I have been wanting a drum sander for 4 years. Yesterday, my drum sander was delivered, my boss was unhappy because I had to show up for work late…but that’s okay because I got my drum sander! This is not a review of the machine, because I feel that it takes several months of ownership to form an opinion on a machine
that cost this much. Later for the review.
I had chosen the Grizzly 458 because the machines had weight and birth. I figured that Grizzly’s construction was more rigid due to weight and the stationary drum. Also, Grizzly has a cult like following, many LJ’s have a lot of good things to say about the company so go with the flow!!!
Moving it is a hellofatask for a basement shop, Crated the weight was 328 lbs, and uncreated it is 199 lbs. but from truck to workspace it only took 30 minutes with a friend. The sander comes complete all you have to do is throw the legs on and the dust port and crank handle. The drum sander has an impeller built into the dust collection port that acts as a blower for the dust collection. For me that is a big plus because I use a simple wet vac for dust collection. Also the port accepts a 2 1/2” adapter which is standard for the vac. It also came with a 4” port for
a standard dust collection system.
Happy as a lark I began to rough sand a step stool side, normally it would take me 20 minutes to rough sand the glue joints with a orbital sander…but in half the time or less my drum sander did the job…HAPPY DANCE TIME!!!
The picture on the left rough sanded all the glue off, on the right you can see the seam a bit.
I grabbed a piece of 3/4” 2×4 from my wood pile, put some wheels on the bottom so I can wheel the sander in and out of my work area. Works really good and cost under $ 20.00 bucks to build.
I’d like to thank Greg Wurst, for his review on the sander, and A-1 Jim, for his help and suggestions. Also, all
you LJ’s who have give reviews-advice-and techniques on how to use the drum sander. This has been a great day
for me and many of you have contributed to my knowledge base making my first day with the sander a great day!!!
Thanks!!!! :) :) :)