Customer Reviews
Residential Contractor 
2006-02-25
I bought this machine for a job last year that involved getting about 4500 board feet of red and white oak back from the kiln, planed down to 1 inch thick. All this lumber had to be sanded with at least 100 if not 120 or 180 grit paper depending on the application. The 16-32 is a little under-sized for a job like that but it eventually got all the lumber sanded. It saved enough in labor to pay almost half the tool off immediatly. The performax really shines sanding short boards up to say 6 ft. The 1" thick, 12 to 14 foot long, 8 inch wide baseboards we were making required a much more precise infeed and outfeed than could be acheived by having a person standing at each end. If the end of the board is allowed to drop below the level of the table and put even the slightest pressure on the drum it will trip the overload breaker on the motor and the resulting divit in the wood can be very difficult to sand out. When my new shop is complete I will build an infeed/oufeed table 10 feet on either side of the tool to facilitate sanding longer, heavier stock. I will never go back to sanding boards with my orbital sander. The Performax has made sure of that and is easily capable of better results than you would expect from a modestly priced, mobile drum sander.
The best choice, but not the best it could be 
2006-02-15
A drum sander is a pretty basic machine; a sandpaper conveyer belt moves the wood under a spinning cylinder/drum that is covered in replaceable sand paper. Tensioned rollers keep the wood pressed down on the conveyer so it doesn't slip. The drum can be moved up and down to apply the proper sanding depth.
The problems some reviewers have had with this machine are:
1. There is a problem adjusting the tracking of the conveyer belt, which is like a giant portable belt sander. The belt can drift to one side or the other. The front roller is adjustable so the belt stays centered.
To facilitate this adjustment, Performax has included clever little captive wrenches built into the frame of the conveyer assembly. This should make the adjustment easy. However, mine drifted to the left and adjusting it had no effect. I ended up completely loosening all the adjusters, and starting over again. This time the belt centered and it was easy to adjust exactly to where it was supposed to be.
I suspect that the belt, which after all is 16" wide, might have been just a hair out of square and all the adjusting served to stretch it out to a perfect rectangle. I believe the problem is that some belts may be more out of square than others. The actual mechanism is unlikely to be defective.
2. Adjusting the sanding drum so it is parallel to the conveyer belt is obviously important, but it is not easy to do. There is a knob that you turn to move the outer end of the drum up and down until it is set correctly. However, one must loosen 4 (!) bolts to free the assembly so it will move and then tighten them to hold it in place. The act of tightening them moves the adjustment out of place. If you are a zillionith of an inch off on the inside, then you are way off 16" away on the outboard end. One can spend a lot of time messing with this.
Amazon recommends setting the outer end a teeny bit up when sanding panels wider than the drum. This will result in a high spot in the middle of the panel which is better than low spots or grooves caused by the outer end of the drum digging into the wood. However, adjusting the drum is such a pain that most people will be content to set it once and leave it.
I set mine to be just a tiny bit up, an unmeasureable amount. I send my boards destined for glue-up twice through on the final sanding , turned around the second time, so that each board side is equally thick on all edges.
3. Replacing the sandpaper just takes a little practice. Clearly, it must be installed properly to work well. The paper rolls onto the drum and each end is secured by little levered clips in the ends of the drum. A little tool is supplied to loosen the inbord clip, but I find that just just reaching and pulling it up with a finger is easier.
4. Some users have problems with the drum motor overload breaker popping. Pushing the reset button starts it up again. This is all by design so that you do not try to sand off more than you should in one pass or set the conveyer belt speed too high.
You must sand at a shallow depth and at low feed rate. If you think the sanding process is too slow and get impatient, just think of hand sanding. Even set at a crawl, the machine is way faster than you. All this depends on the grit, the kind wood, the width of the wood as well as the conveyer speed and the depth of cut.
I am careful to set a shallow sanding depth and a pretty slow feed rate and so I rarely have to reset it. If it does pop I just slow down the conveyer belt some more. This is a small machine with limited horsepower for small shops. There is a reason they make those 30 hp one-ton units. Like Norm's.
4. Some have complained about slop in the drum adjuster. The crank that moves the drum up and down has a lot of play in it so it is hard to feel how much actual adjustment is going on when the crank is turned. Tactile feel is very important when you are trying to adjust things just a hair. These sorts of measurements are too small to show up on the depth guage.
The adjuster should be equiped with an adjustable friction device. Several of my small tools have that feature and clearly a $1000 machine should. And I really miss an adjustable positive depth stop like my Makita planer. This would allow for a repeatable final sanding depth.
5. Snipe has been reported as a problem and it is. It is very difficult to hold the wood perfectly level as it enters and exits the drum. Setting up multiple roller stands is not easy and others have mentioned that the optional in and out-feed tables are difficult to level as well.
Some sort of built-in support is necessary for this machine to work properly. The tables, or other devices, should have been built in to the design and included in the price. This should not have been an option. It is like making the tires optional on a car. Speaking of options, I have a new Grizzly 6" jointer that came with built-in wheels. Very nice. Really quite necessary for the small shop. Aftermart wheels are available elsewhere.
So, what is my advice? This machine can be adjusted to function perfectly. When it is set up properly it is indeed a very useful and important tool. The problem is that the adjustments are too difficult and so many machines are out of adjustment and simply do not work as they should. In addition, not including the tables introduces an unnecessary cheap and greedy factor.
Performax is clearly not losing any money selling these units for $1000. Add on the the price of sandpaper and options and it is an even more costly option for the small shop. A tweak to the drum depth adjuster, a redesign of the drum levelling mechanism, a positive stop for the sanding depth, incorporating feed tables and making the stand mobile are really simple and inexpensive upgrades that lucky owners in the future hopefully will enjoy. I note that Grizzly now has a comparable consumer model and I suspect other manufactorers will enter the market. That competition will hopefully lower the price and increase the utility.
The whole idea of smoothing wood with rocks glued to fabric seems sort of strange, really. Perhaps the future will bring lasers or microwaves or something modern. In the meantime, be aware that sanders create a lot of dust, the fine and dangerous kind, much worse than shavings and such. I looked into shop dust control, hoping to get a simple vacuum, and found a whole confusing and expensive anti-dust world out there. A portable vac is not the best thing to use for high volumns of fine dust. Big dust collectors, cyclones and those sorts of things are more appropriate for this machine, but are very speciallized and expensive. I use the screaming Sears vac now (are all Sears product planners deaf?), but for many reasons that will have to change.
I can't go below 3 stars if, in the end, the machine actually performs as it should, but the inconvenience and cheapness factors noted above and in other reviews cost it a couple of stars.
No Complaints Here 
2006-02-13
I have read thru all the reviews here and I have come to 2 conclusions people either love this machine or they hate it.The second one is,this machine can be a little troublesome to set up and use.
I came across a good deal on a used machine thru my local Wood supplier. I was leary but decided to check it out. The seller said that he liked it but his shop was too small and he needed the room. He claimed that he did not have any of the problems I read here. It looked good so I bought it.
Now this guy is an Engineer so maybe that helps because this machine runs like a Champ. Everything was setup precisely. One thing he did for setting up the drum alignment was he used two 2" square Mahogony blocks as a setup gauge instead of the rule and feeler gauges. Works great.
I had some minor problems with belts loading and burn marks but I figured that into the learning curve of a new machine I have never used before. So far no problems with the ceramic guides.
I have used it everyday now for the past 3 weeks and it is a time saver. I like it and I am pleased with it.I am one of those who love this machine. You just need to take your time setting it up. I only wished that I had the money to get a bigger one.
P.S. Think this is tough to setup? Try setting up a Radial Arm saw, this is nothing.
Disappointing Customer Service 
2006-01-23
I purchased a Performax 16-32 from Amazon and now need a part. I called the telephone number in the manual and reached WMH Tool Group. The circuit breaker that protects the drum motor is bad on my tool. I was told by WMH Tool Group that the circuit breaker was not available by itself and that I would have to buy a new motor at a cost of approximately 1/3 the purchase price of the tool. I have tried to find the circuit breaker on-line from the manufacturer in Taiwan but I have not been successful. It is much easier to replace the circuit breaker than the whole motor and a fraction of the cost. I think it is inexcusable that the circuit breaker is not available and I would never buy another JET Tool.
Snapshot at a year and a half 2005-12-17
After a year and a half review:
Today I put new Helicoil threads in the main adjusting yoke. It is made ot of potmetal and does not do well after a short period of time. It sits at the heart of this machine and it's shortcoming is a slap in the face when it happens. You look at it and say Duh?!! Of course this will go bad. For everyone else that has this problem Helicoil 5/8 - 18 threads per inch. You can actually do this while the machine is assembled. Just take out the adjusting shaft set screw collar and unscrew the crank. Now you can work from the top. The spindle bearings are also beginning to get noisy. This tool has had light to moderate use. All things considered I wish I would have taken a longer look at the Delta version of this tool.
improved model 2007-12-18
After reading everything 43 other people had to say about this sander I decided to get one. It came with free shipping a lot faster than expected. Every thing was in good shape. The most common complaint I read about it was its habit of tripping off with very little load. I think maybe Jet has taken steps to correct that. My sander came with an automatic speed control that slows it down when it senses too high current use. I intentionally set it op to sand way too much in a single pass. The light came on and the feed belt slowed to a crawl . It kept right on sanding at that slow rate untill the pass was completed. Took a long time but nothing stopped and nothing was damaged. I think it is a nice feature. I wonder if it can be retro fitted to older sanders. Now that it is available I sure wouldnt buy one that didnt have it.
A nice machine. Not a planer but it isnt intended to be one.
I am adding to my review about two months after I first wrote it. I use the sander almost every day and couldnt be happier with it. I just happened to read an article in an old wood working magazine that other users of drum sanders might find as valuable as I did.
The sanding belts for these machines are pricey. Once loaded with pitch or maybe glue they seem to be worthless.Seven or eight bucks for a new one adds up in a hurry. Get yourself a bottle of Murphy oil soap and rub a little on the belt. Put it in a container of warm water and let it soak over night. Scub it with a stiff brush and let it dry. It comes out just like new. I got a big bottle of the soap at Walmart for $3 or so and have cleaned 5 belts so far and my bottle isnt more than a third gone.A LOT cheaper than new belts. Now I got a little more money for wood. (Dont tell my wife)
Good Quality 2007-06-13
Good quality and performance. I couldn't live without this sander. My only complaint is that you have to adjust the tilt of the drum quite frequently. I have heard that this is pretty normal though. Don't waste your money buying the individual rolls of paper. Buy large rolls and cut them yourself. It is at least 1/4 of the price.
Slow but better than a belt sander 2007-04-24
Machine came strapped to a pallet in good condition. The table and drum were not parallel but was easy to adjust. The machine is slow and will kick the thermal overload if more than 1/32" is removed in one pass. I sand alot of pine and the paper clogs up, even if a cleaner is used every few passes. Have not tried soaking it in paint thinner to see if it can be reused. It's not perfect but I would buy it again.
Beyond expectations! 2007-04-19
The machine came well packaged and undamaged. Set up was a brieze with in an hour and half it was up and running. The only adjustment neccesry was to the the feed belt but this will always change with different widths of stock,excellent dust collection. One of the few machines that I have bought that more than met my expetations....Gary Brooks
Very poor performance 2006-09-27
This sander is terrible! I cannot take off 1/64 with any grit (80 - 220) without the motor breaker tripping. I've put it on every circuit in my shop to make sure the power is more than adequate but the problem persists. Wish I had my money back...
