I'm thinking myself of getting a wide belt sander in the 36" range for doing panels, cutting board and the like. Used, the prices are all over the place and most of any significant size are three phase, very heavy and very large, whereas a 16" jointer might have been converted to single phase, is still pretty heavy, but probably won't take up as much space. Especially if you consider you'll be getting rid of you current jointer. Lots of variables that still need to be taken into consideration before making a final decision.

 

I have an 18" Wood Master planer and was considering their line of wide belt sanders.

 

A wide belt sander will not flatten boards.

 

I have a Lobo 37" WBS. Probably the most used large power tool in the shop. I don't know how I got anything done with the 35"drum sander and the 20" planer.

If i were forced to give up a tool, it would not be the wide belt sander. The 20" Powermatic planer would go before the WBS. The drum sander has found a new home, however [first item to go].

And, yes, you can flatten a cupped board with the WBS. Not successful straightening a twisted board with either a planer or WBS, however.

 

The wide belt will flatten a side ONLY if the OPPOSITE side is flat… just like using a Planer.

A Jointer will make a non flat surface Flat.

A Wide Belt Sander WILL do a better job than ANY JOINTER or Planer can do if you're working with heavily Inlaid or Figured surfaces. The Wide Belt sander shines Big Time in this area!

They BOTH have their place in the shop…

 

Two different tool two different uses. If you can't get both get the 16 " jointer.

 

Thanks for the info guys. I am still on the hunt for the right used 16" jointer.

 

One consideration for the WBS is it needs a honkin' big dust collector. A 16" jointer can use a honkin' big dust collector, or a big broom.

 

I think I would be frightened to run a board across a 16'' wide jointer I would say buy yourself some hand planes to get the board flat enough on one side to run through your 18" planer and spend the money on the belt sander.

 

I would get the 16" jointer first. That's quite a step up from 6". Kudos for not making all of the silly stops in between.

If you are working at that scale, however, you are definitely going to want the drum sander soon.

 

...looks like a no-reserve auction.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Cresent-allis-Chalmers-18-jointer-Woodworking-fully-restored-/161427238580?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2595d02eb4

 

I have a 16" jointer. There's nothing scary about running a board across it. I have mine connected to a 3 Hp dust collector and it does fine. Never had it hooked to anything smaller but I think it would do fine with a 2 hp if it was the only tool connected to it.

 

Loren. Don't tempt us….

I would kill for a 16" jointer. Or it would kill me.

I would go with the jointer first. I think a jointer and belt sander are really in two different categories. If you need to truly flatten stuff, go with the jointer.

 

http://www.owwm.org/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=153501&sid=3d470a4641a927f72dc456580fe01db1 Here's a 16"

 

I wouldn't hesitate for a second and get the 16" jointer,,,,,,,,,,,,and the belt sander,16"?wow

 

Here's a 16" Northfield. I love the ship's wheel bed adjustment. Bit out of my budget though.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/tls/4668781610.html

 

jmartel
My dream is for a 16" Northfield belt driven. I found one in Key West a few months ago but the seller and I couldn't agree on terms. Thanks for the link but it appears to have expired. I would prefer to have one I can pick up (live in central PA) to save on shipping cost.

 

That Moak in Michigan looks like a fair deal.

 

Definitely go for the jointer first:

That's a 16" Crescent with a 7 1/2hp direct drive motor. Best I can tell it was built around 1942.

 

Jointer. Sander is for sanding, not planing. waste of sanding belts which are not cheap.

 

Depends upon the kind of work you do. We use an 8" and that's it despite doing a fair amount of large projects.

Also, does getting the 16" jointer require getting rid of the 6" machine for space purposes? There's something to be said for not running a 5HP machine to edge a bunch of 3/4" thick boards. If we did get a big jointer, we'd keep a small one to handle 95% of the work.

 

When I finally get room to set up my 16" jointer,
I'll either keep the INCA 10" I use now or sell
that and get something like a 6" for every day
work. That way I won't have to worry about
wearing the knives unevenly on the 16" running
edge joints.

 

You will put more hours on the sander and save even more time.
Jointer is a tool that doesn't stay on very long. Zip-zip, yer-done. Six-teen inch jointer would be cool if I were to have thousands of bft of dimensional timber.

 

I have a 12" jointer, and a small widebelt sander. Would like to have had a 16" jointer, but cost was much more. The widebelt is open end, and is VERY cool. I can sand a 30" wide panel by just reversing it. Really shines on 24" panels, as it flattens the panel as it sands it down. If I were doing this again, would get a combo planer jointer in the 16" size, both Minimax and Felder sell them, and they have some promotions. That way the planer and jointer would match, and the widebelt works great on panels and whatever else you have. The widebelt is a Grizzly G9983 is just 5 hp and single phase. Belts are pretty reasonable from Grizzly as well. The sander makes my projects look manufactured, sometimes I wonder if a panel looks real, it comes out so well.

 

I actually forgot that I have a Jet 16 32 open end drum sander but I don't use it very often (been a year+) because it doesn't seem to sand smooth. Acts like the drum is lower at one end.