allthunbs

Pardon me for stating the obvious but aren't thickness planers supposed to make the two surfaces parallel? I would consider using the sander for final dimensioning (i.e. with 120 git I take off about 8/1000ths of an inch) but I wouldn't rely on any sander to render parallel surfaces, belt, drum or otherwise. My planer is better suited for such jobs i.e. fixed table/bed, pinch rollers specifically designed to push lumber into the bed, cutting head adjustable to be parallel to the bed beyond my ability to measure, depth of cut adjustment to allow the slightest amount of material to be removed for accuracy, and variable feed rates to minimize creating washboard surfaces.

All I want to do with my sander is polish up the planed surfaces ready for final hand sanding and finishing.

This is not a confrontational statement. I'm trying to learn here and this is puzzling me. I recognize that no machine is ever 100% accurate but I'm trying to understand your logic. Norm Abrahams joints, planes and cuts for square and parallel. He's got this one huge belt sander that in one episode he uses to get thing perfectly parallel. The next episode he uses the planer to get things perfectly parallel???

Now you see why I'm puzzled.

Allthunbs

mdlbldrmatt135

OK, should you're planer blades be nicked.... do you hand sand, if so the the tom and bottom aren't completely parallel anymore............... it's more of a finishing thing than a true "parllel" thing....... planer blade can nick and leane raised sections on the boards. the wider sandes can remove them while keeping them parallel.

Terry Beeson

Allthumbs... You are not really confused at all.

Yes, a planer is used for that purpose. And maybe I should have made myself a little clearer as to what I was after - not just parallel.

First of all, I don't own a planer myself. But I do have a jointer. And as you should well know, a jointer used to plane a narrow board does not always result in the surfaces being parallel. If I were to use that method then the sander you reference, I would still wind up with a board that may be thicker on one side than the other - ( That just struck me as sounding strange, but I hope you get my meaning...)

So, in my case, I'm wanting to joint/plane smaller width boards and then use the drum sander to finish them to a parallel finished thickness. At the same time, I want to ensure the thickness is consistent from end to end. Something else the sanders you referenced can't do. Sort of a planer with sanding paper instead of knives.

Also, some of my projects call for relatively narrow glue ups that I want to run through to ensure consistency across the "top" that a belt sander can't do. You're sanders will come closer, but still may have some "dips."

Those sanders have a great value for what they do. I've seen one at work, and if the board is already planed, they are great. In fact, one of those is in the back of my mind for another project later.

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Daren

I worked on it a little today. I just joined 2 -12 1/2" wide white oak board for the 25" wide table. It is flat, should stay that way . White oak is plenty hard and should wear OK. You can see a glue line in the picture with the level, I scraped that off after it dried (I was checking it with the level to make sure it was still flat after I took it out of the clamps)

The rest is just dry fit in the pictures. The pillow block risers look like a bit of overkill, but whatcha gonna do ?

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allthunbs

Through confusion comes understanding. If you don't have a planer and you do have time and materials why not make a thickness sander...

I have a high fence for thin stock but it takes a finer grit.

With this sander you have move the stock across the drum at an even speed. Like that you don't get divits.

ajh359

If you cut your own veneer you will have to run it through a drum sander to clean it up, because you can not run it in a planer. You have a minimum thickness that a planer can do.

KevinK

Hi

You may want to check out this site for supplies, they have a pretty innovative roller that uses velcro and because of the velcro and the fact the sand paper lifts off the roller as it spins, the sandpaper does not get clogged up with sawdust. They also have these neat feather wheels.
http://www.stockroomsupply.com/

Good luck, looks good so far

mmwood_1

Allthumbs,
I could not speak for the guys who are making their sanders, but for myself, there are 2 situations where I use a thickness sander. (36" wide belt) First off, I have a 16" wide planer. If I'm doing wider panels out of solid wood and they need to be really good surfaces, I take them to another local shop and pay for time on their sander.($70/hr. with a 1 hr. minimum) It's generally faster, cheaper, and more accurate than I can attain doing it by hand. Especially if there are many to do.
The second reason is the wood itself. If I'm running a lot of curly/quilted maple for instance, even with freshly sharpened knives on my planer, taking off about 100th of an inch at a pass (which takes forever, and it's my obligation to my customers to try to work efficiently, since I bill by the hour) I can still get tear-out on it because the grain runs in so many directions. The wide belt works in the same manner as the planer, but no cutting, hence, no tear-out.

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Gerry KIERNAN

I am wondering if pvc pipe will stand up to the heat being generated by the sanding action, and stay straight under load.
My feeling is that it may flex in the middle.

Gerry

Daren

I wondered the same thing, hence the wood spacers inside. If it goes belly up, back to the drawing board I guess. I will make one from hardwood plugs with a holesaw on the drill press.

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ajh359

Get you a piece of aluminum tubing and do it same way you are doing with the PVC.

Daren

I have a piece of thinner wall stainless steel. It is 3" od. I have it in the shop on standby.

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ajh359

That will work, after you put your wood plugs in put in your wood lathe and see how far it out. I would use a shaft and not a threaded rod it will run a lot truer. And you want to make it better take to your local machine shop had them make two aluminum end caps and turn it round. You will a lot happier with it.

Gerry KIERNAN

Daren

If you have wooden plugs in the middle as well as the ends it will probably be okay. If it works out it will certainly be an economical way to build the drum.

Gerry

Daren

I have not had a chance to mess with my sander for several days, things have been crazy around here. I have been tripping over it plenty in my small shop though and decided I need to get 'er done so I can move it to the sawmill shed where I will use it.

I don't have a switch mounted or anything, just put a male plug on and stuck in the outlet. I was more focused on mounting the motor and spinning it.

The motor is hanging from blocking lag bolted to the frame on a heavy duty door hinge and perforated angle iron . It seemed to hang too much off the belt so I added a little support on the other side with a jury rigged (but I like it) storm door catch spring/chain.

I had to take the table off because of all the crawling around and under it, 3 hands would have been a big help more than once.

The noise in the video is more belt slap than anything the bearing where quite and smooth. The belt was the right length and just handy, but it was old and hanging on the wall and had "memory" in it and it was vibrating some. I will buy a new belt (prolly link belt) when I an done tinkering.

If I figured right on my adjustable pulley I am running the drum at about 2500 rpm (?) I can speed it up plenty if I want, but not slow it down much without changing the motor pulley, which I have them to do so.

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Daren

I took the sander for a test run on a piece of osage orange this morning. I video taped part of the second pass. I cranked it down the first pass and took the most of it off, the second pass I concentrated more on feed rate and got a nice smooth finish . I was not going to video the first pass (I did not know what would happen, coulda been ugly )

I just need to make a push board/stick to push them all the way through. Most likely dad or someone will be here most of the time catching on the other end (and pulling) but I have a roller set up for an outfeed when I am working alone. And of course dust collection...no problem. I made a different bed from earlier pictures, there is a reason but I don't have time to go into it.

Seems to work, not counting wood since it was "free" I did it for less than $100. The first picture is rough saw, the next 2 are after the sander.

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TexasTimbers

Awesome. Man that's great, you'll do fine in a severe depression.

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Terry Beeson

Very KEWL!!! I gotta get to work on mine now...

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I cut that board three times and it's STILL too short!!!...
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Gerry KIERNAN

Great job Daren.

Gerry

Daren

I found a working treadmill to pillage , so yea power feed here I come (when I get around to it). I just need to source treadmill belt material.

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