Shopsmith Forums

I am debating on which drum sander to use either the 3 in. or the 6 in. I can't aford to buy both at this time. I have seen the 6 in. used as a small sandfree which looks nice but I am wondering about any amount to run out when using the 6 in. drum sander in the drill press mode. Thank you for your opinion in advance.
Jim

Hi,

I had both for a while but I "rationalized my resources" down to the 6" only. I'm pleased. For drill-press mode, I can usually have enough of the drum going below the surface of the insert, that run-out isn't any concern for me.

Thank you for the input. I have been leaning towards this 6 in due to the different things that can be done with it and it is not that much more than the 3 in on the SS site. I am trying to make some chairs and need to sand the legs to the same profile and together there is about 2.5 inches of material that I need to be able to sand. Now if only SS would put them on sale again that would be wonderful.

I have the 6" SS and a 3" generic drum with a thinner shank. I almost always go for the 6"...guess size does matter. Actually I like the larger drum because I have more clearance to work with, and I can shift position on the paper so the sanding surface lasts longer. If I could only have one it would be 6".

Thank you again fellows my wish came true and SS put the 6 in drum sander on sale. WhooHooo. I will have my sanding drum tomorrow. I cant wait. Also it was fun to buy something from SS again. Is SS the only source for the sanding sleeves or does Woodcraft maybe sell them. I was hoping on a sorta local vendor here in Oklahoma but if not I can save and make on big order for sanding drums from SS periodically when they go on sale again.