Renting Time on Tools - Wide Belt Sander in Pittsburgh

[David Weaver]

Hi - I was wondering how common it is for people who own Wide Belt Sanders to rent the tools, or maybe more generally, how many shops have wide belt sanders to rent.

A friend and I are not willing to split the cost of one yet, and don't want to buy a drum sander just because we've been spoiled by using other peoples' wide belt sanders.

We're looking for options in or near Pittsburgh, PA.

I've seen that woodcraft rents time on their tools, but I haven't been to the woodcraft store - its on the other side of the city from me. Do they have a WBS to rent in their tool use area?

I'm thinking that I would rather hand plane panels to level them, but the guy I'm working with is a mechanical engineer, and he goes to power tools for everything first.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Scott Loven]

Call a few cabinet shops in your area and see if they will run your panel's through their machine for a fee.
Scott

[Dave Novak]

Call a few cabinet shops in your area and see if they will run your panel's through their machine for a fee.
Scott

This is precisely what I do. Considering what a drum sander costs and the time it would take me to do it by hand, their fee always feels like the bargain of the century.

[John Schreiber]

If you don't have any contacts, you can post your need on CraigsList.

[John Bush]

Hi David,
I take my table tops, etc, to a local, old time millworks shop. They have a 54" wide belt sander and charge a $15 minimun for shop time. One of their guys comes out to run the machine and I catch it on the outfeed. I have never used more than the minimum time and I always tip the millwright $5 for his time. They have some ancient old iron still being used and the most interesting is a mutli -surface shaper used for making trim. They have the knives for the old style profiles from turn of the century homes out here. It's quite entertaining to watch these machines making dust.
Good luck John.