Drum Sander vs Planer Purchase

[Tommy Emmons]

I was just about ready to pull the trigger and get a DeWalt 735 planeruntil our last woodworker meeting. I was talking to several of the members and they said, why get a planer? Why not get a drum sander. If I have 13/16 inch wood and I want a 1/2 inch board, I would run it through the bandsaw to rough size and sand it to finish dimension. Why would I need a planer over a drum sander. What is the advantage/disadvantage of a planer over a drum sander? I am now totally confused as to which to buy.

[Rob Grubbs]

Drum sanders are nice, but they are not thicknessers. They are good at taking very small amounts off at a time. A planer is a thicknesser. It will remove much more material in each pass. Also a sander uses a disposable abrasive where a planer can be resharpened when dull. I have both machines but if I had to choose between the two, I would go with the planer. You will have to finish sand a board from either one anyway. Ultimately it really depends on what you are building and what you are trying to achieve.

[David DeCristoforo]

What Rob said. In the scenario you describe, you would be able to clean up the sawn face with one quick pass through a planer. To do the same work with a drum sander would require several passes and the feed rate for each pass would be significantly slower than the single planer pass. While there is some functional overlap, these two machines are not interchangeable.

[Jim Becker]

The reason not to use a drum sander for this is...time. It will take you "forever" to thickness sand and that's with 36 grit. A planer is a much better investment, IMHO, and will provide more versatility. I actually had both and recently sold my drum sander simply because I was not using it enough to justify the floor space.

[Ron Bontz]

What Dave said is 200% on the money. Very well put I might add. I have both and if one had to go it would be the sander. A good finish planer and random orbital sander worked very well for me.

[Rick Fisher]

I have both. If the material is over about 12" wide, I wont put it into the Drum sander unless its been planed, or I know its uniform thickness.

On narrow boards, the Drum is a bit forgiving. (1x4 or 1x6.) On wider stock, its a nightmare if the material is a bit thicker in a few spots.

Squealing belts, burnt sandpaper (at about $9.00 per wrap), Its just a bad scene.

A Sander is a luxury. A planer is a staple item (IMO)

[Cary Falk]

I have both. I agree with everyone here. Planer first, sander later.

[Bruce Page]

I have both. I agree with everyone here. Planer first, sander later.

Ditto here.

[Tommy Emmons]

I get the message. It is the planer for now and drum sander someday. Thanks to all who shared their knowledge.

[David DeCristoforo]

"...its a nightmare if the material is a bit thicker in a few spots...Squealing belts, burnt sandpaper..."

Try this. First, lower the table so that only the pressure rollers contact the stock. Feed a piece of stock through the machine at the slowest feed rate and while it is feeding, raise the bed until you hear the drum just start to "kiss" the stock. Allow the piece to feed through and then raise the bed a bit. On my Woodmaster, a quarter turn of the crank is the most I will ever attempt at one pass. A full turn is supposed to be 1/16" so a quarter turn is approx. 1/64th. Run your stock at that setting, making two passes per piece. On the second pass, flip the stock over and reverse it "end to end". Continue in this manner until the desired result is achieved. If the stock is wide (or you are sanding very hard wood), you may find that lighter passes are needed as you progress since more of the stock will be in contact with the drum as the material is flattened. As you work, you will get a sense of how much of a bite you can take and how much you can increase the feed rate. If you start to get burning or belt slippage (the "Squealing" you mention) you need to back off on the "bite" or the feed rate or both.

[Mike Cutler]

David

Excellent write up on technique!! That's almost exactly what I do.

[Peter Quinn]

Heres my take on the matter.

Planers and drum sanders are BOTH thicknessers based on the same general design. A finish planer removes between .020"-.0625" per pass depending on species, machine and width of stock versus size of machine. Many will take 1/4" per pass but I don't recommend that for fine work. If a pass is TOO light it leaves infeed roller marks, two heavy and you risk tear out, the stock warping, or in some cases damage to the planer, though most are designed to be self limiting in regards to maximum depth of pass.

A sander, be it drum or wide belt, removes between .008"-.015" per pass depending on species, grit, width of stock and the power of the machine. That is 1/64" maximum per pass! Sure, a 20HP wide belt will take more with 50 grit on it, but you won't get a very good finish going much beyond this range on any sanding machine.

So your choice of thicknesser depends on your needs following the above guidelines. i know many wood workers who have both, but I don't personally know any who have a drum sander exclusively. If I had to give up one machine it would be the sander, not the planer.

When you resaw thicker stock to split it for book match or to make thinner stock for boxes (ie drawers) you stand a good chance of releasing some tension. I'd typically split 5/4 into two pieces 5/8" to leave a little room for flattening. To go from 5/8" to 1/2" you get a difference of .125". That's an easy one or two passes through the planner, or around 12 passes through the sander! Ouch. See what I'm saying? Resawing so close to final dimension that a sander can clean it up puts you at risk of having no room to flatten should the need arise, and resawing thick enough to flatten puts you at risk of spending LOTS of time at the sander. Think that decision through real carefully before you commit to a sander exclusively.