Grizzly G8749 Drum / Flap Sander review

The Grizzly G8749 Drum / Flap Sander is a table top dual purpose drum/flap sander that is made for lighter work suitable to a table top spindle style sander. As with all sanders of its type, safety is a huge consideration since there are no guards or guides for your piece – you hold your piece by hand and bring it into the rapidly moving sanders – so it’s paramount to be sure you put it together carefully, wear eye protection and keep a very tight grip on your piece. The sanding drums are inflatable, but the amount of air needed is small, so should not be inflated with a compressor or automated pump due to possible bursting.

The first Amazon review was in March of 2009 and was 4-star, cautioning that the user double-check everything. She also stated that two brushes were broken on the piece but that Grizzly’s customer service

“wasted no time in replacing the broken parts.”

The second of three reviews was a 5-star that essentially said that the price of the unit was on a par with its quality, and that the fit and finish of the machining was better than expected. He also stated that you will be limited to Grizzly’s sanding sleeves, a point turned into a 1-star review by the third reviewer in June of 2010, who said that the flap sander exploded due to shifting from washers being undersized. He called Grizzly and asked if someone in the engineering department would call to discuss it but felt sure the message was never delivered. Carrying on, the reviewer said he would use the drum sander and planned on mounting buffing wheels one one of the shafts. He soon discovered that only Grizzly parts would fit and that

“you can only get a limited selection of low quality abrasives to fit the drums”.

He also found the shaft threads were not a standard size.