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Tool Tutorial

Drum Sander

The Grizzly G1066Z Drum Sander uses two rotating drums covered with sandpaper to remove a small amount of material from wood workpieces. The two drums use coarse, then fine sandpaper to achieve a fine finish in one pass.

Notes

  • Maximum depth of cut: 1/4 turn = 1/64" = 0.4mm
  • The Drum Sander and Planer cannot be operated at the same timetime, there is a switch on the wall to select which machine needs power. 

  • Reduce snipe when sanding more than one board of the same thickness by feeding them into the sander with the front end of the second board touching the back end of the first boardboard.

  • Run workpieces through at different positions left-to-right for even wear on the sandpapersandpaper.

Safety

  • Do not edge sand workpieces.
  • Do not stand directly in front of the sander's infeed area.
  • Do not sand boards under 9" x 2" x 1/8".
  • Do not sand more than one board at a time.
  • Use a dust mask, hearing protection, and safety glasses.

Common Hazards

  • "Kickback" is when a workpiece is propelled out of the machine by a spinning drum. It can be caused by:
    • Sanding more than one board at a time
    • Taking too deep a cut
    • Sanding a workpiece less than 9" x 2" x 1/8"
    • Sanding a
  • Fine dust left on the floor is a slip hazard.
  • Excessively cupped, bowed, or twisted workpieces are unstable and unpredictable, and may be propelled from the machine.

Materials

  • Only wood should be used.
  • Nails, screws, staples, etc embedded in the wood can damage the machine.
  • Do not cut wet wood (over 20% moisture)
  • Do not cut boards with finish or excessive glue applied
  • Do not sand boards with finish or uncured glue applied. Use a sacrificial piece of sandpaper or first remove finish layers with the resaw bandsaw. Sanding boards with high resin content or applied finishes will quickly contaminate and clog sandpaper.

Consumables

  • 181.5" x 3" sandpaper for each drum. The general rule of thumb is to sand a workpiece with progressively higher grit numbers, with no one grit increase of more than 50. Avoid skipping grits; the larger the grit increase, the harder it will be to remove the scratches from the previous grit. Recommended grit combination: 36 + 80; 60 + 100; 80 + 120; 100 + 150
    • 36, extra coarse: rough sawn boards, thickness sanding, glue removal
    • 60, coarse: thickness sanding, glue removal
    • 80–100, medium: removing planer marks and initial finish sanding
    • 120–180, fine: finish sanding
  • 3/4" strapping tape for securing the sandpaper to each drum

Parts of the Tool

  • Manual contains annotated images

Basic Operation

Setting Up

  1. Open the top cover and inspect the drums for wear on the sandpaper.
  2. Make sure the wall-mounted power switch is set to "Drum Sander" if no one is already using the planer.
  3. Make sure the shop dust collection is turned on.

Using the Tool

  1. LowerAdjust the conveyor so your workpiece can fit comfortably, to avoid taking a cut more than 1/64". Use the infeed roller at the front to gauge the height. 
  2. Run the main dust collector the entire time the drum sander is in use. 
  3. Turn on the Sanding Drum Motor first, to ensure work is loaded only while the drum is spinning.
  4. Turn on the Conveyor Motor, starting with a slow speed. The green areas of the speed control are recommended starting speeds. 
  5. Make light test passes to find an appropriate conveyor speed.
    • If the Sanding Load meter gets too high, lower the speed or cut depth.
    • If the wood is burning, increase the speed or decrease the cut depth.
  6. Do not adjust the height of the table by more than 1/4 turn per pass. Because of the "spongy" nature of the sand paper backing, adjusting the handle is not needed on every pass. Several passes can be taken for every adjustment of the handle. 

Cleaning Up

  1. Sweep or vacuum dust left on the floor around the machine
  2. Inspect the sandpaper for clogs or tears.
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