25-Inch Drum Sander, Open Stand, 1-3/4 HP, 115V 1Ph (JWDS-2550)

Never really owned a JET product, always preferred Powermatic for a few more bucks, but JET has really got their act together now that they are owned by JPW Industries as is Powermatic. Just love this thing, it solves so many work around issues when making 3D cutting boards and stands. I have found myself building cutting boards in 2 sections so I can get them through my 13 inch planner and with end grain had to use a sled and super thin passes and building a frame assemble to avoid chip out on the trailing edges. The 25" wide sanding area is just great, I can position boards narrow or wide direction and the end grain sands perfect right out of the box. Was going to add a digital readout like on the planner, but the sander is just so easy to raise the head and put the board in and reach under the head and move the drum while lowering the head util it just kisses the board and you are set to go. A hand held digital calibrator really is all you need to get the target thickness. Fit and finish is a 10, the castings are super smooth and the paint looks to be powder coated. The adjusting handle is super smooth and very accurate. The Jet castors were expensive IMO but they fit well and are very high quality and lock and release very easily, so no problem. The drum sander was adjusted perfect right out of the box, very pleased with the quality overall. I think some people do not realize that a drum sander is not a planner and should not operated like it is. Keep the conveyor belt moving slowly and take small bites and you will get great results, no burning or snipe. Comes with 80 grit but the line it creates just add to the orbital sanding needed. I am using 120 grit now and while the sanding is slower the lines are much shallower than the 80, and are easily removed using 100 grit random orbital, followed with 120, 150, 180, 220 etc. I am sure the Laguna and the other max guys are all good machines also, but the JET 2550 is a sweet machine and I am very happy with it, along with the 5 year warranty.

I have only had limited use of it so far and so far everything has been relatively narrow stock. That said, I have been please with the results so far. It’s one of those tools that you may not utilize it’s full capabilities, but when you do you will be glad that the gave this tool.

Complete waste of money. Used for a couple of months and was OK. After that, nothing but trouble with the sandpaper migrating to one side and then tearing out after several passes. Thought it was user error and that I needed to align the drum better. The drum was out of alignment, but after I dialed it back in where it needed to be, same exact problem. Became totally useless. Contacted the vendor several times, and ultimately they told me that it can't be used on anything that isn't already perfectly flat. Good luck with that. If everything I had was perfectly flat, I wouldn't need to sand it!

Definitely have to buy the extensions to handle bigger pieces of wood, so it goes through evenly

I had emailed customer service about the extension table rebate and they responded once but did not respond to any follow up questions. Great product! not so great customer service

Nice heavy sander, ran 1700 LF of siding through it two at a time, no bogging down. Great dust extraction. Sturdy base, especially with some casters. The bad: dust hood is plastic, and not very thick at that. And the sand paper is nearly impossible to get into the clip at the end. Luckily, use a belt cleaner and the paper lasts forever.

The product arrived before estimated shipping time, and I was pleased with the packaging. This item was crated, and well protected and arrived free of damage. Had the stand and unit assembled in less than an hour. Instructions were well written and easy to follow. initial set-up of the unit, along with the in and outfeed tables adjustments were easy to follow. had unit up and running in about 2 hours.. This is a fantastic unit. and a well built piece of machinery.

Only half of my order came just the legs to the sander. The product said delivered but only part of it came. What do I do now?