Planer vs. Drum Sander

[Norman Gallaher]

I am torn between purchasing one or the other. I intend to make many of my projects out of rough lumber. Hence, I will need to size them. A friend suggested I purchase a 3 blade planer and forget the sander. However, I also plan on making some projects that require thicker material or be laminated (band saw boxes etc).

Anyone have any thoughts?

Norm

[Dan Oliphant]

A drum sander does not dimension (mill) lumber. They are just that, sanders. You will get more functional use from the planer. Not to mention components that are accurately milled, making your projects easier to construct and assemble.

[Jay Brewer]

Hi Norm, they are 2 different machines. I had a drum sander, and would hate to think i had to take 1/4" off the thickness of a board with it. You could have all the lumber surfaced from your dealer, then clean it up with a drum sander, but its still slow. I have a Dewalt benchtop that gets little use. I pay $25 per 100ft. to have S2S, a pass on each side through the widebelt and its better than any planer.

[John Fry]

These two machines have two different functions in my shop. I could not live without my planer, but I could (would not want to) live without the drum sander.

I recommend you get the planer and a larger font.

[Doug Shepard]

Despite the claims of drum sander manufacturers that you can do "abrasive planing", abandon all hope ye who enter here.

[Jim Becker]

Ok, I recently processed a wide slab through my drum sander with 36 grit to "flatten" and "thickness" it concurrently. (I put those in quotes for a reason as they are "relative" terms and not necessarily accurate) It took a LONG time to process one small slab. A LONG time. If it would have fit through my 14" J/P, no question, it would have been processed with that machine rather than the drum sander.

As already said...drum sanders and thickness planers are two very different animals.

[Eddie Darby]

Have your cake and eat it !
Planer first!
Skip the drum sander, and instead get a "V" drum sander kit for about 1/4 of the price of a regular drum sander. Works way better! You can build the rest of the unit to meet your size demands and to fit your shop.

http://www.stockroomsupply.com/V_Drum_Sander.php

[CPeter James]

Buy a good planer and keep the knives sharp, there won't be that much sanding to do. I have a 15" planer and a 25" drum sander. I once used the sander to demension a 20" wide board that I did not want to rip down. It took a long time, way too long. I would not do it again.

CPeter

[Frank Pellow]

It's a "no brainer". Get a planer.