So it looks like my next "major" purchase will be a small drum sander, and I wanted to see if any of you builders have a preference.

This is the kind where you run the board thru the machine to sand the whole surface, and I'm thinking an 8" or 10" one, mostly due to lack of space. I've looked at Grizzly and Micro-Mark so far, and they both look okay. The Grizzly will do an 8" board and the Micro-Mark will do a 5" board, yet they both cost about the same (until you get to shipping). They both seem fine for my purposes - I don't need a production machine. Harbor Freight apparently doesn't carry a drum sander, although I'm not sure I'd buy something like this there.

Do any of you have one that you use and love?

Https://www.google.com/shopping/product/......BEKYrMAQ

George, I have the JET (thickness)sander referenced in the link by Magic Researcher above. I have had it about 4 years and use it on virtually every small project that I do. It is wonderful to work with wood that is a consistent thickness. It makes assembling small boxes and such so much easier. In the four years that I have had it, there have only been a few times that I wish I had bought the next larger one. Realistically, most boards that we work with today are 10" wide or less and they can always be flipped and sent through again to get up to 20 inch coverage.

If your looking for a good table version have a look at either Sand Flea or tablemaster. As both are similar in style but the sand flea works well for what I need.

Also a few years back the guys at sand flea were selling a kit that comes with everthing you need except motor and table which you can make yourself in about a day or two. They also just introduced a new fence system which is not to bad once you get it set up. It would have been easier to set up with some instructions hopefully they fixed that issue.

I have an open end drum sander from Grizzly. All my large shop tools are grizzly made because they have a showroom 4 miles from the shop and give great service. I have been happy with everything I have bought there but this sander. I didn't need something to do anything bigger than 10" boards but thought it would be nice to have the ability to do larger pieces. The problems with this machine are numerous. First on an open end machine like this the belt that pulls the material through wont stay on track and is impossible to adjust. Second the sander just dosent have enough power to work down a large piece, you have to turn the speed down very slow and take just a bit off at a time. Very slow. Third the sand paper is almost impossible to replace and takes several attempts to get it right. The machine just sits in the corner and hasn't been used in a few years. I would not buy an open end drum sander again. I think if I buy another drum sander it will be closed end and 220 for more power. For now my portable Grizzly planner dose everything I need.

I have a complete wood shop and every machine is from Grizzly. I have had great success with Grizzly tools. My drum sander is a two drum sander with 120 grit sand paper on the front drum and 220 on the rear drum. When the board comes out of the sander it is ready for stain. So I would highly recommend the Grizzly brand to you.

I concur with the Grizzley recommendation. I have had good success with both performance and service.

George,
I am sure you may have seen my shop pics and you will see that I am a big JET tool fan.
They are comparable to Grizzly if not identical in overall quality/performance...I just happen to dig the cool colors
My open end 12" drum sander works fantastic and feeds fairly quick and the sandpaper strips re-install in just a couple of minutes once you get the hang of it (which is easy to learn)
My guess is they make a smaller one but what you want is one with enough power to handle the quicker feeding of the boards so it may be wiser to invest a few more bucks for the proper motor.
If you ever want any tips, give me a call and I will help ya through it!

Wow, thanks, guys. A lot of useful information there.

Chance - thanks. I may just take you up on that.

Make sure your dust collector can handle the sander you decide to buy.

I've had the perfomax 16-32 for years and it works great.

The cover article in Woodsmith Magazine for June/July (out now) is about drum sanders. It is worth a look if you haven't already bought one.

Thanks for the tip!!!!!