Buy or build thickness sander

[Per Swenson]

Jay,

I get in to this argument all the time.

This week it was a trailer. The conversation went like this...

Me.. I need a trailer, 16' x 6' dual wheels, 6500 to 8000lbs capacity.

Workin buddy... Jeez Per, Freakin build one. We can get the steel for

free, we have a welder, all we need is the axles, brakes lights and tires!

Sound great right? Forget it.

I need to pick up the parts = time, gas, money

I need to build it= time

I have to pay you or owe you time plus lunch and dinner.

I have to paint it with por = time plus alot of money.

(POR is $20 a quart)

So my Free build it your self buddy trailer is really gonna

cost me about $ 3500 to $4000. Remember I pay myself.

Or I could go to the guy on route 23 and buy one for $1500

and roll it home with tags.

I spend money to save.

Per

[Norman Hitt]

What is the purpose of a stroke sander and are they safe to use? I have considered building the vertical belt sander in a previous shop-notes. I've gathered all of the parts but they have been sitting on a shelf in the shop for some time. Too many others with higher priority in the queue.

Brad, we built the Stroke sander in late '57 or very early '58, and there were no Wide Belt sanders around back then, and honestly, I don't know if there were even any large drum sanders. We had a sliding table under it to move the workpiece in and out under the belt, and used a hand held platen with a handle on top of it to press the belt down on the workpiece and we could flatten/smooth glued up or rough panels very quickly, and with the proper belt on, eliminate any hand sanding as well. We primarily made it to use to sand the maple desk tops for all the rooms in the dorms that had been collecting carved initials for so many years that there was hardly an inch that was smooth enough for writing.

[Keith Outten]

There are many reasons to consider building your own machines, there are also good reasons to purchase a commercial product. I have built several machines through the years, most were for the simple enjoyment of building my own and not just to save money.

I have a custom machine project in my near future. I plan to build a very large Legacy Mill style machine to produce custom columns. Before I get started acquiring the necessary materials I need to modify my shop space to make room for the new machine.

[Brad Townsend]

About five years ago, I salvaged a motor, pulleys, and spindles from a used treadmill to make a thickness sander. Well.... The parts are still sitting in boxes in the shop. I've decided that it would be too hard to get precision out of it. Since I have a planer and a RO sander, there's been no need to build one....

I've been threatening to do that with my treadmill for several months now. My wife says I might as well. I would get more excercise tearing it apart than I ever got using it.

[Don Martindale]

There are a lot of plans around for drum sanders. The mimf has several, but the one based off of ukeleles.com is about the simplest, most cost effective, & hardest to screw up that I've seen. I've helped build a couple, & used them, & they work fine & accurately(they were all bigger than the one on the site). The only drawback is that it is self-feed, but after you use it, you find that this is a non-issue (at least we have). If you have access to used motors, the cost will be considerably less too......don

[Jack Coats]

It depends on the individuals interest as to whether DIY tools are a good deal or not. If time is not an issue, you have no 'production schedule' to keep, and saving money is prime, and you enjoy that thing, DIY tools are great. If you need to 'get out production', spending money on tools is a no brainer (saves your TIME and effort to do things more business or $$ worthy).

A couple of years ago I went through this discussion big time on mechmate.com forums on the virtues of building a mechmate CNC vs buying a shopbot CNC or other similar machine. And it really depends on your needs, situation, and circumstances. There is always the time vs $$ tradeoff, and the 'fast, good, cheap, pick 2' decision to be made.

No one answer is right for everyone. ... for me, it is some of each. Not that I don't drool over the high $$, big power tools in a conditioned shop the size of a blimp hanger, but that is not my situation.

[Tony Shaftel]

After a lot of thought I come down on the side of building my own after I retire next year. I've read a number of articles and posts from people who have done it successfully, and it appears that from 'fast, good, cheap, pick 2' you can be comfortable about achieving good and cheap(er, at least). Of course, I do enjoy the challenge. Another factor for me has been reading many posts about setup or other issues with the purchased models. Many owners are happy with their purchased sanders but it does seem to me that they can be finicky. So it's build for me.

[Mike Heidrick]

Resale value may also play into a decision maybe.

[Alan Schaffter]

I consider myself the ultimate tinkerer- shop-built fully automatic DC with DIY cyclone, autogates, adjustable height assembly table and woodworking benches, stowing I-beam hoist, designed the I-BOX, just licensed another design, etc. etc. but I only gave passing thought to building a drum sander.

First, lets take a step back. Except in the case of luthiers who deal with thin stock to begin with, a "thickness" "sander" is a misnomer. As the real name implies, drum "sanders" and even wide belt "sanders" are primarily "sanders". They are not and can not be realistically used to thickness rough stock- they remove way too little material per pass. For some machines, 1/32" (1/4 turn of the crank) with coarse grit and 1/64" (1/8 turn of the crank) for fine grits is about the max it will remove per pass. (both figures apply to my 5 hp 24" sander and a new little 1.5 hp 10" Grizzly).

Quality, durability, capability, etc. etc.- new or used will be better than DIY.

Cost- If you look you can find good deals on used equipment. I picked up a 24" 5 hp Grizzly dual drum sander for just a few hundred. It was a mess, but after cleaning and adjusting it, I had much more of a machine that I could ever build for that price! The cost of a 5 hp drum motor and the slow speed gear motor for the conveyor is more than I paid for the machine. The cost of a good, rubber conveyor belt can be very expensive- a replacement 24" wide conveyor belt for my Grizzly is over $350!!!

[Dave Aronson]

Everyone keeps pointing to picking up cheap used drum sanders. For some reason they never seem to appear in my area (I've been watching for about a year now). The only ones that show up are way over priced and look like they have been through a war. So I have the option of buying a new one for a minimum of $900 or build one that may take me forever to get to be dead on.

[Kevin Bourque]

Why build your own machinery. Thats why we have China.

[Rich Riddle]

I own a book entitled "Shop-Built Machines" published by Woodsmith Custom Woodworking. It lacks plans for a planer but has some tools I plan to build, one in the near future. I want to build the slow-speed grinder that has it's own stand (they show how to build one attached to a table saw). The also have a couple of sanders that look good. I am not sure my skills would suffice to build a planer.

[John Lifer]

They show up.. I bought a Performax, pre Jet 16-32 for $350, spent about $50 extra going out of the way to pick it up (detoured thru Memphis on trip to MS) There was a Delta for $250 recently in OK, Seen several for $400 to $450 over past few months. All way less than $900. Just remember these things are a SANDER not planer.