Doug Sikkema recently purchased our SuperMax 19-38 Drum Sander. He shared his thoughts on the sander, and the beautiful kitchen he created, in a recent email to us.
I just finished my first large project with my new 19-38 Drum Sander. I have been in woodworking for over 50 years. I have built everything from a small shelf to owning, designing & running a full scale furniture factory. We built antique reproduction furniture that sold all over the world.
When building furniture, one of the most difficult tasks was sanding. We used double belt 53″ oscillating drum sanders which worked just fine. Problem is they are large, takes a lot of maintenance, and cost over $60,000 each for an inexpensive sander. After selling my business over 20 years ago, I remained in the cabinet and kitchen business, building over 100 kitchens. I had a small shop and did all the sanding by hand. After retiring, I set up another shop at home just for a hobby.
My daughter wanted to build a new house so I told her I would help all I could. I once again became a General Contractor. I designed her new house started setting up contractors and getting prices for our new project. When I designed her new Craftsman Style Kitchen, I wanted it to be built out of Cherry. My bids came back between $50,000 to $80,000 just for the kitchen! I told her that I thought I could do it for around $10,000 with no labor. I knew I needed a good sander to complete this project. Having tried many drum sanders in my career I really wasn’t too impressed. But I could not pick up even a used oscillating drum sander… didn’t have the room nor could justify the cost.
I started looking around on the internet and did some comparison checks. I read many reviews on and kept coming back to the SuperMax. I looked for a distributor close in Michigan and found one 25 miles from my house. I made the appointment to see this sander in action and was told to bring some samples of wood that I would use on this new kitchen. I was just amazed when I tried out your sander, and the knowledge and ease to work with J.P. DesCamp was the most impressive meeting I have had in many years.
Your company has a real Top Drawer Distributor in J.P. and your sander is the most impressive sander I have ever used. I would put this sander up against any wide belt on the market. I absolutely worked the SuperMax 19-38 to death on this kitchen. It never let me down. It is by far the best tool in my shop. I am attaching a few pics of the finished cherry kitchen. With the help of your sander, the finish turned out the absolute best I have ever turned out. Most of all, thanks to J.P. DesCamp for introducing this sander to me and for all your help.
Doug Sikkema
Sikkema Sellars
Decatur, Michigan
