Oscillating Wide Belt Sander vs Drum Sander

[Chet]

Submitted on the old forum by keggers

I have a Grizzly 15" open end wide belt sander. It takes up quite a bit of floor space plus it requires an air compressor to run. It's also very heavy. I've been thinking about selling it and getting a nice drum sander. Maybe one I could put on wheels. I've never had a drum sander but from what I've read the sander I have is suppose to be a better sander than a drum sander. 

I guess I'm looking for opinions. 

Follow up posts

1) I'm not quite sure of the Grizzly drum sander you're talking about but, I will say that still to this day, I still kick myself for not adding a drum sander in my shop much earlier that I did.

I'll also say that the drum sander market is in a little flux right now.  Supermax was the standard for a long time but, I believe they were bought out not too long ago and there has been some question about if the construction of them is what it once was.  I'm sure the group will chime in on this and has more knowledge than I do on it..

2) 

I'm not looking at replacing my Grizzly oscillating belt sander with a Grizzly drum sander. While visiting their showroom I looked at their drum sanders and wasn't really impressed. I guess I'm wondering if there are any advantages a drum sander can offer compared to my wide belt sander.

This is the newer model of the sander I currently have.

3) Kent, does sand from the bottom only? I guess that’s kind of a dumb question but, as it’s easier to ask than look it up, how does it operate?

4) It actually has a 15" wide belt that oscillates slightly from side to side as it goes around and around. It only sands the top of the board then you have to flip it over. Does that make sense?

5) Ok, now I must admit that I'm really confused..  This picture is a drum sander, not a belt sander..

I had a Grizzly drum sander for quite some time.  It did a great job!  Biggest advantage with the Supermax was the dust collection.

6) So, in other words, this would be a 15/30 drum sander right?

Can you drop the model number of your current sander? I'd like to look for myself.  

At first blush, it looks like you have an older version of the drum sander.

7) Kev I believe what is going on is some problems with the new 16-32 SuperMax. They had some different design features from the 19-38 and it seemed some of those are creating problems on some machines. But from what I remember from the press release from Laguna, Laguna bought SuperMax but they were still going to run as separate companies.

8 ) Thanks Chet..  

I'm still a little confused on what the current machine is...lol. I just know my stupid brain is missing something here..

9) That's not a bad belt sander.  I think you can burn the sandpaper much easer with a drum sander and it takes longer to change paper on them.