Drum sander as thicknesser?

[oradba69]

I may be in the market for a planer thicknesser even though I am currently buying my lumber pre-planed. I know it will be very slow but can a drum sander like the Jet 22-44 double as a decent thicknesser? Anybody here any experience doing it? The sander just seems so much more versatile.

 

[BobKovacs]

Can it?  Sure.  Is it the ideal solution?  Absolutely not- especially if you're starting with true "rough" stock, and need to take a significant amount of material off.

 

[Timtool]

I have just ordered the 22-44 oscillating drum sander, i do this because it can handle 3 times the width of my thicknesser planer. Anything too wide for the planer will go in the drum sander, like panels and tabletops. But it will always be planed first before glue up.

So even if i suspect i won't be able to do without the drum sander once i have it, i am certain now that i absolutely cannot work without my planer. I wouldn't use the drum sander for thicknessing too much i don't think it has the precision and solidness of a planer.

 

[VictorL]

I do have and use both. Drum sander is the best solution for high figured wood, or lumber with lot of knots.  Another huge advantage of drum sander is open end, so boards up to 44" (1m+) can be sanded. I prefer thickness planer for "regular" lumber because it's much faster for stock removal, and I don't have to switch grits.

VictorL

 

[PaulMarcel]

+1 to the above especially Victor's comment about figured stock.  If you have a straight knife planer, it can have tearout issues.  The sander is slow, though, especially with hard woods like rock Maple; Mahogany can be thicknessed pretty quickly with a sander.

I'll add that I find the P60 belts are much more effective than P36.  P36 seems to have such huge grit that it does more denting than cutting; just makes a mess.  P60 takes the stock down quickly, for a sander.

Like TimTool... I used to use my drum sander for boards wider than my lunchbox planer.  TimTool: If you used a regular drum sander before, you'll have to let us know how much faster the oscillating model is; it seems like it should be faster.

If you get the drum sander, I made a video of random tips I figured out while burning wood with it initially  [embarassed]

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

You just need a wide belt and a 36" planer. 

 

[Timtool]

Like TimTool... I used to use my drum sander for boards wider than my lunchbox planer.  TimTool: If you used a regular drum sander before, you'll have to let us know how much faster the oscillating model is; it seems like it should be faster.

If you get the drum sander, I made a video of random tips I figured out while burning wood with it initially  [embarassed]

Thank you Paul, i don't presume the oscilating version will be faster, the oscillation is supposed to leave a smoother surface without lines and scratches and also allow you to pass pieces through it regardless of the grain direction. Normally it should also increase the life length of the abrasive by preventing the paper from gumming up.
You can turn the osc off so i can see the difference once i have it.

 

[nickao]

Rock Maple hard? I pretty much thickness Rock maple all day long with my Jet drum sander. Of course I run it through the planer first if need be. But any local woods like Maple, Oak, etc are easily made to thickness with a drum sander and are NOT hard. I love when people say  a drum sander is slow, well unless you are a cabinet shop pumping stuff out a hobbyist can get away with a drum sander instead of a planer. I mean does it matter than it takes 2 minutes for a piece rather than 30 seconds when a hobbyist may have only 20 pieces to do? I think not.

The drum sander of course is slower, but does not tear out wood either and it flattens stock, something a planer just does not do(if you don't understand that please Google I am not getting into another argumentative thread on that, what Americans think of as a planer does not flatten wood).

The best is to have a planer and drum sander, but if you can only have one and are just a hobbyist I would go drum sander every time, especially if you use figured woods a lot. Now if you are an impatient bugger or again, are pumping out 500 linear feet a day, yeah the planer is best(but you still need that drum sander for thicknessing, flattening and figured woods). You can also get an inexpensive little lunch box and planer and big drum sander as an option for those times you are in a rush.

I used the oscillating drum sander for 2 months and when it came out I really wanted it. Don't need it, sold it and am happy using my regular Performax sander I started with. In reality it is NOT faster using the OSC, once you get used to the non oscillating and learn which grits to use for which woods I find it is actually faster running the wood through the regular drum sander and hitting the wood for 30 seconds with my Rotex, if that's even needed.

 

[RDMuller]

These drum sanders being talked about are NOT abrasive thickness planers.  Too slow and frustrating to use on any quantity of wood.  I own 2 of them.  I will take thickness down if chipout is a problem on my planing machines, but only as last resort

 

[oradba69]

Thanks guys, some really insightfull opinions. Two other reasons I am considering the drum sander before the planer is MDF(some times need to take it down a mm or two) and I really want to glue up boards with aluminum  inbetween the strips (to get that boat deck effect) and I think the sander will work great with such a board.

 

[Alan m]

iv used a big industrial wide belt sander with 2 belts and oscilating. it takes forever to thickness down even a mm or 2. you would be faster with a ro 150 and use the drum, to fix it

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

Rock Maple hard? I pretty much thickness Rock maple all day long with my Jet drum sander. Of course I run it through the planer first if need be. But any local woods like Maple, Oak, etc are easily made to thickness with a drum sander and are NOT hard. I love when people say  a drum sander is slow, well unless you are a cabinet shop pumping stuff out a hobbyist can get away with a drum sander instead of a planer. I mean does it matter than it takes 2 minutes for a piece rather than 30 seconds when a hobbyist may have only 20 pieces to do? I think not.

The drum sander of course is slower, but does not tear out wood either and it flattens stock, something a planer just does not do(if you don't understand that please Google I am not getting into another argumentative thread on that, what Americans think of as a planer does not flatten wood).

The best is to have a planer and drum sander, but if you can only have one and are just a hobbyist I would go drum sander every time, especially if you use figured woods a lot. Now if you are an impatient bugger or again, are pumping out 500 linear feet a day, yeah the planer is best(but you still need that drum sander for thicknessing, flattening and figured woods). You can also get an inexpensive little lunch box and planer and big drum sander as an option for those times you are in a rush.

I used the oscillating drum sander for 2 months and when it came out I really wanted it. Don't need it, sold it and am happy using my regular Performax sander I started with. In reality it is NOT faster using the OSC, once you get used to the non oscillating and learn which grits to use for which woods I find it is actually faster running the wood through the regular drum sander and hitting the wood for 30 seconds with my Rotex, if that's even needed.

Yeah, a cupped, twisted or whatever board will be the same, just thinner after a pass in the planer, unless it is a double surfacer.

If you use rough stock, one really needs to be able to face join it before it goes through anything else.