Anyone who goes in the woodshop regularly has likely noticed the Powermatic Drum Sander is out of service for no abrasive more often than it is running lately. @IanLee and I discussed that we need to order sand paper in bulk instead of 3 rolls at a time, but I think we need to figure out why it is blowing through a sheet every single day instead of throwing more money down the drain. The below link seems to likely be the culprit:
This thing is advertised as 22"-44" with the open end, but experience seems to show that using the edges of the paper blows the sheets out quickly. I think we need to put signage out advising to avoid the 2" on either end of the machine unless completely unavoidable, and go over this machine in some detail during the Woodshop 101. If you try to go too deep you will burn your piece out and possibly damage the machine as well. If nothing else I think we need to discuss this in the next committee meeting.
@Azalaket as an FYI.
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Thank you for troubleshooting this.
If you go this route, maybe someone could cut vinyl arrows and signage that could be stuck on the machine itself … ↓ No sanding outside of these arrows ↓ (or whatever you want it to say).
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I think another required step is someone needs to contact Powermatic and see if they have a rep that can check our machine or troubleshoot with us. At approximately $30 for a 3 pack we have to have blown a couple hundred bucks just in 2018 on wasted paper. I would think Powermatic would like to keep our shop happy and all the potential future buyers that make up our membership. I bet we can get some free paper for our troubles.
We already have switched to bulk paper for that machine… just a few of the precut rolls remain. We have created a template to cut more. See me if you’d like to help cut out more. I will contact Powermatic today to see if we can get someone out to diagnose the machine and tell us what’s going on.
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I think it has to be the edge issue from that thread. Or the general disuse of machines by our members. I’m happy to help cut some more paper.
I have a feeling that poor installation technique is part of the problem for rapid wearing on the belts. The vast majority of the time when I pre-check the drum before use, the strip has a lot of slack in how it is rolled around the drum, allowing it far more movement than it should have when powered.
I would suggest that this to be one more item thst needs to be specifically addressed during woodshop basics.