I'm curious about the capabilities of a drum sander. Are they primarily designed for thickness sanding, or can they also handle bulk finishing work, like sanding to 180 grit on long stock items such as shelves? I recently built a shelving unit and faced a tough time with the face sanding—ended up using a second orbital sander. I'm wondering if a drum sander would be more versatile in this respect?
3 Answers
A drum sander can definitely work for your project. However, they can be tricky to set up and require careful adjustments. I’ve ended up using my random orbital sander alongside it since I still find I can sand a set of shelves in a similar amount of time with either tool. I personally use a Festool with a dust extractor and top-notch sandpaper, which makes the process super quick and efficient.
Drum sanders are more about the sanding than just thickness adjustment. I’ve got a 36” helical sander, and while I wouldn't rely on it strictly for thickness, it's great for finish sanding. You can actually remove a tiny bit of material, like 1/32”, when you're finishing up, which is a nice perk! In general, it won't do heavy thickness work, but it shines at prepping surfaces for that smooth finish we all want.
For finish quality, it’s all about the grit you use with the drum sander. You can easily swap in 180 or even 240 grit belts for that smoothness. Just keep in mind that if your shelves are going to be showpieces, you might need to do some touch-up work afterward to remove any lines left by the drum. If they’re just for function, hitting them with a pass at 120 grit and finishing with 180 should work just fine!