Wide Belt Sander in Maine...

[Greg Cuetara]

I am currently working on a dresser. The top is about 20" wide by 48" long. I have had to glue up a few boards and through that process have to use the side of the boards which was not finished smooth. I picked up the boards and one side was smooth and it looks like the other side was skip planed. What i will call the skip planed side looks much better, although there are 'ridges' where it looks like the feed rollers took ahold of the board, and does not have any of the defects the other side has.

I would like to get the top perfectly flat and smooth and i think the best thing is a wide belt sander but I do not have one in my shop. Is there anyone in and around the Portland area who has a wide belt sander who could smooth out my top for me?

I havn't tried the cabinet shops yet but if there is no one around I might have to try that path. I can try a hand held belt sander but would like to get everything flat and am unsure that I can do that without creating divots in thet op.

Thanks.
Greg

[Jon McElwain]

I used to use a good cabinet shop for wide sanding and a few other large machine operations that I was not equipped to handle. The shop I used always did a really great job and the rates were super low.

[Gary Pennington]

Greg,
I'm in Brunswick & have a Delta 18/36. I do not have a ton of experience with it, but I think we could flatten your glue up. PM or email gary (at) adifferenteye dot com

[Neil Brooks]

I havn't tried the cabinet shops yet but if there is no one around I might have to try that path. I can try a hand held belt sander but would like to get everything flat and am unsure that I can do that without creating divots in thet op.

Blecch !

If it were me ... I'd definitely phone a cabinet shop or two. I've always had great luck with them helping out, for a few bucks.

But the belt sander ? Idunno. Maybe it's just me, but ... I have better luck with lottery tickets

[Jerome Hanby]

They make sanding frames for some hand held belt sanders. Supposed to let you sand flat without gouging. I've never used one and I'm not sure all models have them available...

[Greg Cuetara]

Neil I hear ya about the lottery tickets and a belt sander....thanks for the thoughts and Gary I will drop you a line
Greg

[Jim Foster]

A little far away, (about 160 miles) but I have a 22-44 Performax drum sander that would do the trick. 30 minutes west of Boston, if you come down 495 regularly and you can't find a local solution, let me know.

[Carl Beckett]

And I am only slightly closer than Jim, just off 495 NW of Boston. Am happy to run it through a 24" drum if that works for you. (although in Feb, Jim's shop is most certainly warmer than mine..... so parkas required)