JET 18-Inch Drum Sander (JWDS-1836)

I’ve owned this 18/36 Jet drum sander about a year. I’m glad I spend the extra for the 18” model over the 16”. One end is open so it can handle wider pieces. The sanding drum was challenging to change the first time, but I got the hang of it, and it’s fairly easy now. Great addition to my shop and a huge time saver

I own a number of Jet / Powermatic machines ( same company ). Why? My experience with these tools says they work well once you fix all of the faults the company created. What you need to know going in is that these faults may be many in number and expensive to resolve. This machine is a perfect case in point.To start with, the shipping was totally bungled. Jet sent the machine alone with no stand. I sought resolution via Amazon, and Amazon was very helpful. Anyway, ultimately I had the stand. It proved to be solid ad easy to assemble. I thought I was on my way, at last. I was dead wrong.When I had the machine on the stand and fired it up I was greeted by the sound of grinding and tearing. One of the two ceramic "trackers" had detached from the magnets that held it to the machine in shipping (there was no damage to the machine's box to indicate mishandling in shipment - none at all). It shattered, leaving rough fragments that tore up the machine's conveyor belt. Considering the already ridiculous history here I decided my priority should be on finally getting the machine running. I have work to do, orders to fill, and time is, indeed, money. I therefore dropped over $100 to get a new conveyor belt and set (of 2) trackers. The belt arrived last week, the tracker order only today. True to form, Jet screwed up that order. There were supposed to be two trackers in the kit. The box contained only one. Just to make the experience complete the one that arrived is defective. One of the magnets had detached - the same defect that ruined the original conveyor belt. I called Jet and they said they'd send a replacement set. It took 2 weeks to arrive and - you guessed it - the magnets were, again, detached from the ceramic part.Sure, I could glue them on with CA glue, which I did, and hope they work / stay attached. I can't call Jet for advice because obviously they do not know how to keep them attached!Anyway, I am using the machine now and am learning how to deal with inconsistent dimensional results.It is not what I hoped it would be. I am glad to now have a drum sander, but have no confidence at all that I made the right choice by buying this one.I am at the breaking point.P.S. - another reviewer wrote that the Kreg coasters did not work with this stand. My experience was the total opposite. They fit and function like a dream!

I had no idea how much I needed this machine. I use it on every project now. Saves so much time.

I have enjoyed using the sander a lot. It works better than expected. I would recommend anyone interested in a drum sander to look into price and availability of replacement abrasive. Obviously there is a learning curve with any new tool. It was very easy to set up. MY BIG GRIP was the fact that when the unit arrived at the house, the stand was not with it. Contacted AMAZON, three days later they got back to me. "Shipping company was doing a dock search". That's when I called Customer Service at JET. She was great ! Took all my info and went back to Amazon and the shipping company to fight my fight. She emailed back that she gave up and just ordered a new one and delivered it to the house. That is why I purchased a JET. I've never had to deal with JET customer service before, but because they are an established company I purchased from them.

There is special paper required for this sander. It is slightly wider than the paper for the 22", 16", and all other jet drum sanders. The paper is EXPENSIVE. The packaging is difficult to get off the drum sander at unceasing time. It is glued and bolted together. Assembly instructions were written by a dyslexic moron. The depth gauge is difficult to read. The old design was much better. The sander seems to want to gouge the first 4 inches of anything you put in, no matter the cut or length. I won't buy another jet at this point.

OK because it does sand as advertised. But, the mechanism to attach the ends of the rolls will have you (and me) wishing you never bought this thing. Very difficult is being nice when describing putting a new roll on this machine. I'm not going to get into specifics. Do your homework and compare other machines. You'll be glad you did.

I bought this unit from Amazon and shipping was prompt. The unit arrived in 2 boxes and the delivery crew placed it in my garage/ shop. One smaller box contained the stand and another for the main unit. It was packaged well with no damage. I assembled the base and that only took 15 - minutes. The sanding unit is heavy and I took it out myself though I would recommend two people for this. I placed Kreg casters on the base instead of the rubber feet as I need to have this mobile in my shop. The base bent at the wheel attachment point and is now useless to roll around. I will have to order a shop base and install it on that (unexpected cost). The unit came pre-installed with 80 grit paper and I proceeded to sand some glue ups of the black walnut panels I have for a project. 10 panels in total and the unit did a fine job at getting the glue joints flat. The glue ups were pretty good so I did not have to dimension the panels, just get them super flat. The one paper did all the panels, both sides. I then went to go to 120 grit with the paper I purchased from Jet. None of the paper fit the drum despite checking that the part numbers were correct. I measured the roll and it was indeed shorter than the factory installed one. I called Jet and they did not know the length so i could not confirm it though the new paper does not fit all. They said they would need to check with quality control and get back to me, they never did. I have to follow up with them. Hopefully I will be able to get the right paper soon so I don't have to sand a bunch a panels by hand. If Jet can make a stand that I can place casters on it directly and get the right abrasive I would give it 5 stars otherwise I'd say don't buy it unless they can figure out the abrasive issue. I'll post some pictures soon.