Sander/planer resource in Vancouver, WA area?

[Rick P Thomas]

Hi - I am working on a small project for a friend's boat...installing a 17" x 36" x 6/4 live edge walnut galley table and it is too wide for my Ridgid planer. I just need a few passes to surface it on both sides. I called Creative in Portland but their minimum charge is $60 to run it through their big machine. Is there anyone in the area (Clark County) that has a sander or planer large enough to run this through for a minimal charge or a six pack of beer?
Appreciate any help!
Rick

[Mike Schuch]

$60 feels a bit steep but it really isn't all that outrageous. When I lived in Eugene there was a shop that would run my projects through their wide belt sander for $40 but that was about a dozen years ago. Now that I live in Central Oregon I don't even have a $60 option available. $60 for a perfectly flat finished table top is a good deal when you figure how much those large belt sanders cost and the cost of the belts. The place I went to wouldn't let me run my projects through their sander by myself... and I didn't really blame them... so you have to factor in what they are paying their employee to do the job for you.\\

The alternative is brushing up on your hand planing skills but a good plane will run considerably more than $60.

[Rick P Thomas]

Good points! Thanks for the thoughts and yeah, I'll probably take it to them.

[Eric Schmid]

Rick, I'm in Portland, but that's too wide for my machine as well. Creative seems like a good solution. They have to pay for that $100k sander somehow😕

[Andrew Gold]

Creative is a top notch outfit, and I've always found their pricing fair.

[Martin Wasner]

My sander costs about $0.55 a minute in just abrasives. (Sometimes belts last longer than other times, depends on what's being sanded) Nevermind electricity or the $40k replacement cost. Belts last about 6 hours and cost $220 to replace the pair.

Nobody on either side should be upset about paying $50 to buck that through a widebelt.

[Larry Edgerton]

My rate for my Timesaver was $65 hr with a 1hr minimum. People would whine about the cost, enough that I stopped doing any outside sanding at all. Like Martin pointed out, its not a real money maker even at that rate.