consistent.
JET 22-44ODS Oscillating Drum Sander. I REALLY like this machine. I believe that I would choose this one over the JET 22-44 that I have. I like the oscillating feature of this sander, which would give you more consistent results and save you sanding belts from burning so easily. They are very close to the same price so I definitely would make this my choice.
Oscillating feature reduces heat build-up on sanding belt to reduce loading and burning
Patented conveyor belt TRACKERS? dramatically reduce the need for manual belt adjustments
Sealed and permanently lubricated drum ball bearings for longer life
Max. Sanding Depth: 1/8″
Sand Paper Size: 3″ x 95″
Drum Speed: 1,720 rpm
Drum Size: 5 1/4″ x 16″
Feed Speed: 0 to 9 ft/min
Motor: 1 hp, TEFC
Separate Conveyor Belt Drive Motor
Packing Size: 35″ x 23″ x 24″
Net/Gross Weight 177 / 197 lbs.
Drum sanders can save you amazing amounts of time and if you are on schedules to finish guitars, you will appreciate anything that will allow you to meet your schedule. These tools are great accurate tool that will give you very consistent results.
Do you have a favorite Shop Tool you would like to share with us? Just write a comment and we would all love to hear about it. I’m sure there are other tools that I have not touched upon that are equal in quality to my own experiences.
Tags: drum sanders, guitar making tools, guitar tools stationary tools for guitar making, jet drum sander, sanding guitar plates
