picked up an old kuster drum sander (pictures)

[Old Greenhorn]

Hey @woodmills1 , reviving one of your old threads here. We just picked up one of these last night in a 2 drum 36" version. Wondering if you still have yours and how it is working out. Ours is missing the cover hood. Do you have any photo of that so we can figure something out. The one we got is in rough shape but looks very workable after a lot of cleaning. Interested to get into it. I did find the full manual online, so that helps a lot. I am guessing these were made in the 60's, does that sound right?


 

[21incher]

I have an old 24 inch single drum one. It's made from the original kit the company got started  with. Not much help to you but all their equipment seems to use industry standard components.  Mine uses 4 inch rolls and a wood wedge on the starting side with strapping tape on the ending  side so it stays tight as the paper stretches.  I replaced  mine with a open jet sander last year because  it took up too much room in my shop but with 40 grit it was great for flattening tops. I tried selling it on craigslist for 6 months before just throwing it on the pallet rack in my barn to be used for parts for other projects.  The first item ever that I couldn't sell on craigslist.  Not sure how much hp yours has but to drive the 2 drums it's probably going  to be 10 hp. I never had much luck with  finer grit sanding with the unit. The fine paper plugs easily and needs to be cleaned often with one of those giant erasers.  My single  drum had a custom plastic top with a baffle to direct the air. 4 inch hose barely moves enough  air to handle the dust created and I am guessing yours will probably need several 4 inch vents distributed to catch the dust. I had serious  problems with my canister filter plugging on the collector and had to add an Oneida cyclone that works great for fine dust. Do not try to run it without good dust collection because the dust will continue  around causing burning and also cloud up your shop in seconds. I will post a couple pics of the cover.  It will be a good machine but they need lots of room to work around with heavy tops. My open sander takes up 1/2 the room and dust collection but is slower. I will see if the manual has the wrapping info.