Drum sander or planer?

A 15”planer would be a good purchase. You could build a sled and eliminate a jointer. Teamed with a good bandsaw and you would be set.

-- Pat, Colorado

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

-- miles125, Alabama.."Architecture is frozen music""

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

-- When you give someone a chance it may well be their last.

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

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, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

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.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

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.

-- Karson 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?

-- There are three kinds of people... those who can count, and those who can't

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

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

-- Gary, East TX -- The longest journey begins with a single step.

Hello , I have both a planer (DeWalt DW733) A Ryobi 16 – 32” drum sander as well as a Delta 18 – 36” X5 drum sander…...long story short is I use them all as needed…the drum sanders are also known as “abrasive planers” but I use them on all of the highly figured woods that I use to avoid tearout , otherwise it’s the old planer that gets used the most for thicknessing . The drum sander at the link you gave us is certainly what you DON”T need at this point !!!.....If you are using all rough stock , then I would go for the planer first : ) and then a nice bandsaw and then maybe a drum sander : ) Best wishes : )

-- Dusty56@comcast.net

I build guitars from time to time and for that a drum sander
is very useful and often a fine substitute for a planer
due to the delicacy of the parts, the precision required,
and the fact that for an acoustic guitar all the dimensioning
is simple to do with hand planes.

For cabinetry and furniture, get the planer – no question about
it. HUGE time saver.

Drum sanders are S-L-O-W, too. Planers are fast.

-- http://amherstcabinets.com - also a marketing consultant with expertise in direct response marketing for woodworking and online business building

Planer.
Along with a few others in this group I am building the surface planer found in ShopNotes #86. Mostly made with MDF and hardwoods left over from other projects. So far it has cost me less than $60. Not counting the motor I expect the total cost to be less than $100. (SN runs theirs on the table saw motor, I plan stand alone.)

Lee

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

I use my planer most,but if I have a really wide board I will level it useing the drum sander. The ones you linked would not be good for this. I would get the planer first and when funds allow add a sander.

Having recently dimensioned about 20bdft of White Oak by hand (Old Stanley #8 & Stanley #5, etc…) I vote for the planer. I do still love my hand planes but if you have any appreciable qty to dimension get the planer first; unless that is you like the workout then by all means go ahead…. ;)

-- Chris

I would vote for the planer. I, too, was using hand planes to joint and flatten, but it can be very time consuming. I recently bought a DeWalt 734 (not too expensive but does a good job). The planer will be quicker and if you make the last pass a less than a 1/32 cut, you can rapidly finish sand with a wooden block and sandpaper, or a cabinet scraper.

However, one consideration that has not been mentioned that concerns both is the dust and chips.

A thickness planer will generate copious amount of chips. I make do with a 14 gal shop vac and another interim barrel in between it and the planer, but I still am emptying it frequently. If you live in the country and your shop is in the back forty, you can move it outdoors and just let the chips fly. If done on your driveway you will be doing a lot of sweeping up, so get a big garbage can to put them in. (That goes for emptying the shop vac also).

A drumsander generates copious amounts of fine dust. The filters on a shop vac will clog very quickly, so you will be breathing a lot of dust, as it will lose its suction way before the drum fills up. Either that, or you will be just blowing the dust around your shop and work. For it, you really need a genuine dust collection unit. The dust can be a killer, so get a good dust respirator (NIOSH rating P100). Some woods can cause allergic reactions, and with the fine dust, this will intensify your exposure. Vacuum yourself off before you remove the dust mask.

Working out of my attached garage, and not having room to set up a dust collector, I will not be buying a drum sander in the foreseeable future, as not only will I be exposed, but so will my family.

Just some other aspects to ponder.

Go

-- Go http://ncwoodworker.net/pp/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=730

I went shopping for a planer last weekend… boy-o-boyo. The DW 735 is a fine piece of equipment, but more pricey than I am ready to put out for. Lowes was selling what is apparently its predecessor, the DW 734, and that looks nice too. The reviews in amazon.com are favorable for both.

Then there was the $230 Delta planer, but I just had to wonder why it was more than $100 less than the DW734. As I struggled with indecision, I saw a hand planer at Lowes for $10, a brand new Stanley. Took it home, sharpened it, and its a keeper.

With my newfangled bench, I can split a piece of wood (S4S from Woodcraft) with the tablesaw and clean up the surface pretty quick.

-- There are three kinds of people... those who can count, and those who can't