Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet writes:
On 3/30/2018 10:50 AM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
-MIKE- writes:
On 3/30/18 10:18 AM, Jack wrote:
On 3/29/2018 3:39 PM, Scott Lurndal wrote:
Leon lcb11211@swbelldotnet writes:
On 3/29/2018 12:38 PM, Jack wrote:
On 3/23/2018 8:55 PM, Meanie wrote:
I'm contemplating the purchase of a bench top planer. After looking
around for a used machine, I often thought about a vertical drum
sander
instead. Obviously, I know the difference between the two but they
basically do the same thing. Therefore, seeking the sage advice,
could I
get by with a sander instead of a planer?

I'd go for the planer.ÂÂ* Moreover, I would go for one with a spiral
head
segmented cutter.ÂÂ* Grizzly sells them rather cheap, and they work
well,
much better than a 2 or 3 knife cutter.ÂÂ* A bit louder than a sander
but
still very quiet. Like a sander, they cut smooth regardless of grain
pattern/direction or knots. You can finish sand with a hand sander in a
minute, even large surfaces.ÂÂ* About no need for a drum sander if you
have one of these as they come out ready for a quick finish sand.

But to be clear, a drum sander is hard to beat when sanding thin veneers
to a uniform thickness.Â* Or for flattening the top and bottoms of the
sides of small/short drawers and boxes so that one side does not stand
higher or lower than it's mating piece.

A drum sander can also be useful for surfacing wider surfaces than the
15" a typical
planer will handle.Â*Â*Â* The 16-32 will handle 32" wide surface and
the 22-44 a 44" wide (in two passes).

A 15" planer can plane 2 perfectly flat, exact thickness 15" pieces that
can be edge glued easily to 30" wide with very minimal sanding needed,
which can be done quickly with any hand sander.


That's what I end up doing for wider panel glue-ups.
One glued seem is pretty easy to knock down by sanding or a card
scraper, which works better to avoid dips at the seem.


On the other hand, I see no good reason to rip a 30" wide board
down to 15", plane, then glue it back up when I can just use the
drum sander.


Do you often see 30" wide boards? ;~)

I have a few. A nice 26" 24/4 slab of Claro Walnut. A 30" wide
slice through a redwood burl (rough edge). A few wide 4/4 boards.


My local supplier has 36" wide pieces of mahogany. Ripping those, to
thickness plane, would be shame.

Indeed.