I run a small one man operation and I am looking to cut my sanding
time/displeasure. I fear that I could purchase a contraption that does
not save much time, compared to my current method.

I work alone, and have no real woodworking community in my life, so may
I describe what I do now? and perhaps someone could offer there advise.

I build chests and coffee tables out of solid red alder, I have been
making these designs for over eight years. I make batches of 10 to 15
units at a time. I currently plane the alder to dimension and sand the
planer marks off with a 6x48" belt sander at 150 grit then touch that
up with a random orbit sander at 220. Most of my stock is sanded while
it is a flat part no wider than 3.5 inches and an inch thick. One
exception is the alder edge glued panels that I purchase (15" x 36") -
they come sort of sanded to 150 grit - I touch them up with random
orbit 150, then 220.

My 6x48 belt sander is near death and in need of replacing. I currently
spend about 15% of the job sanding. It goes along ok but holding pieces
of wood up to the vertical belt sander is exhasting. So is sanding if
there is some way to sand a little bit faster.

I frequently stain the alder and really desire an even sanding, as it
gets quite blotchy if the sanding is uneven. I have also noticed that
150 grit is really not fine enough for alder. Some people claim it is,
but it has a terrible look if finished with a darker stain. (a whole
other topic I am sure)

Perhaps my planer leaves too crappy of a finish. I have found that
alders knots are very hard and have proven to repeatedly nick my
blades. I now just live with a few lines on the surface. Are my blades
too soft? Maybe I run the blades too hot? (old crappy delta 12 inch
steel blades) Maybe if that was fixed, I could get by with only the
random orbit 220 clean-up.

I am looking at machines like the woodmaster 18" planer/sander , or the
grizzly 16" dual drum sander. My shop is somewhat small, and only has
220.

I spend a few weeks of my life sanding. Is there a way I can lessen it?

Thanks for the time

Tor

http://www.musicalfurnishings.com