Drum Sander?

specialk13 · Sep 23, 2012

Disc Sander?

After a lot of painful learning using a bench plane on curly maple back/sides, I'm looking into some different options. I actually like using a hand plane but it's a very tedious task with curly maple.

Will a 12" bench top disc sander work to thickness tonewoods? I realize it's probably not the greatest but I can't justify the expense of a nice wide belt sander.

Are there any other options I should consider?

BR Ukuleles · Sep 23, 2012

I fear that using a disk sander for that task is going to lead to disaster.

Other options I'd consider would be to find someone with a drum sander and either paying them for it's use, or trade something. Don't know what the weather is like in Santa Barbara this time of year, but pretty much anytime of year in Australia, a few cold beer really go down a treat at the end of the day.

Garry Petrisic · Sep 23, 2012

Tried all sorts of things before buying a drum sander for around 750 dollars. Best thing I ever did. It has made building a pleasure instead of hard work when using curly and higly figured timber. Take the advice of Allan and find someone with one and pay by beer or save up and buy one. You will not regret it.
Garry Petrisic.

mzuch · Sep 23, 2012

If you have a drill press, try a Wagner Safe-T-Planer or similar. The Wagner brand has been discontinued, but you may be able to find one on ebay or Craigslist.

Timbuck · Sep 23, 2012

mzuch said:
If you have a drill press, try a Wagner Safe-T-Planer or similar. The Wagner brand has been discontinued, but you may be able to find one on ebay or Craigslist.

Here is the alternative one http://woodworker.com/fullpres.asp?PARTNUM=24760&LARGEVIEW=ON

specialk13 · Sep 23, 2012

Timbuck said:
Here is the alternative one http://woodworker.com/fullpres.asp?PARTNUM=24760&LARGEVIEW=ON

Wow, is it really only $17 for the whole unit? That seems too good to be true!

I appreciate all the feedback and it's pretty much what I expected to hear.

Michael N. · Sep 23, 2012

There's a technique to dealing with figured woods when using a hand plane. Suffice to say that the blade has to be truly sharp - that should be your first objective irrespective of any power tool that you are thinking of purchasing. When planing figured Maple it quite often pays to plane in the direction of the figure as opposed to planing in the direction of the grain.
If that fails (rarely) I reach for the toothed blade.

ksquine · Sep 24, 2012

Ditto on the Saf-T-Planer method. Best money I ever spent on a tool.

specialk13 · Sep 24, 2012

I've been looking at the safe-t planer but it's definitely a rare bird (and pricey) these days.

I have continued using my bench plane for lack of a "better" tool and I'll be choosing an easier type of wood to work with next time around.

Drum Sander?

specialk13

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BR Ukuleles

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mzuch

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Timbuck

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Michael N.

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