For years  I laughed at those poor sodding people with their open end drum sanders making burn marks,  creating weird   wedge shaped geometries coz the things are flimsy and won't stay aligned. I laughed at the people struggling  with the feed webs that wouldn't track.  I read the reviews all of them scathing and usually angry.  Clearly open drum sanders left a lot to be desired.

 

 

But SuperMax came out with an 18" drum that can hold 0.010" parallel.  I  know a couple guys who got them and say they work as advertised and the automatic tracking system prevents burning and digging and the webs really do track well.

 

 And I needed  something a little larger than 48" for a dining table I have planned.

I was stressing out over having to build my own  four foot sander coz I ain't going to develop the hand plane skills to do this.

 

SuperMax has a 25/50 inch model on a cabinet.  It's on sale for  just under $2000 with free shipping from ACME

I emailed SuperMax demanding information about  how parallel it'll work within.  They say it's 0.010"  parallel.  OK, I can  jive with that.

I put it on my AMEX.  If it doesn't perform as advertised I'll send it back on their dime.

 

 Of course there aren't any in the USA and won't be till June, but I already knew that.

 

 

 

 

I'm officially jealous Cliff.  If you ever tire of it, I'll send you my address.

Don't be jealous yet.  I may just produce squirrely geometry.

You'd have to remove the pool....or the swing.

I'm officially jealous Cliff.  If you ever tire of it, I'll send you my address.

Rub it in, Cliffy! We can take it!!

That there is one mighty fine looking sander Cliff, with the cabinet and all too. I have found that typically the folks who complain about open end sanders typically did not read the instructions on how to tune it up, and set it. I own the Performax 16-32 and admittadly, I had some issues with it for some time, one day I actually sat down with the manual and went through the adjustments step by step, and I have not had any issues since, that was about 10 years ago.

 folks who complain [...] typically did not read the instructions

 

 

Oh, that'd be me.

I'm lousy about instructions.  Generally treat them as a thing of last resort.

Oh, that'd be me.

I'm lousy about instructions.  Generally treat them as a thing of last resort.

Ya well, years went by before I hit my last resort! I thought it was a piece of crud for a long time, then I broke out the instruction manual one day, had nothing better to do, and lo and behold! She purrs now!

John, You are lucky! You must have gotten the 3rd or 4th generation of that manual. The one that was written in comprehensible English.

I got my Performax the same year they were introduced. The manual was a joke! And, like you, I couldn't keep it parallel. And, the carrier belt began to delaminate, ( in the heat of Phoenix,I didn't blame the manufacturer) and the speed control knob broke into several pieces. Also, probably heat related. 

I finally got fed up with the damned thing and sold it. 

Swore I'd never buy another open end sander. But if the Super Max is as good as the hype, I might have to reconsider. 

Although, I have the basics for one that's Shopsmith powered and I do love to tinker

You'd have to remove the pool....or the swing.

 

 

You are so right Gene!!!

I run my Performax all the time. I love it and it works great! I have spent many hours running cutting boards through it.

The pool Gene, the pool.