I found a liquidator in Chicago that had bought a large lot of these Palmgren 18-36 drum sanders on a buyout. It's the same machine as the Grizzly 18-36 open end sander... just a lot cheaper
The machines are brand new and still in the box. Assembly was pretty simple - assemble the stand and bolt the sander to the stand. I put it on a mobile base that I got from Harbor Freight (usually I hate everything sold by HF, but this base kit is actually pretty decent).
I have only run a couple boards through, but so far I'm pleased. It came with 80 grit paper installed, which would be great for heavy thickness sanding or taking out major blemishes left by the planer, but it's obviously going to leave a rough surface. I'm going to pick up some finer grit papers. I also need to get an adapter so I can hook it up to my dust collector. This thing makes a huge mess!
Here are a few pics:
The box and crate:
Inside the box:
Assembled on the mobile base:
