JET 649005K 22X44 Plus 22-Inch number one-3-4-Horsepower Drum Sander evaluation
The JET 649005K 22X44 Plus 22-Inch 1-3/4-Horsepower Drum Sander is a full sized sander, suitable for both large and small projects, durable enough to be a real workhorse.
A video review of the JET 649005K 22X44 Plus 22-Inch 1-3/4-Horsepower Drum Sander
You can sand boards up 4 inches thick and 44 inches wide using the simple two pass method of flipping the board after one pass of 22 inches worth of sanding. The Jet 'SandSmart' control keeps tabs on the load on the drum motor, adjusting when necessary to allow the highest feed rate without overload. If it's got a lighter load, it'll speed up, and tell you which it's doing via a red indicator light. The machine is built to be quiet and vibration-free.
JET has developed a patented conveyer belt 'tracker' that makes manual belt adjustments rare, and this model has 'precision-machined, balanced, extruded drum self-cools' to keep heat damage at bay. This machine is defintely built to last, equipped with a continuous-duty motor for long periods of use, reinforced steel conveyer belt, cast-iron handwheel and adjustable drum height.
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This operator-friendly machine is one of the largest sanders in its class and comes with patented abrasive take-up fasters to make the changes easy, and a front-mounted on/off switch. It requires minimal assembly and comes with JET's 5-year warranty.
The average customer review on Amazon for the JET 649005K 22X44 Plus 22-Inch 1-3/4-Horsepower Drum Sander is 4 stars, with 1 review of 1 star and 1 review of 2 stars out of 14 total reviews. One of the main featured reviews, though, is the 2 star which highlights trouble adjusting the machine as a regular problem and while the manual said the parallelism was set at the factory and should not have to be set by the owner, when the purchaser received his, it was out by 3/8". "Obviously, the quality control department was at lunch when my machine was assembled." He also says that attaching the sandpaper belt to the drum is annoying, and it's tough to keep the sandpaper taut. He also had trouble with wood burning and said that the belts break long before the abrasive is gone. He did say that a friend recommended he not use the crepe rubber to clean his belts which reduces burning a lot, and said he would revise his review to 3 stars. This 2 star review was the first the machine received on Amazon, and was from March 2006.
Since then, reviews have improved considerably, with the 1 star review (the newest, received September 2010) received because of a shipping problem with Amazon rather than the actual machine. Other reviewers admire the quality of the machine and the fact that it arrived well packaged, was easy to assemble and that a standard 20 amp circuit is enough to operate the sander. Another reviewer said that he would
"buy this machine again in a heartbeat"
and another said he found the drum sander very easy to adjust and use.
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