Steve Maskery
Established Member
This is one of my newer acquisitions, I've had it about a year. I'm very pleased with it.
It arrived in a couple of very large and heavy boxes, and my friend and I spent a couple o hours putting it all together. We had some trouble, but that was us being stupid, trying to make it considerably more difficult than it actually was. It came with lockable wheels (very useful) and a selection of abrasives. Also a bit of bent wire which is supposed to make changing the rolls easier – I never use it.
Roll-changing is surprisingly easy. The drum has a spring clip at each end. You lift the lever, slid the point of your roll in, wind it on and do the same at the far end. This one is not quite so easy to handle, hence the bit of bent wire, but I soon got the knack. I can now remove a belt and replace it with a new one in under 2 minutes without rushing.
The main arm is adjustable for parallel and is quite solid in use, provided you don't do something stupid like lean on it, when it will move enough to show on your sanded surface. The feed rate is adjustable and works well.
If sanding very long pieces, you will need extra support, and if you let the end drop, you will get snipe like on a P/T. Similarly, if you are sanding a large rectangular frame, you need to make sure that the part hanging out over the side does not lift the part under the drum up into the drum itself. With care, the finish produced is excellent.
I have a couple of small gripes. The machine takes 3" abrasives. You cannot use 4½" stuff that is widely available, as the end does not end up at the right place on the circumference of the drum. So you have to buy the proper Performax rolls, or rip standard stuff down to 3".
Dust extraction is good now, but when it arrived, the spigot on the top cover did not fit into my dust extractor (when all my other machines do), so I had to scrape it down to size.
Make sure you keep your paper clean. If it gets clogged, it is very easy to burn a stripe down your workpiece. I've done this recently on a cherry bookcase. Nothing for it but to go back a couple of grits and start again.
The rise and fall handle works in the opposite direction to may RA saw, so I have painted on it which way is up! (I have a similar problem with the switches on my Bosch / DW cordless drills. Why can't manufacturers agree on which way is clockwise?).
All in all I've very satisfied with it, it makes finishing so much easier.
Highly recommended.
It arrived in a couple of very large and heavy boxes, and my friend and I spent a couple o hours putting it all together. We had some trouble, but that was us being stupid, trying to make it considerably more difficult than it actually was. It came with lockable wheels (very useful) and a selection of abrasives. Also a bit of bent wire which is supposed to make changing the rolls easier – I never use it.
Roll-changing is surprisingly easy. The drum has a spring clip at each end. You lift the lever, slid the point of your roll in, wind it on and do the same at the far end. This one is not quite so easy to handle, hence the bit of bent wire, but I soon got the knack. I can now remove a belt and replace it with a new one in under 2 minutes without rushing.
The main arm is adjustable for parallel and is quite solid in use, provided you don't do something stupid like lean on it, when it will move enough to show on your sanded surface. The feed rate is adjustable and works well.
If sanding very long pieces, you will need extra support, and if you let the end drop, you will get snipe like on a P/T. Similarly, if you are sanding a large rectangular frame, you need to make sure that the part hanging out over the side does not lift the part under the drum up into the drum itself. With care, the finish produced is excellent.
I have a couple of small gripes. The machine takes 3" abrasives. You cannot use 4½" stuff that is widely available, as the end does not end up at the right place on the circumference of the drum. So you have to buy the proper Performax rolls, or rip standard stuff down to 3".
Dust extraction is good now, but when it arrived, the spigot on the top cover did not fit into my dust extractor (when all my other machines do), so I had to scrape it down to size.
Make sure you keep your paper clean. If it gets clogged, it is very easy to burn a stripe down your workpiece. I've done this recently on a cherry bookcase. Nothing for it but to go back a couple of grits and start again.
The rise and fall handle works in the opposite direction to may RA saw, so I have painted on it which way is up! (I have a similar problem with the switches on my Bosch / DW cordless drills. Why can't manufacturers agree on which way is clockwise?).
All in all I've very satisfied with it, it makes finishing so much easier.
Highly recommended.
