Drum sanders that go as low as 2mm

Have never heard of a veneer sander that uses a drum head. Have read where hobbyist use a carrier board to overcome thickness limitation, and provide needed support for the thin veneer; on a drum sander. Never needed one, so can not help with references.

In commercial operation, veneer is sanded using a wide belt sander, outfit with special veneer platen. The platens are located under each belt head to produce desired results. They are pneumatic or hydraulically controlled for thickness, with extra optical and physical sensors to ensure proper material handling. A veneer sander has such precise control, it is often used to sand down vinyl sealer coats on panels, and/or finish sand top coat on pre-finished plywood. Timesavers and Stiles are example companies that produce sanders with veneer capability if you want more information.

Best Luck.

+ 1, carrier board. I use one sometimes with my 19/38, works fairly well.

Depending on species, or maybe grain types you'll get some that wants to crinkle as it passes through.

I've found if you sand the stock through BEFORE resawing it to give it a very flat/smooth surface, and then once resawn you send it back through with 220 or so grit you'll get less crinkling pieces.

I'll often go to 1/8" and even down to 1/16" on my old 16/32 with a sled. I can go thinner but then the wood sometimes fractures.

I've gone down to 1/8", but with extreme caution to not damage what's being sanded! I would use a carrier board.

Thanks for the input.

My supermax 16/32 will go that thin. I use it to make bands for shaker oval boxes. I have gone below .07 on some bands.

I used square tubing to raise the bed on my 16-32 for this purpose. Going that thin on the 16-32 puts too much stress on the end of the threads on the aluminum motor mount. Mine stripped out from constantly lowering that far and I had to replace it. After that I added 1" square tubing under the bed to raise it by an inch. By raising the bed with square tubing, It's not stressing those threads anymore since they've got an inch more "grab". It's working out fine so far. As long as you don't need the extra 1" of clearance you're taking away (for sanding thicker stock), this could be a good solution for you.

Just this weekend I needed to go 1/16", no problems at all. These were 12" x 1" slats.

I used square tubing to raise the bed on my 16-32 for this purpose. Going that thin on the 16-32 puts too much stress on the end of the threads on the aluminum motor mount. Mine stripped out from constantly lowering that far and I had to replace it. After that I added 1" square tubing under the bed to raise it by an inch. By raising the bed with square tubing, It s not stressing those threads anymore since they ve got an inch more "grab". It s working out fine so far. As long as you don t need the extra 1" of clearance you re taking away (for sanding thicker stock), this could be a good solution for you.

- onoitsmatt

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That's really useful to know. Thank you and thank you to everybody who replied. Drum sander sued to be easy to break and hard to get working well back when I got my first one.

I'm looking at the Supermax 16-32. By any chance can you post a photo of your steel tubing arrangement so I can get some ideas of how to approach the mod if I decide to do it?

I used square tubing to raise the bed on my 16-32 for this purpose. Going that thin on the 16-32 puts too much stress on the end of the threads on the aluminum motor mount. Mine stripped out from constantly lowering that far and I had to replace it. After that I added 1" square tubing under the bed to raise it by an inch. By raising the bed with square tubing, It s not stressing those threads anymore since they ve got an inch more "grab". It s working out fine so far. As long as you don t need the extra 1" of clearance you re taking away (for sanding thicker stock), this could be a good solution for you.

- onoitsmatt

Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion about the tubes. I don't feel like repairing parts.

I used square tubing to raise the bed on my 16-32 for this purpose. Going that thin on the 16-32 puts too much stress on the end of the threads on the aluminum motor mount. Mine stripped out from constantly lowering that far and I had to replace it. After that I added 1" square tubing under the bed to raise it by an inch. By raising the bed with square tubing, It s not stressing those threads anymore since they ve got an inch more "grab". It s working out fine so far. As long as you don t need the extra 1" of clearance you re taking away (for sanding thicker stock), this could be a good solution for you.

- onoitsmatt

Click to expand...

Hadn't even considered that, great tip/warning.

Just had a look at my 16/32 and the threads are at the bottom of the threaded hole (100% engagement) when the sander is at about 3/8". I'll need to put some PSA 220 grit on a board and use that as a sled for now on to avoid cutting with the thread engagement below 100%

Simple is good. How long/often do you feel the need to change out? Like my planer does 6" but I seldom do anything over 8/4.

That's the downside. Like Lauren, I primarily use it to thickness guitar tops/backs/sides so it's rare I use it for anything thicker than an 8th of an inch.

I wouldn't want to add and remove the tubing with any frequency because you need to recalibrate bed to the drum if you want to keep it precise.

thanks Matt.