Powermatic 22-Inch Drum Sander, 1-3/4 HP, 115V 1Ph (Model PM2244)

I am normally not big on writing reviews but after using this for a few hours I am more than a little impressed.Was delivered in 2 days and arrived in perfect condition almost completely assembled. Very little assembly required. Thanks guys!!!! I have been looking at drum sanders for a couple of years and thought wrongly that I needed a 220v for the power. Was I mistaken, the folks at Powermatic have really got this figured out. Arrived almost completely assembled I put the infeed/outfeed tables on in about 10 minutes and had them adjusted to be flat with the feed belt. Very simple.My primary use for this is cabinet doors and drawer fronts as well as face frames. After getting it set up I ran a couple of scrap doors I had laying around the shop with the 60 grit paper that came on the machine and WOW am I impressed!! I gauged the doors after each pass zeroing out the digital depth display after each pass and to my delight this unit is perfectly aligned, I have to admin I was amazed after 5 passes that it was spot on to the third decimal on both sides of an 18" door. Once again thanks guys!!!As far as material removal I am super pleased. I took a pretty badly cupped piece of 5/4x6 hard maple and had both sides flat as glass in 4 passes per side. Granted that was with 60 grit (my finer grits haven't arrived yet) so I still need at least one finish pass on each side to complete the tall. Truth be told with a few hours practice I will do that in 3 passes.For years I dread "door" day when I am doing a kitchen build, not any more. This unit will save me hours of back breaking work with a hand sander.

Received the first unit, Base was bent were the casters are so the unit would rock, Finally had to return entire unit because they would not just sent a new base which I would have been fine to install. 2 nd unit arrived, Big dent in the motor shroud and bent fan, Called Powermatic and finally talked the young lady (who was very nice) to send new parts. Parts arrived and I failed inspect all the damage before my call. 2 screws had been shirred of. OK, drill, easy out, new screws all ok. OK to the sander, Works Super, Not as fast as I was hopping, However I decided to change paper an start right. Sanded a small table top 24x30 and 2 panels 18x28 for a dresser I am making (curly maple) Did a very good job, as I said it took longer than expected, but if you change paper as you should any way and use progressive grits it is a time saver. By the way, after 3 paper changes it really only takes aprox 4 to 5 min. Actually the paper is more snug and easier to install the 2nd time, Also lots of room in the bottom cabinet. I did make a plywood dolly for the base and added caster. my shop is not that large and the machine is Heavy. Have fun. Todd

Came with cracked casting . Unable to return. R&l carriers said to deal with powermatic .amazon said I had to wait on carrier to replace carrier’s said wait on cp power Cp power wants to know why I would revive a broken tool came in four days and it says that it is still out for Delivery in ten days.

Arrived a week early, assembled included extensions and checked alignment and made small adjustment and went to work, Zero issues, is much quieter than expected.

Let me start out by saying that I'm a Powermatic and Festool guy. I enjoy using quality tools and have continuously searched out better tools for 30 years. I purchased this machine to sand 2 inch maple stair treads that I built for a stair job. I had trouble with the tread stopping with conveyor belt still moving thus leaving a nasty drum indention and burn. I have to keep steady feed pressure on the back of the work piece to keep it moving. The machine seems to work on on smaller items but anything of any size does not feed well. I tried a 25x72 inch walnut table top which was a disaster. I ended up using my festool ro125 to clean up the mess. I have tightened and tightened the roller feed screws but to no avail. I thought maybe I had the infeed and outfeed table too high but I lowered those way out of the way just to see if that was the problem. This machine has caused me time and frustration but in fairness I have not called Powermatic yet to ask for help although the manual addresses this issue by only saying to tighten the screws. I do regret buying this but I could change my review if I can get it dialed in. The fit and finish of the sander is done right as with my pm2000 table saw and 15 inch planer. I'm curious if other brand drum sanders have this issue also. Thanks, Neil

This is a very very nice piece equipment. If my shop burned to the ground I would still buy a thickness planer before this drum sander…but I wouldn’t wait so long. The precision and accuracy are unbelievable. I spent probably an hour getting it set up and adjusted perfectly. (I did not settle for “close enough“). I called Powermatic with a question about the set up and had my answer in less than 10minutes. The result is snipe free perfectly thicknesses smooth boards. Exactly what it is supposed to do.It came with 80grit paper but I find myself using mostly 120 and 180 grit.I have a decent 110cfm 4” dust collector and my results are 100% dust free.The automatic feed rate is amazing. I basically turn it to the highest rate and send the lumber through. It will automatically slow down the rate to the appropriate speed.I highly recommend this sander.

The sand paper is expensive and it tears at the end way to much!!!

Good machine