It is great how much flatter panels come out of my 16/32 than when I sanded
by with a ROS.

My next project is a 6'x3' table of 8 3' pieces of 5/4 oak. Obviously it
isn't going through the sander.
Could I dry assemble it with biscuits and pocket screws, and then sand two
or three boards at a time? Maybe I should skip the biscuits, at least until
after sanding, since it might be impossible to take the same amount off the
top and bottom on everything?

Anyone done something like this? Any advice (preferrably from
experience...) would be appreciated.

Yeah, the 5/4 is overkill, but I bought a bunch of it for almost nothing at
an auction a few years ago and want to use it up.

I know you preferred responses from those that have tried that and I don't
fit that group,however, I have used a drum sander to flatten many table
tops.
In cases like yours I either do two widths about half total width or do
the whole top minus the last board. In either case I use a RO for the
unsanded joint and then a 330 PC to finish the whole top.

I believe your suggested method is essentially the same except it will not
remove the ensuing glue squeeze out.

Lets us know how your method works. Cheers, JG

"Toller" wrote in message
...
It is great how much flatter panels come out of my 16/32 than when I
sanded by with a ROS.

My next project is a 6'x3' table of 8 3' pieces of 5/4 oak. Obviously it
isn't going through the sander.
Could I dry assemble it with biscuits and pocket screws, and then sand two
or three boards at a time? Maybe I should skip the biscuits, at least
until after sanding, since it might be impossible to take the same amount
off the top and bottom on everything?

Anyone done something like this? Any advice (preferrably from
experience...) would be appreciated.

Yeah, the 5/4 is overkill, but I bought a bunch of it for almost nothing
at an auction a few years ago and want to use it up.

Toller wrote:
It is great how much flatter panels come out of my 16/32 than when
I sanded by with a ROS.

My next project is a 6'x3' table of 8 3' pieces of 5/4 oak.
Obviously it isn't going through the sander.
Could I dry assemble it with biscuits and pocket screws, and then
sand two or three boards at a time? Maybe I should skip the
biscuits, at least until after sanding, since it might be
impossible to take the same amount off the top and bottom on
everything?

Anyone done something like this? Any advice (preferrably from
experience...) would be appreciated.

When I made a 48" diameter table out of 5/4 white oak I glued up
several narrower boards to make three pieces, sanded those three to
desired thickness and glued them together. Yes, there was some (very)
minor work to do on the two joints but just a few passes with a
scraper.

Biscuits could help align the pieces to each other but I've never felt
the need for them. I prefer to rest the pieces I'm gluing on
"stickers" every 18" or so to register one side...a little downward
pushing (even with 5/4 oak) as you go along with clamps will get
things nice and flat. It can also help to use hand screws at the ends
placed so as to clamp adjacent pieces in a vertical plane. If you
should need a *lot* of pushing to align edges (you shouldn't) you can
clamp a 2x4 across the width and drive a wedge under it to provide the
"push".

In your case, you could make three pieces each 12" x 72" and easily
sand each before joining. You could also make 2 pieces, say, 72" x
15" and a third 72" x 6". The latter scenario might be preferable as
you can sand so the adjoining edges go through the same portion of the
sander (inner/outer side); that would help offset any thickness
variation from the drum not being perfectly horizontal.


--

dadiOH
____________________________

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"Toller" wrote in message
...
It is great how much flatter panels come out of my 16/32 than when I
sanded by with a ROS.

My next project is a 6'x3' table of 8 3' pieces of 5/4 oak. Obviously it
isn't going through the sander.
Could I dry assemble it with biscuits and pocket screws, and then sand two
or three boards at a time? Maybe I should skip the biscuits, at least
until after sanding, since it might be impossible to take the same amount
off the top and bottom on everything?

Anyone done something like this? Any advice (preferrably from
experience...) would be appreciated.

Yeah, the 5/4 is overkill, but I bought a bunch of it for almost nothing
at an auction a few years ago and want to use it up.
I would not use pocket screws or biscuits for the long grain to long grain
glue ups, they don't need it. I would tongue and groove or finger joint the
end grain connections.

To insure a flat top, use several cauls to hold it flat during the clamping.

Dave

Toller wrote:
It is great how much flatter panels come out of my 16/32 than when I sanded
by with a ROS.

My next project is a 6'x3' table of 8 3' pieces of 5/4 oak. Obviously it
isn't going through the sander.
Could I dry assemble it with biscuits and pocket screws, and then sand two
or three boards at a time?

Yes, you can do this. Sometimes I do the same thing with raised panel
doors. Glue them up (close) and then sand down the glued up piece. Just
be careful that the glued up piece isn't too heavy to be unmanagable.

I made a 7' by 3' table out of 2" oak. I meticulously sanded down all
the pieces with the drum sander to the same thickness. Then I biscuited
them together. It may have been my lack of skill, but the top was
uneven enough that I had to use a belt sander and ROS to reflatten it
anyhow. If I had to do it over again, I'd just skip the drum sander on
something that big.. Plane your wood. glue it up, and then use a
belt/ROS sander to flatten.