Drum sander or planer?

A planer is a must. A drum sander is a luxury.

-- "The way to make a small fortune in woodworking- start with a large one"

I’d also say a planer before a sander. Though I love my sander, my planer gets me a workable surface faster.

-- Working at Woodworking http://www.VillageLaneFurniture.com

After spending 4 hours planing rough cut lumber- about 60bdft- my opinion is to get the planer first. I can’t imagine how long it would have taken with a drum sander.

Lew

-- Lew- Time traveler. Purveyor of the world's finest custom rolling pins!

I have both and I would say that the planer would have to be first.

Second would be the sander even before a jointer.
You can joint on the tablesaw with a good blade.

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way - Tyler, TX

Planner. I dont have a drum sander, and I use mainly rough lumber on my projects. The surfaces left from a good planner require very little sanding time when the project is complete. Oneday I would love to get a drum sander, but a planner will always be in my shop.

-- Steve-o

I have both, but a planer is a necessity in my opinion. Like Miles125, a drum sander is a luxury.

-- Tim from Iowa City, IA

a planer. that way you can surface all the lumber at about 1/16” passes at a time. a drum sander even with a rough 36 grit you can’t take off a lot at all. it would take hours. a drum sander is a luxury and is best for figured woods or burls. most people would still start at a planer and thickness it to within 1/16” to 1/8” and finish it up on a drum sander so there is no tear out. and the drum sander that you mentioned is for surfacing lumber such as removing finish or sanding it. not for thicknessing and will not get you a parallel surface. if you are looking to thickness on a drum sander a jet or performax model is what you should take a look at.

As ever, it depends what you plan to make. I make mainly boxes.
Since I got my sander about a year ago, I’ve only used my planer once!
I resaw on a small tabletop bandsaw, then feed through the sander.
It may take a little longer, but there is much less noise, and I don’t lose timber due to snipe. The sander can handle small pieces of good looking timber that I would lose if I didn’t have the sander.

The planer is a must if you want to go with rough lumber. The drum sander would take far longer to thickness rough stock as compared to a planer.

-- Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful- Joshua Marine

I should also have mentioned, you can make a fixture to hold your router over timber, thus allowing you to thickness it – its OK for small quantities – pretty loud and dusty, but effective.

I have both and the planer is used 90% of the time.

All my wood is from a sawmill and is all rough sawn and all different thicknesses. It would take so long to get useable wook with a sander.

-- I've been blessed with a father who liked to tinker in wood, and a wife who lets me tinker in wood. Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

I say it depends on what kind of work you are doing, it seems that the planer should be spoken by its full name: “thickness planer.”
So maybe you should ask – should I plane or should I sand? I think lew’s comment about planing for 4 hours and wondering how long he might have been sanding says a lot.

-- John

Slacker,

I’m tempted to agree with davidtheboxmaker and say that it depends on what you intend to make most of the time. But, I see you’re an Aggie. Therefore, you should probably go with the sander since they are much less dangerous. Do not wear any ties while sanding. If you plan to build a surf board, I recommend something like ironwood and don’t forget to drill plenty of holes to let the air out.

LOL

(It really does depend.)

-- Jim

Well, I am not so sure about the Aggie thing… I got there as an adult and always found the thing kind of strange.

To all, thanks for your fine advice. I am using some of the hardwood to make boxes, and I do have a sander that does round and flat surfaces. Sometimes asking good folks like you brings the mind back to center. A planer it is. Any brands/models I should stay away from?

-- Adapt, improvise, overcome

Try looking through the reviews section on this site. There are a lot of planer reviews there.

http://lumberjocks.com/reviews/category/29

-- Gary - Never pass up the opportunity to make a mistake look like you planned it that way - Tyler, TX