Sweet! Colour me jealous.
SuperMax 16-32 1st impressions
Based on feedback to the thread “Drum sander recommendations” I started on 20 September 2017 and a detailed discussion with the staff at the local Woodcraft store I ordered the new SuperMax 16-32 drum sander. Fortuitously Woodcraft had placed orders for the sander directly after it was released by SuperMax and mine arrived within 10 days. By having it shipped to the store there was no freight charge, a bit of savings given the box weighed 140 pounds.
The system was packed in a heavy-duty cardboard box that arrived without damage. It was bolted to 2 pieces of plywood that kept it upright and centered in the box. Hence no Styrofoam. The plywood was designed to serve as “handles” to move the sander from the box to the base for mounting with the bolts being re-used for the final mounting. A simple straightforward process for 2 people.
The base was very easy to assemble and the casters are heavy duty with good locking mechanisms.
Once assembled the calibration check was straight forward and found to be accurate as set at the factory.
Adding the in and out feed tables was tricky as it requires adjusting set screws to control the angle of the offset which interacts with the main bolts when the latter are tightened to hold the tables in place. Definitely a 2-person job with one holding.
The “new” features that sold me on this system are:
1) The Wixey gauge which can be set to check overall thickness as well as increments in material to be removed.
2) Ease with which the depth of a given pass can be adjusted.
3) The in and out feed tables fold down.
4) Improved locking mechanism for removing and adding sanding paper.
5) Intelligent speed control which ties the amount of material being removed to the drive belt speed.
The photos below show the assembled system.
I have yet to decide whether to add drawers to the base or a couple of simple shelves. I’m leaning toward the latter because of the taper of the base and the need to fold the tables down.
I’ve only just begun to use the system with the 1st passes to clean up a new cutting board post glue up. To date I remain pleased.
Sorry about the photos being sideways. I still haven't got the hang of photos with an Iphone.
The system was packed in a heavy-duty cardboard box that arrived without damage. It was bolted to 2 pieces of plywood that kept it upright and centered in the box. Hence no Styrofoam. The plywood was designed to serve as “handles” to move the sander from the box to the base for mounting with the bolts being re-used for the final mounting. A simple straightforward process for 2 people.
The base was very easy to assemble and the casters are heavy duty with good locking mechanisms.
Once assembled the calibration check was straight forward and found to be accurate as set at the factory.
Adding the in and out feed tables was tricky as it requires adjusting set screws to control the angle of the offset which interacts with the main bolts when the latter are tightened to hold the tables in place. Definitely a 2-person job with one holding.
The “new” features that sold me on this system are:
1) The Wixey gauge which can be set to check overall thickness as well as increments in material to be removed.
2) Ease with which the depth of a given pass can be adjusted.
3) The in and out feed tables fold down.
4) Improved locking mechanism for removing and adding sanding paper.
5) Intelligent speed control which ties the amount of material being removed to the drive belt speed.
The photos below show the assembled system.
I have yet to decide whether to add drawers to the base or a couple of simple shelves. I’m leaning toward the latter because of the taper of the base and the need to fold the tables down.
I’ve only just begun to use the system with the 1st passes to clean up a new cutting board post glue up. To date I remain pleased.
Sorry about the photos being sideways. I still haven't got the hang of photos with an Iphone.
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