Drum Sander for dimensioning wood

[Fidel Fernandez]

I just ordered a drum sander (This is the first time that I will have one or use one) and got some questions.

I have my jointer for the initial dimensioning, but when I joint several pieces to make a wider piece I need to remove some more material.
The wood can move after the joining and cause not being flat, so I need to sand or plane by hand to get to the right dimension.

That is the reason I ordered the drum sander to help with the last dimensioning.

What sandpaper grit should I use to start the dimensioning? Is it good idea to start with a grit like (60 - 80) or is it too much?

Should the "grit protocol" be the same for regular ¾ or ½ thickness and ⅛ or 1/16 veneer cut at the band saw? or the veener should use a higher grit because it is too thin.
I don't plan to use it for commercial veneer.

[Cary Falk]

I find that the scratches left by 60 and 80 grit are pretty deep. I just leave 120 grit in all the time. The sander is not a planer and is very slow if used as one.

[Bill Huber]

I agree, 60 or 80 grit leave very deep lines in the board, I use 100 or 120 the most.

I get 4/4 boards and plan them down to just over 3/4", like a 1/64". Then this is for panels, I will glue them up and then put it though the sander, this brings them down to the 3/4" I want and cleans up any glue squeeze out there was.

I also use the sander for thin boards, if I want a 1/4" board for a box or something I will resaw a 4/4 board to just thicker then the 1/4" I want and then sand out the resaw marks with the sander and bring it down to the 1/4" I want.

One thing I would say is to order one or two crepe sticks, they really help make the sand paper last longer.
http://www.rockler.com/abrasive-cleaning-stick

[William C Rogers]

I just leave 120 on the drum sander. I do just like Bill does.

[David Kumm]

I almost always used 80 and 120 on my double drum. After a couple of passes both grits are somewhat finer but the 120 would remove the 80. If running a single drum, you will likely do more than one pass and final grit anyway so 80 to get close goes a little faster, followed by a couple of passes at 120. Sanders can't take much of a bite or the belt burns. I seldom went finer than 150 for that reason. Dave

[Jim Andrew]

When I am glueing up panels, I size the wood 13/16". Then I run a 60 grit belt, until I get the offsets ground down. Then I switch to a 120 belt and take the thickness down to 3/4". Of course I am using a small widebelt sander.

[Matt Day]

Are we correct in assuming that you have a planer?

[John Coloccia]

Give HEAVY DUTY abranet a try. I run that on my drum sander, and it pretty much lasts forever, never clogs and never burns. Far superior to regular sandpaper, IMHO.

[Peter Aeschliman]

Are we correct in assuming that you have a planer?

Exactly my question. If you don't have a planer, I recommend putting your money there first.

[Fidel Fernandez]

I am sorry, I always called a jointer. It is a jointer/planner combination.

so, Yes I have a planner.

[Fidel Fernandez]

John Coloccia,

What grit do you use with the abranet?
I use abranet on my Mirka and I like it.

[glenn bradley]

Give HEAVY DUTY abranet a try. I run that on my drum sander, and it pretty much lasts forever, never clogs and never burns. Far superior to regular sandpaper, IMHO.

It always amazes me that as much stuff as I look at, I am still caught by surprise. I did not know that Mirka made Abranet in rolls. What grits do you use John?

[glenn bradley]

I am sorry, I always called a jointer. It is a jointer/planner combination.

so, Yes I have a planner.

So, when you say "The wood can move after the joining and cause not being flat", do you mean the wood moves after the jointing operation or the planing operation?

To you original question, I use 60 and 80 for thicknessing but, do this rarely and use the planer for this function most often. The sander is great for thicknessing by very small increments in which case this is more jut sanding and I start at 120 and move up through the grits to whatever level suits my need.

My drum sander has a solid drum and an abrasive feed belt. I only mention this so that you don't get frustrated in trying to accurately thickness stuff with hook and loop paper or a rubber feed belt. There is too much flex there to work for me. YMMV.

[John Coloccia]

John Coloccia,

What grit do you use with the abranet?
I use abranet on my Mirka and I like it.


It always amazes me that as much stuff as I look at, I am still caught by surprise. I did not know that Mirka made Abranet in rolls. What grits do you use John?

Mostly 80 grit. The heavy duty stuff is pretty thick, and it's not the easiest thing to wrap and make fit. OK, you've been warned. That said, I have no trouble making it work. What's nice is that without clogging, it just simply doesn't burn, glaze or do any of the other terrible things that drum sanders are notorious for. I use mine for post glue cleanup, and fine dimensioning when it needs to be exact. The 80 grit does leave some scratches, just as you'd expect, but it bothers be not one bit.

I think someone else here may have tried the non heavy duty roll in theirs. I forget how it turned out. I've not tried it, but that's something to look into also. I didn't personally think it would hold up very well, so I didn't even bother.

[Rick Potter]

John,

Do you have Velcro on your drum sander, or clips? I am wondering about heat ruining the Velcro, as it does on a ROS, where we add the interface pad.

[John Coloccia]

John,

Do you have Velcro on your drum sander, or clips? I am wondering about heat ruining the Velcro, as it does on a ROS, where we add the interface pad.

Clips. I'd meant to switch to velcro, but I never got around to it. Honestly, I don't think there will be a heat issue with velcro anyway. That things spins very fast, and I think the paper lifts away a little from whatever is holding it anyhow. The situation is different on a ROS, where you're mashing the paper into the pad all the time, and there's no time or any real airflow that can cool it off.

[Chris Padilla]

I use 80 or 100 grit on my Delta 18/36 drum sander for everything...veneer included. I'll use 120 if that is all I have on hand but any finer than that, and you really have to go slow and take off less than 1/64" (quarter turn of the handle) or you burn or bog down the sander. As some said, it isn't a planer.

And I hope you have very good dust collection. You really REALLY need it for a power sander like this.

[Fidel Fernandez]

So, when you say "The wood can move after the joining and cause not being flat", do you mean the wood moves after the jointing operation or the planing operation?



I joint/plane my wood close to the dimension I want. Let's say I stop planning before the ¾".
I let sit for a couple days and when I come back the wood might bowed a little bit.
I then joint several planks to make a wider section, I tried to look at the end grain so I can alter the direction to help further bowing.

When the glue is set and I remove the clamps, I test with a straight edge and I can see the wood is not flat, not a big time, but enough to require sanding to level it.
I want to use the drum sander at this point to help level the wood after it has be join to make a wider section.

I can use my hand plane, and I am good with it, but not at this level. The grain changes direction and I cause more damage, hence the need for a drum sander.

[John TenEyck]

I use 80 or 100 grit on my Delta 18/36 drum sander for everything...veneer included. I'll use 120 if that is all I have on hand but any finer than that, and you really have to go slow and take off less than 1/64" (quarter turn of the handle) or you burn or bog down the sander. As some said, it isn't a planer.

And I hope you have very good dust collection. You really REALLY need it for a power sander like this.

1/64" is 0.015". That's a huge bite on the Delta 18 x 36. I have one, too. If I tried that on a wide hardwood board/panel it would stall for sure. I never take off more than 0.010" and typically, I'm down below 0.005". I mostly use 120 grit paper on mine, but it doesn't really matter. It's a great machine but, as you said, it's sure not a planer.

John

[Chris Padilla]

I pretty much use a 1/4 turn on my Delta, John, for everything and it works out fine for me. I slow the feed rate down a fair amount, as well. Works for me most of the time for most things.

[David Linnabary]

I joint/plane my wood close to the dimension I want. Let's say I stop planning before the ¾".
I let sit for a couple days and when I come back the wood might bowed a little bit.
I then joint several planks to make a wider section, I tried to look at the end grain so I can alter the direction to help further bowing.

When the glue is set and I remove the clamps, I test with a straight edge and I can see the wood is not flat, not a big time, but enough to require sanding to level it.
I want to use the drum sander at this point to help level the wood after it has be join to make a wider section.

I can use my hand plane, and I am good with it, but not at this level. The grain changes direction and I cause more damage, hence the need for a drum sander.

In this case it might be a matter of how you manage your stock after you dimension it, depending on moisture levels and how long between work sessions, sometimes I will very carefully stack my parts then add some weight on top, this will minimize movement while the material is normalizing. I've also clamped longer stock down on my assembly table as a precaution. You get a feel for it, some stock and just know you're going to have movement issues, mostly it's moisture level, I have this batch of spalted beech that drives me crazy like that, other stuff not so much.

I was just reminded of something I always meant to try; that sealing the end grains on your stock with a spit coat of shellac might be helpful to stabilize it if there will be an extended time between work sessions.

David

David

[Alan Lightstone]

I use 1/8 to 1/4 turn max on my Jet 16/32 all the time, usually with 120 and above, typically at the fastest feed rate that the machine will allow. Burning is rarely an issue.

I do keep the sandpaper clean with one of those rubber thingees, though, which does help.

[John TenEyck]

I pretty much use a 1/4 turn on my Delta, John, for everything and it works out fine for me. I slow the feed rate down a fair amount, as well. Works for me most of the time for most things.

Interesting - could never manage that with mine, even at speed setting 3. Who's paper are you using Chris?

John

[ed vitanovec]

I have a Dual Drum Sander and most times use 80 and 120 grits. You will need to take small passes verses deep ones, use it as a sander and not a planer. Dust collection will be a must. Post some pictures of your new machine when you get it set up. \
Congrats on your new Drum Sander.

[John Coloccia]

About 1/4 turn is standard for me too, but it depends on the wood. If it's something that has a lot of goo in it (some exotics, some resinous woods), the paper can glaze very quickly and it's all down hill from there. Again, the HD Abranet seems to have an advantage here, but it's really about matching the speed and pressure to the wood. If I'm unsure, I start with a very light removal setting, and increase a little at a time from there. After a while, you can just tell when you're right at the limit and need to be careful.

The other thing I found that is very important is that there is a lot of backlash in the height adjustment screw. If you just bring it down, it won't go down as much as you think. Do that again on the next pass, it may come down a lot more than you think. If you want to really do it consistently, bring it down well past where you want it, and then dial it UP to the correct height. That will give you the most consistent results, and I'd guess that this one thing causes many random problems that people experience.

[Alan Lightstone]

About 1/4 turn is standard for me too, but it depends on the wood. If it's something that has a lot of goo in it (some exotics, some resinous woods), the paper can glaze very quickly and it's all down hill from there. Again, the HD Abranet seems to have an advantage here, but it's really about matching the speed and pressure to the wood. If I'm unsure, I start with a very light removal setting, and increase a little at a time from there. After a while, you can just tell when you're right at the limit and need to be careful.

The other thing I found that is very important is that there is a lot of backlash in the height adjustment screw. If you just bring it down, it won't go down as much as you think. Do that again on the next pass, it may come down a lot more than you think. If you want to really do it consistently, bring it down well past where you want it, and then dial it UP to the correct height. That will give you the most consistent results, and I'd guess that this one thing causes many random problems that people experience.

Interesting. I also notice quite a bit of backlash, I'll have to try your method.

I keep a Wixey Digital Height Gauge on mine, so I'm always in the ballpark for height. However, I always double check the piece itself with a digital height gauge on my table saw bed (flat reference surface).

[Jeff Duncan]

The short answer is coarser grit for stock removal and finer grit for finishing passes. So if your trying to remove say a total of 1/16" or more, it's going to be much faster and easier on the sander to use 60 or 80 grit. If your already flat and just cleaning up a bit, then 120 - 150 is generally pretty good. You can leave the same grits on the sander all the time as has been mentioned. Just realize a drum sander is not meant for dimensioning lumber. So removing that same 1/16" of material in hardwoods is going to require a LOT of passes just removing a tiny bit at a time.

good luck,
JeffD