It was somewhere outside Barstow when Paul Mc Cann
wrote:

Drum sanders that size are not really meant for rough work or
thicknessing.

Well _some_ are.

I know a guy who recycles old church pews. His first-pass thicknesser
is made from a floor sander on an adjustable height carriage over a
roller table. Saves him a lot of damaged knives on the real
thicknesser.