Workbench project in Boston area -- know anyone with a 24" thickness sander?

[William Allen]

It's a three day weekend coming up and I'm hoping to restart my efforts to build the bench I started collecting the parts/material for back in 2003. I have two glued-up slabs of tropical hardwood (mahogany, okoume, teak, etc.,) made from salvaged dunnage from a steel door plant. I'm looking for a cabinet/woodworking/millwork shop that can sand slabs to thickness, helping getting the wind out of them without wearing out my shoulders. The slabs are 6'7" x 18" x 2 1/2".

Anyone know of or can recommend a shop or woodworker out there that can handle this?

Thanks,

Will

[Mike Svoma]

Try calling local cabinet shops. They are usually equipped with wide belt sanders. Oops, I should have read your whole post. You're on the right track.

Mike

[alex grams]

second to a cabinet shop, look for local door makers, they typically have that kind of equipment. I did the same for a slab tabletop I made. I found one local doormaker that had a HUGE sander (the size of an SUV) that had 4 rollers of progressive grit paper 60" wide with the belts oscillating side to side to prevent any run marks. An impressive piece of machinery.

For 40$ he ran it through 3-4 times and I had a nearly flawless finish on a 40"x70" tabletop. Took him and 2 other guys about 10 minutes of labor to get it through. Worth every penny.

[Craig Michael]

Where are you in the Boston area? North shore, metro west, etc? Here are some in the area, no idea if they'd be of use to you but they are worth a call.

http://www.wychmerewoodworks.com/

http://www.waynetowle.com/

http://www.walterlanecabinets.com/

http://www.stephenterhune.com/

http://www.southshoremillwork.com/

http://www.doddwoodworking.com/

http://www.scandiakitchens.com/