Pwalter5110 Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 Well, after years of frustration with my Delta drum sander, I decided to sale it on craigslist. I mostly used my old delta when making end grain cutting boards, but I was always frustrated with it. It was always out of alignment, and aligning it was a nightmare. I do have a couple of questions for all of the supermax owners. First, does it come standard with the smart sand technology? I have read reviews and a lot of people say they purchased "DRO" seperate. I honestly have no idea what "DRO" stands for. I was also wondering how everyone else uses their sander for furniture work. Because the delta was a pain, I never felt like using it when building furniture. But if I am going to drop $1,500 on it, I want to know that I am going to be using it a ton. Is it worth saving up for the 25-50 sander? Most of my work is usually around 18-25 inches. It's rare that I make anything wider than 25", but on the delta, doing two passes on each half of the stock was a nightmare. If its not bad to run a 25" wide piece of wood through the 19" machine twice, I'd be happy with that. I know this last question is a little weird, but does anyone know if woodworking equipment goes on sale around easter? I'd happily wait if it is common that they go on sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pwk5017 Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 I think they all come with sandsmart. Dro stands for digital readout, I believe. Umm I use the sander on tons of projects. If you need to finesse something, it's to the sander. Something wider than 13"? Go to the sander. Funky grain? Sander. It doesn't do anything mind blowing, but it certainly has its uses. It's convenient to feed big panels in and come out with a product that is really really flat across its width. It's possible to have an arc in the piece over its length, but the width is always dead nuts flat. It's primarily a panel flattening machine, and my go to for pieces thinner than 1/4". You certainly don't NEED a sander, and to be honest idk if I would use mine as much if it wasn't as wide as it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 2 minutes ago, Pwk5017 said: You certainly don't NEED a sander, LIAR... you can't prove it. . * ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 As far as smart technology the SuperMax 1938 comes with the technology that adjust the speed to slow the feed down if it detects that feed is to fast for the job at hand, this is standard. I have had mine for about 9 months but even looking at a lot of the projects I did in the past I can't think of a situation where I would of needed something more then 38 inches wide... maybe a dinning table top. Pull out your tape measure and look how wide 38 inches is. I don't know if they go on sale any particular time. I can tell you that if you buy it through Acme Tools its free shipping all the time. One more thing to think about, I don't know how big your shop is bunt even the 1938 thames up a lot of room on the floor especially with the extension tables, mine is 42 X 45 inch foot print with the extension. Hope this helps some. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeteJr Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 I added the Wixey WR550 to my Jet drum sander and highly recommend it. Compare the functions of their DRO with the Wixey. I have the Jet 22-44 and use it for furniture projects when I encounter highly figured wood that just doesn't like my planer blades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisG-Canada Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 I have the 25-50. It's very nice and the alignment of the drum with the conveyor is perfect. If you ask do I NEED the 25-50... for me the answer is probably yes. I find it helps me get pieces a lot closer to perfect. I run almost everything through it after milling. For me, it helps, To be honest the only reason I didn't get the 18-36 was that it was totally out of stock (in Canada) at the time. Rather than wait 4+ months, I got the 25-50. I'm sure I'd be happy with the 18-36 but I am definitely happy with the 25-50. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgreenb Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 I use mine all the time. Yes the sand smart feature comes standard. I second the comment about the huge footprint if you have a small shop. Paper changes are super easy - I can change paper in less than 2 minutes. Pull the trigger - you won't regret it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pwk5017 Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 12 hours ago, Brendon_t said: LIAR... you can't prove it. . * ) Youre right . Take my drum sander away, and then watch me quit woodworking 2 months later. I do need it... I don't know what this guy has though, so I didn't want to make it seem like a sander was priority #1. I mean, if I was rocking a 6" jointer and a Ryobi table saw, I don't know if the 19-38 or 25-50 would be on my list. I do vote for the biggest machine you can possibly afford. One, the second you start to do 20-24" wide work(pretty common for me) you are going to hate the living hell out of your 19" sander. The 25-50 will save you half the time with better results in those situations. I have many slabs on hand that are 2'+ wide. Sure, you can flip it, but this has to be slow as hell. Also, I don't doubt supermax's engineers, but EVERYONE ive ever interacted with has complained about the two pass sanders. you always hear about a "line". Im sure you can finesse that line out with a hand sander etc. but it seems like you shouldn't rely on the second number in the model's name very often. Hopefully someone with the 19-38 will say that it's awesome and they do 38" wide pieces all day long, but I would prefer the 25" single pass capacity model. What is the price difference on all these machines? My problem with feeding a 38" wide project through the 19-38 is one of stability. If im dealing with 38" width, then chances are the piece is long, like 7'+. Chances are it's not 1/2" thick either. So now im talking about a project that I may or may not be able to handle on my own. How much does the 19-38 weigh? Im guessing 200ish pounds. A 150lb project going through a 200-275lb machine is going to be sketchy AF. Sketchy, and potentially hazardous for the machine. The 19-38 seems like the best bang for your buck in the sander world. Its like $1300, right? However, if I had a choice for the same general price, I would want a dual drum 24-25" model with a bigger motor. 24-25" really covers 80-90% of your bases. 37" has covered 98% of mine so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 51 minutes ago, Pwk5017 said: I don't doubt supermax's engineers, but EVERYONE ive ever interacted with has complained about the two pass sanders. you always hear about a "line". Im sure you can finesse that line out with a hand sander etc. but it seems like you shouldn't rely on the second number in the model's name very often. Hopefully someone with the 19-38 will say that it's awesome and they do 38" wide pieces all day long, but I would prefer the 25" single pass capacity model. What is the price difference on all these machines? My problem with feeding a 38" wide project through the 19-38 is one of stability. If im dealing with 38" width, then chances are the piece is long, like 7'+. Chances are it's not 1/2" thick either. So now im talking about a project that I may or may not be able to handle on my own. How much does the 19-38 weigh? Im guessing 200ish pounds. A 150lb project going through a 200-275lb machine is going to be sketchy AF. Sketchy, and potentially hazardous for the machine. Here is what I know form personal experience with my 19-38. There is a lever on the table of the 19-38 that you set in one position when you are doing things that can go in a single pass and you set it in another position when you are doing wide work and it adjust one side of the table a couple a thou so there is NO line, it works great. So I guess I am the weirdo because I am not getting the line in my wide work. I just ran my Nicholson bench top through my sander during that build. It wasn't 38 inches wide but it was wider then a single pass it wasn't 7 foot it was 6 and 3 inches thick. I am not going to lie it was a bear to deal with but it waqnst the machine it was just wrestling it into position on each pass, it would have been a bear to wrestle with even if it could be done in a single pass. It wasn't unsafe just sort of a wrestling match, but I did benefit from a good work out. And even with this bench top I still suffered no line. It would have been nice to have 6 foot indeed and outfeed but it doesn't and I don't have the room if it did. What it boils down to is you have to figure out how you are going to use the machine and how it will fit in your shop. You can't try to guess on what the biggest extreme that you maybe needing the machine for, There is no predicting that, you have to go with what will probably be it's most common use. Yea the 25-50 would have been great for the bench top, But would that have been a one time need for me? Very likely. But the 19-38 is going to do the majority of my work and I don't have the space for the 25-50 anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgreenb Posted February 5, 2016 Report Share Posted February 5, 2016 1 hour ago, Pwk5017 said: . Hopefully someone with the 19-38 will say that it's awesome and they do 38" wide pieces all day long, I don't know about all day long, but I do wide pieces on my 19-38 a lot The lever mechanism works great, and 95% of the time I have no noticeable witness line. The other 5% it's barely noticeable and will go away in your final surface prep. Would I rather have a 25/50? Sure, if someone gave it to me I wouldn't turn it away. But I've never had any regrets about the 19/38, including when I'm running wide boards for 2 passes. Actually I'd say the most annoying thing about the 2 passes is just the extra time spent. Double the number of passes, and the feed rate is slow, so it can be annoying if you have a lot of stock to feed. But the witness line issue is a non issue in my experience. YMMV Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pwalter5110 Posted February 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2016 Well, I just ordered the sander. I got the 19-38. It was brought up that the footprint was pretty big for this machine, and I dont have unlimited space so I went with the smaller machine. Plus I did notice that they had the lever for panel wider than 19" and I don't think I will be sanding anything wider than 38". Now I just had to wait for it to arrive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted February 6, 2016 Report Share Posted February 6, 2016 Congratulations, I think you will be happy with your choice. Who did you order it through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pwalter5110 Posted February 6, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2016 25 minutes ago, Chet K. said: Congratulations, I think you will be happy with your choice. Who did you order it through. I ordered through acme tools. It's hard to beat free shipping and a tool that big! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chestnut Posted February 6, 2016 Report Share Posted February 6, 2016 It's still funny to see acme tools all over the place. That company started in my home town. Their in store customer service is amazing. I've had tools break i bring them in and they just grab me a new one from the shelf no questions asked and hand it to me. Oddly the owner is a gigantic douche bag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pwalter5110 Posted February 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 Well, It was delivered at noon today, and fully assembled by 1:30. I haven't ran anything through it yet, but I can already tell that it is light years ahead of the delta I had. I want to see where it fits in my shop, and I'll move an outlet that is on the ceiling over to it. The problem is finding a spot for it lol. See here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted February 17, 2016 Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 Woot, Woot! Congratulations. I took the 80 grit off of mine almost immediately and put 120 on. I have 120, 150 and 180 but the 120 is there 90 percent of the time. Also the lever for adjusting the bed for wide panels - they tell you to loosen the bolts move the lever down and retighten the bolts, I left the bolts so you can move the lever up and down with out tightening them each time... saves a step. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pwalter5110 Posted February 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 26 minutes ago, Chet K. said: Woot, Woot! Congratulations. I took the 80 grit off of mine almost immediately and put 120 on. I have 120, 150 and 180 but the 120 is there 90 percent of the time. Also the lever for adjusting the bed for wide panels - they tell you to loosen the bolts move the lever down and retighten the bolts, I left the bolts so you can move the lever up and down with out tightening them each time... saves a step. I got two owners manuals. One is marked updated, and it said to leave those two Allen bolts snug, but not tight so that the lever can be moved. I'm wondering if that is one of the reasons that owners manual was updated.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted February 17, 2016 Report Share Posted February 17, 2016 Yea, I would guess yes. Mine definitely says to tighten them back up, but I have them snugged like your new manual states. Later when you are in the john I want you to scour through the two manuals and report back with all the differences between the two. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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