Price for sanding panels

[David Huston]

I have a local shop that is going to sand/flatten some glue up shelves for me. They are charging $65 an hour. Does that seem about right? I dont really have much choice right now as I need it done. Just wondering if I might need to look around for someone else next time.

[Steve Wilde]

That seems pretty steep to me. How many do you have to sand? I had a table top that I needed sanded and I took it to one of the large cabinet shops in town. They ran it through their large wide belt sander for me for free. They gave it a good 4 passes per side to flatten it and get it close to finish sanded for me, they've always taken care of me!

[Martin Wasner]

That's cheap. I charge $100 an hour for my widebelt time. It costs me between $.55-.65 per minute in just abrasives to run that thing. Plus an operator? That's a deal in my book. With a 60g and an 80g I can take .015" pretty easily on a full width pass at 23fpm though so you can sand a lot in that minute. Doors and face frames that aren't pulling a lot of power because of huge contact area, I'm taking about .025" per pass no problem and it's one pass per face and it's done.


Before somebody thinks I'm insane on my abrasive costs, the belts are $255.50 for a pair of them, I get between six and eight hours of run time depending on what is being ground on. If I did just Alder, I could probably retire on a set of belts. Harder woods build up a lot of heat and kill them pretty quickly.

Everything else in the shop that is T&M, the shop rate is $65/hr, but most everything else doesn't have the input or capital costs of that sander. It's the most expensive machine in the shop, and uses the most consumables.

[mreza Salav]

I am not a commercial shop and have done it for friends but $65/hr is cheap to me.

[Mel Fulks]

I think that is about the rate around here, too. You can use a belt sander with rough paper to remove high spots and any
excess glue that might foul their belts ,to save some. Or just do the whole job.

[David Huston]

There are 5 shelves about 24x29. It was just the receptionist quoting a price so she may have just been covering herself. They did a entire bench top glue up for me a few years ago (i brought the wood ripped down to size) and only charged me $50.

[David Huston]

Thanks so much. I didn't think it was a bad price at all.

[jack duren]

That's cheap. I charge $100 an hour for my widebelt time. It costs me between $.55-.65 per minute in just abrasives to run that thing. Plus an operator? That's a deal in my book. With a 60g and an 80g I can take .015" pretty easily on a full width pass at 23fpm though so you can sand a lot in that minute. Doors and face frames that aren't pulling a lot of power because of huge contact area, I'm taking about .025" per pass no problem and it's one pass per face and it's done.


Before somebody thinks I'm insane on my abrasive costs, the belts are $255.50 for a pair of them, I get between six and eight hours of run time depending on what is being ground on. If I did just Alder, I could probably retire on a set of belts. Harder woods build up a lot of heat and kill them pretty quickly.

Everything else in the shop that is T&M, the shop rate is $65/hr, but most everything else doesn't have the input or capital costs of that sander. It's the most expensive machine in the shop, and uses the most consumables.

We run 8/4 hardwood tables 8hrs a day without needing changed. Either your using your sander as a planner or you need to look into another brand belt....

[Roy Harding]

I charge $60 an hour as a shop rate. If you're a steady customer, that rate can go down significantly. If you're a customer I've found hard to deal with in the past, that rate can go up significantly.

[Martin Wasner]

We run 8/4 hardwood tables 8hrs a day without needing changed. Either your using your sander as a planner or you need to look into another brand belt....

How many fpm are your belts turning? Faster leaves a finer and more consistent scratch, but with the cost of chewing up abrasives. I'm mine is pushing 5000 fpm on the second head, and I think 4000 on the first. Most older widebelt run about 3600 rpm

I take very aggressive passes. I'm taking 13/16" to .788" on my first pass which is the back, and to .760" on the second pass which is the face of a door or face frame. One pass per face, that's it. 120g in the first head, 180g on the second combi head. The on machine machine time is more costly than the abrasives. One guy pitching, the other catching at $25/hr each is $.83 per minute. I spend a lot on abrasives, but I figure I would've spent $7k more in labor last year on just on machine time had I been running my old single head sander doing six passes.

I'm at the bare minimum for dust collection which is part of the problem as well. Heat and dust extraction aren't up to par. I'm curious how much mote life I get when I finally get my new baghouse up and running.

I'm using 3M purple belts. 43x75. I wish I would've ponied up the cash to have a machine that took the 103" belts. A lot more surface area for not much more money.

I hadn't heard that 8/4 sands harder than 4/4....

[Andrew J. Coholic]

Shop rate here is $70/hr. I charge for belts if needed (I sometimes do jobs where people bring me a lot of material to joint/plane/sand).

Hardwoods I generally get a very good life from belts. Pine is death no matter what grit or removal per pass. Always charge for belts in that case.

WHen guys figure what time they are saving having something put through the widebelt VS doing it by hand, they are generally very happy to pay the rate.

[Joe Jensen]

$65 an hour seems cheap to me assuming they are efficient. I did 56 kitchen cabinet doors at a shop that charges $100 an hour. My panels are pretty flat to start with. They took all the panels flat and to 150 grit or so for $60 total.

[Randy Red Bemont]

I'm going to say you did good with that $65 hourly rate. If your happy with the results, go back to them when you have another sanding job that needs to get done.

Red

[jack duren]

How many fpm are your belts turning? Faster leaves a finer and more consistent scratch, but with the cost of chewing up abrasives. I'm mine is pushing 5000 fpm on the second head, and I think 4000 on the first. Most older widebelt run about 3600 rpm

I take very aggressive passes. I'm taking 13/16" to .788" on my first pass which is the back, and to .760" on the second pass which is the face of a door or face frame. One pass per face, that's it. 120g in the first head, 180g on the second combi head. The on machine machine time is more costly than the abrasives. One guy pitching, the other catching at $25/hr each is $.83 per minute. I spend a lot on abrasives, but I figure I would've spent $7k more in labor last year on just on machine time had I been running my old single head sander doing six passes.

I'm at the bare minimum for dust collection which is part of the problem as well. Heat and dust extraction aren't up to par. I'm curious how much mote life I get when I finally get my new baghouse up and running.

I'm using 3M purple belts. 43x75. I wish I would've ponied up the cash to have a machine that took the 103" belts. A lot more surface area for not much more money.

I hadn't heard that 8/4 sands harder than 4/4....

Checked today. We are averaging 3 weeks on a set of belts running a Sandya 16s.

"I hadn't heard that 8/4 sands harder than 4/4" That's my point.....

[Martin Wasner]

Checked today. We are averaging 3 weeks on a set of belts running a Sandya 16s.

"I hadn't heard that 8/4 sands harder than 4/4" That's my point.....



Right after I bought my machine I called the factory with some questions. I wasn't happy with the scratch the way I was when I first started using it and I wondered if it was the graphite on the platen that was wearing and the cause. Turns out it was, and I just had to drop it down a few thousandths and life was good again. Anyway, I was BS-ing with the guy and told him about my horrid belt life, he said that they sold a six head machine, all on top, to a company that was running three shifts. It sounded like the thing ran pretty much all day. They went almost six months before having to swap belts. That's unreal, but when none of the heads are making a full pass I'm not that surprised. I don't know what the tipping point is where it makes sense to have six heads, but man you must be hammering product out the door.

I also swap belts anytime it starts leaving lines, there might be some life left there, but I'm not dealing with having to polish that stuff out with a orbital. It takes just too long and it seems like I'm permanently behind nowadays.

[peter gagliardi]

That rate is cheeeeeeeep! The widebelt is one of the most costly machines to run in a shop. High consumable cost, + high amp draw+ usually higher rate employee running it, and on and on. I think i figured it out once that it costs me $20.00 just to turn it on, let alone the running costs. You can do an aweful lot of sanding in an hour!

[Bill Neely]

Local shop charges me $75 an hour on a 36" wide belt, one hour minimum.

[Leo Graywacz]

Buck a minute +/- is normal for a shop to charge for their time.

$255 pr/belts is crazy. My buddy gets his for about $35-40 each. 36x60

[Rick Fisher]

$65 an hour is a good deal .. Its more than fair.

I have a wide belt and its the most expensive machine in the shop to own. It also clogs the dust collector worse than any other machine. I only sand stuff for people I like.

[Martin Wasner]

$255 pr/belts is crazy. My buddy gets his for about $35-40 each. 36x60

a 37x60 in a 3M 970DZ purple belt, is about $90. If you go with the 340D maroon belt they are about $30 through my supplier. Then the 370DZ is about in the middle for pricing at ~$65 per. When you jump up to a 43x75 belt the 340D is about $45, the 370DZ isn't in my catalog in that size, and the 970DZ is about $120. (Plus tax.) I've got a couple of the 340D belts in 60g and 80g, they've held up pretty well, but it's really tough to know how much time is on them as they are only used when I need to really hog something down.

I don't know anything about other brands of abrasives. The wholesaler I use for hardware carries the 3M belts, and just out of laziness I use them, though I can't think of too many 3M products I've been disappointed in.

My old 37x60 widebelt, the belts lasted forever. But it was very underpowered, and I was doing three passes per face, now I'm hitting it four times in two passes. I still wouldn't go back to my old machine for anything. The uptick in productivity versus the cost of belts is even comparable, but I know full well I'm running that thing about as hard as I can. Jumping back up to four passes with a belt change would I'm sure dramatically lengthen the life of the belts, but even if I doubled the lifespan of the belts, it wouldn't be offset the payroll cost of the time to do it. Plus the cost of having almost 50hp of sander running, and once my baghouse is up and running, another 20hp of dust collection roaring away, plus a 2hp airlock, and 3hp transfer fan. So basically 75hp turning. lol Watch that meter spin!

[Leo Graywacz]

The heck with the meter, that's the cheap part. It's the demand factor in the power bill that is really what hurts.

[peter gagliardi]

Having been a former 3M user, i can attest to the fact that they were ALWAYS the most expensive brand to buy. For widebelts I have used Hermes, and VSM with just as good a cut, and life that is comparable, and usually in the range of $35-45 per belt for 37x60. I do not buy anything 3M anymore.

[jack duren]

a 37x60 in a 3M 970DZ purple belt, is about $90. If you go with the 340D maroon belt they are about $30 through my supplier. Then the 370DZ is about in the middle for pricing at ~$65 per. When you jump up to a 43x75 belt the 340D is about $45, the 370DZ isn't in my catalog in that size, and the 970DZ is about $120. (Plus tax.) I've got a couple of the 340D belts in 60g and 80g, they've held up pretty well, but it's really tough to know how much time is on them as they are only used when I need to really hog something down.

I don't know anything about other brands of abrasives. The wholesaler I use for hardware carries the 3M belts, and just out of laziness I use them, though I can't think of too many 3M products I've been disappointed in.

My old 37x60 widebelt, the belts lasted forever. But it was very underpowered, and I was doing three passes per face, now I'm hitting it four times in two passes. I still wouldn't go back to my old machine for anything. The uptick in productivity versus the cost of belts is even comparable, but I know full well I'm running that thing about as hard as I can. Jumping back up to four passes with a belt change would I'm sure dramatically lengthen the life of the belts, but even if I doubled the lifespan of the belts, it wouldn't be offset the payroll cost of the time to do it. Plus the cost of having almost 50hp of sander running, and once my baghouse is up and running, another 20hp of dust collection roaring away, plus a 2hp airlock, and 3hp transfer fan. So basically 75hp turning. lol Watch that meter spin!

You would be better to buy a SANDYA 16S, pay for it just on the belt savings. Give the benefits to the laborers....

[Martin Wasner]

I've never used one. I can't compare scratch and speed to a Timesavers. Plus they are 50 minutes away if/when it breaks.