I just bought a used Delta 31-255x. Works pretty good. Looks like it's been
used steady but treated well.
The only thing that bothers me is the infeed drive roller. When the bed is
raised so the drum will take off about a 64th, the wood will bump into the
drive roller and stay there until you give it a good healthy push downward
so it gets under the roller. Then it moves along just fine. As it comes out
the other side there's a solid THUNK as it comes out from under the front
drive roller and it returns to its stop.
Otherwise, the unit works fine. The piece comes out pretty even, same
thickness both sides so it looks like the drum is adjusted right, the feed
belt is tracking right.
This is my first drum sander. I haven't used one at all before. Can someone
tell me if that infeed drive roller is behaving the way it should?
Dan
Dan wrote:
> I just bought a used Delta 31-255x. Works pretty good. Looks like it's been
> used steady but treated well.
>
> The only thing that bothers me is the infeed drive roller. When the bed is
> raised so the drum will take off about a 64th, the wood will bump into the
> drive roller and stay there until you give it a good healthy push downward
> so it gets under the roller. Then it moves along just fine. As it comes out
> the other side there's a solid THUNK as it comes out from under the front
> drive roller and it returns to its stop.
>
> Otherwise, the unit works fine. The piece comes out pretty even, same
> thickness both sides so it looks like the drum is adjusted right, the feed
> belt is tracking right.
>
> This is my first drum sander. I haven't used one at all before. Can someone
> tell me if that infeed drive roller is behaving the way it should?
>
> Dan
Never used a Delta, but on my Jet (Performax) the infeed pressure roller
is height adjustable. Needs to be set a wee bit lower than the drum,
don't have the manual handy to tell you how much, but it isn't a lot.
Cleanliness is very important on these beasts, dust can bind up the
spring system on the pressure roller. And the head height adjusting
screw and slides can bind up in a hurry too. I blow mine out each time
I use it and use just enough lube to keep it moving freely.
--
Bill B.
http://home.comcast.net/~bberg100
"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of
arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid
in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly
proclaiming, 'WOW! What A RIDE!!" ... Unknown
On Sat, 26 Apr 2008 19:26:42 GMT, Dan <[email protected]> wrote:
>I just bought a used Delta 31-255x. Works pretty good. Looks like it's been
>used steady but treated well.
>
>The only thing that bothers me is the infeed drive roller. When the bed is
>raised so the drum will take off about a 64th, the wood will bump into the
>drive roller and stay there until you give it a good healthy push downward
>so it gets under the roller. Then it moves along just fine. As it comes out
>the other side there's a solid THUNK as it comes out from under the front
>drive roller and it returns to its stop.
>
>Otherwise, the unit works fine. The piece comes out pretty even, same
>thickness both sides so it looks like the drum is adjusted right, the feed
>belt is tracking right.
>
>This is my first drum sander. I haven't used one at all before. Can someone
>tell me if that infeed drive roller is behaving the way it should?
>
>Dan
Normal. Under a lot of pressure to make sure the work piece remains
flat on the table and cannot lift. Make sure you keep the feed belt
clean of dust so you don't get build up which will cause the board to
lift in spots. Support the outfeed end of the work piece if it is
heavy or long so that it doesn't snipe coming out from under that
roller. If you get snipe, a very slight upward pressure on the end of
the board may help.
Also the heavier the pass you are taking the harder it will be to
start it past the pressure roller.
Be careful not to lock up the table lift in the fully closed position,
could cause your lift transmission to slip. the X is a later model,
has some lift drive improvements and your manual should give you a
lift transmission adjustment procedure in the unlikely event it
happens. Been using mine for five years, hadn't happend, but I know
that it can, it was an early complaint.
Frank
On Sat 26 Apr 2008 02:26:42p, Dan <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> I just bought a used Delta 31-255x. Works pretty good. Looks like it's
> been used steady but treated well.
>
> The only thing that bothers me is the infeed drive roller.
Scuse me. That should be "pressure roller". I'm under the influence of a
virus this weekend.
On Sun 27 Apr 2008 11:14:15a, Frank Boettcher <[email protected]>
wrote in news:[email protected]:
> Normal. Under a lot of pressure to make sure the work piece remains
> flat on the table and cannot lift. Make sure you keep the feed belt
> clean of dust so you don't get build up which will cause the board to
> lift in spots. Support the outfeed end of the work piece if it is
> heavy or long so that it doesn't snipe coming out from under that
> roller. If you get snipe, a very slight upward pressure on the end of
> the board may help.
>
> Also the heavier the pass you are taking the harder it will be to
> start it past the pressure roller.
>
> Be careful not to lock up the table lift in the fully closed position,
> could cause your lift transmission to slip. the X is a later model,
> has some lift drive improvements and your manual should give you a
> lift transmission adjustment procedure in the unlikely event it
> happens. Been using mine for five years, hadn't happend, but I know
> that it can, it was an early complaint.
Thanks Frank, Bill.
Bill, the roller stops on this model aren't adjustable. That threw me
for a while, thinking they'd gone out of adjustment and the roller was
now too far down. But from Frank's description that's the way it spose
to be.
I'm going to take my test piece to the jointer again, and see if I can't
get better results today but I'm still sick and reluctant to use power
tools. :-)
So far I can't get the thicknesses at different points to within 1/64 of
each other. I was hoping to use this thing to get down to a consistent
1/16th so I could try doing veneers.
I bought it used. The previous owner said it was three or four years old
and the manual is hand-dated 08/2004.
Dan