I received my Byrnes thickness sander about one year after Russ got his sander. That is, I have been using it for 10 years! During that time I have used it to surface everything from hickory to basswood. Mostly, I use it to surface poplar, my preferred wood for stick building. In the course of my work I have surfaced well over 1,000' of stock with thicknesses from .01" to 1 1/2". It has worked pretty well.
One inherent defect of the machine IMO involves the way the abrasive is secured to the drum. The instructions say:"Fold the edges of the new abrasive about 1/4" (longer than the drum diameter) and slide it around the drum . Replace the wedge(s) and cap screws, keeping pressure on the abrasive so that it remains tight on the drum. The wedge will form the abrasive to the drum." In theory this sounds fine but I have performed this operation hundreds of times and invariably the abrasive extends a slight fraction above the drum trajectory giving the whole operation a slight bumpyness. This is most pronounced with the coarser 80 grit material, less so with 180 grit material. Even so, this shows up on close inspection. Finishing with about a .002"pass with 180 grit abrasive produces a fairly smooth finish. For an excellent finish some hand sanding is manditory.
In contrast the Microlux sander uses a sleeve sander. I wqnder if using this machine with a similar fine grit could preclude hand sanding? Also, how difficult (easy) is it to change sleeves?