LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

Drum sander vs. thickness planer

Tags
planer sander
4K views 47 replies 25 participants last post by  pottz 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Not having used either one, it looks to me like a drum sander will thin boards but a thickness planer won't sand them. And you have about 16" between the edge of the drum sander's belt, so you can turn the board over and sand up to 32".

A planer's specialty is flattening boards, yes, but I do have a jointer (6", but I buy boards that are flat enough for my uses).

Am I right that a drum sander is more versatile?
 
#3 ·
Well, since posting that I see that there are no parts available for the Craigslist drum sander I was looking at.

But the planer is limited to about 12" width, right? Doesn't that mean it's designed for flattening and thinning boards rather than smoothing wider surfaces?
 
#4 ·
A planer and a thicknesser is not the same - even if it's often combined in one machine. The comes in various widhts - but yes, the widere ones are ofte exspensive and they are often not as wide as a drum sander.

A planer is ised to get two straight sides, normally with 90 degrees between.
A thicknesser is used to get the piece to a even thickness or to a given target thickness - normally after getting one side flat with the jointer.

I would say that a thicknesser is for thicknessing pices to a even thickness and to a given thickness.
It may take off several mm per pass - so if you have a piece that is 3cm and you need it to be 2,4 that can be done in 2-3 passes with a thicknesser.

A sander I assume (I do not have one) will be good to flatten a piece that has a rough surface, but not to actually change the thickness of a piece or to make a piece that is very uneven (like 1cm diff) even.

I would select a thicknesser before a sander, but that might be just because I work a lot with hardwood of various quality and quite a bit off twist/bends. Your need may not be the same as my needs!
 
#5 ·
I think a regular work procedure for me to make a table top would be:
- Use the jointer to plain two sides (90deg between)
- Use the thicknesser to ensure even thickness
- Glue up the boards
- Even the glued-uo top with the drum sander

So, if you start with straight wood, you may be able to just use the drum sander
 
#6 ·
Okay, thanks.

My process (even though I have a jointer) is to choose good boards at the lumber yard and have them joint them. Then I run them through the table saw and edge-join them, and finally use a random orbit sander to clean up.

Primitive. :)

But it seems like maybe a planer would be more useful, if for no other reason than that my router bits (dovetail for instance) max out at 3/4".
 
#7 ·
I have both but rarely use the planer. Typically I'll re-saw wood to near final thickness (1/8") then use the drum sander to perfect it. I'll sometimes go thicker on the bandsaw and use coarse grit (36) to bring it closer to finish much faster.

The planer is the only go-to tool when I need to thickness boards wider than I can re-saw (12") and when I need to remove thickness quickly, usually when I have a lot of bf. to finish.

The sander is almost always used for final finishing to an exact thickness.

Don't believe that a sander can be used to double the drum width. My 16/32 actually has about 15" of useable width and flipping the board will get the two halves close, but not perfect.
 
#10 ·
Have thought about getting a drum sander but only real reason for me would be to finish sand end grain cutting boards, my 12" jointer/planner will do everything else almost perfectly? To each their own :) Think a smaller ( 4" ) jointer would get way more use in my shop, but then what excuse would I have for all them hand Planes?
 
#12 ·
Drum sander if you need it for boards thinner than 1/4" or so on a regular basis, need it for really wide boards or need it for end grain like cutting boards. Otherwise a planer is better IMO. The jointer is to flatten the first side, the planer will flatten the second and make it parallel to the first. Planer is also much faster because the blades can take significantly bigger bites than sandpaper.
 
#13 ·
I recently added a Supermax 19-38 to the shop and it's an extremely useful tool but I would give it up in a heartbeat if I was choosing between it and my planer. The drum sander is excellent for a few specific uses….anything end grain, extremely thin pieces (think shop-sawn veneer) and anything large that doesn't need a lot of flattening (i.e. panels after glue-up). The downside to the sander is it's much, much slower than the planer….I would guess the planer is 4X faster. In addition, you need to take very light passes to avoid burning the wood and you'll need a really good dust collector to keep the sandpaper from loading up with sawdust. Now, I absolutely love having the drum sander and it excels at the things mentioned above but the planer and drum sander are not interchangeable pieces of equipment.
 
#15 · (Edited by Moderator)
Thanks everyone.

Which planers in the $300 starting range are worth looking at, if any?

I've bought all my other big machines on Craigslist (other than the sliding miter saw). But they all have external motors that can be replaced if they give out, and you can find parts for Craftsman tools even though they're not made anymore. Is it safe to buy a used planer?
 
#16 ·
Thanks everyone.

Which planers in the $300 starting range are worth looking at, if any?

I ve bought all my other big machines on Craigslist (other than the sliding miter saw). But they all have external motors that can be replaced if they give out, and you can find parts for Craftsman tools even though they re not made anymore. Is it safe to buy a used planer?

- nickbatz
I am not sure I would buy a used planner. I think they can receive some real abuse in the hands of the wrong person. And if you have to replace blades or anything you can end up with the used planner coming close to a new on.

If you can hang on and save a little more money you can get something like the Dewalt 735 which could last you a long time. It's one of the nicest bench top models out there and only around $550.00
 
#18 ·
Is it safe to buy a used planer?

- nickbatz
No reason it wouldn't be. Check it out of course. I'm sure you can find info online regarding what to look for. One test I'd do is to plane a board and check the thickness on each side to make sure the head is parallel.

My guess is the DeWalt 734 could be found in your price range. You'll have to be patient. Regarding blades, those are disposable and a set is around $40 or so.
 
#20 ·
I think a drum sander is an awesome tool but a poor substitute for a planer. I would suggest buying a new planer now and then, later on, buy a drum sander if you feel you have a need. As others have said the DW735 is a really nice planer-but expensive. Maybe you can find something used that is in good shape-but shop carefully! I think the DeWalt planers are of good quality. I have an older (20 years old) DeWalt planer (DW733) that is still working well for me. The Concord Carpenter has a good comparison video on lunchbox planers.

The drum sander is excellent for smoothing and thicknessing thin material (e.g. thick shop veneer or stock < 1/4"), end grain (e.g. end grain cutting boards), figured grain (e.g. birdseye or curly), and it's also good for sanding wide parts or assemblies. I actually use it for many of the projects that I make to do the initial sanding. For shop jigs/projects you can use it for the final sanding.

It could be used as a planer but it will be much slower. I have a Supermax 19-38 (I recommend this sander) with the DRO (a Wixey digital planer thickness gauge) and I'm normally removing between 5 to 15 thousandths of an inch (.005" -.015") in each pass. The finer the sandpaper used (60 grit vs 150 grit) the less you should remove in each pass to avoid burning. With my planer I remove anywhere from 1/64" - 1/16" (.016"-.063"). The drum sander moves the wood slower than the planer, so not only are you sanding less in each pass but you are sanding slower.
 
#21 ·
A planer can also be used both as a planer and a thicknesser to prepare rough stock or reduce it to final dimension. Lots of youtube videos to show you how. Drum sanders are for surface prep and thicknessing in very small increments, not major flattening and dimensioning.
 
#22 ·
Several times I've seen it said a planer is good for flattening boards. It's good for making one side smooth, and parallel to the other side of the board. If the board isn't flat, as in laid on a flat surface and no lengthwise bows or cups, you'll get out what you put in, it'll just be smoother.

Generally, those of us with jointers start with it, to get one perfectly flat side, then go to the planer (jointers are horrible for getting parallel faces).

To do what my little planer does in one pass would take five or ten passes, or even more on a drum sander, depending on the grit used. Of course, if you can take a lot off with a sander, you're going to have to sand down with a finer grit.

When wood comes out of my planer, it only takes a minute or two to sand a large board. That is a common procedure to remove glazing resulting from planing. Often, you are sanding to lessen the smoothness.

A planer takes wood off times faster than a sander, and will thickness just fine.

Both the planer and sander are very handy tools.

I went with the Flatmaster (I'm the drive belt) because of expense, but have come to appreciate its PRO's over its CON's, compared to a driven drum. I rely on the jointer and planer to get me to the point of needing the drum sander.
 
#23 · (Edited by Moderator)
i'm in agreement with Bill's math… i found a DIY "flat master" style sander on craigslist for $80 and bought it thinking i could use it in place of a planer (which i couldn't afford at the time)

once i found out that it took about 12-15 passes to thin a board 1mm, i realized that a planer was going to be needed if i was ever going to assemble my 16-piece "blocks" into a drum

so i started looking, and found one… for $60 ; )

Wood Musical instrument accessory Floor Flooring Rectangle
 

Attachments

#26 ·
Thanks everyone.

Which planers in the $300 starting range are worth looking at, if any?

I ve bought all my other big machines on Craigslist (other than the sliding miter saw). But they all have external motors that can be replaced if they give out, and you can find parts for Craftsman tools even though they re not made anymore. Is it safe to buy a used planer?

- nickbatz
I bought a Cutech one. It has a faux spiral head cutter, the same, I think, as one of the Rikon models. It works reasonably well. I've had it for nearly a year now and aside from nicking some blades (my fault), I haven't had any issues with it.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top