Planer or Wide Belt sander to create 1/4" stock?

[dirk martin]

I'm going to be getting a lot of 1" rough stock in. Maple, red and white oak, bloodwood, purpleheart, hickory...all different widths.

I need to create 1/4" smooth finished boards.

I've got a Mini Max 24" bandsaw, that I'll be resawing the boards with, with a carbide blade.

I'll be first jointing the edges, and then planing 1 side smooth. Then I'll resaw it down the middle.

Now, I need to get each board to 1/4". I've got a Dewalt 12.5" planer, and I feel it's too small to do much volume. I hate having to help the planer pull the board thru, and yes, I know it helps to keep my feed rollers clean. Thing is, years ago when I had a smaller Delta planer, I NEVER had to help it feed the boards, regardless of how dull my knives got. I'd kill the motor before it would stop feeding.

My question is, to produce 1/4" lumber, should I get a larger planer with tersa knives to finish my boards, or should I get a wide belt sander?

Maybe I don't need to go with tersa knives, and I could go with the Grizzly GO454 20" planer. Or the GO453z 15" planer with spiral cutter head (does that mean tersa knives?)

If I went the sander route, I'd be looking at the Grizzly GO644, 15" wide belt.

Suggestions?

[NICK BARBOZA]

i would think that after a resaw you would only need to drum sand them (granted everything went well....) i would recommend the preformax (now JET) 16-32. I love that thing! its worth its weight in gold.

[Guy Germaine]

I don't have a drum sander, so I use my DW 735 planer. I made a sled that I put on the planer bed and run the material through on it. Works just fine.

[Tom Veatch]

....

My question is, to produce 1/4" lumber, should I get a larger planer with tersa knives to finish my boards, or should I get a wide belt sander?
...
Suggestions?

Sled, like Guy said. Unless, of course, this is part of your "justification" for buying new tools. If that's the case, then, by all means, drum sander.;)

Oh, and by the way, be sure the planer platen is clean and waxed.

[Justin Bukoski]

Drum sander (or widebelt), no question. Careful resawing with sanding in between can produce 3 1/4" pieces from 1" rough stock if it is relatively flat.

You could do it on the planer but if you are going to buy a new tool, I'd get the sander.

[Richard Wolf]

I think you should consider a band saw power feeder. You will be able to resaw to much closer tolerances and most likely get an extra piece out of each board and than a wide belt sander will clean up the resawed pieces.

Richard

[Paul Fitzgerald]

Do ya'll use a sled with your planers because they won't go down to 1/4" or because it's an unsafe practice to run a planer at a 1/4" height?

Just curious. ;)

Paul

[dirk martin]

Thanks for the replies, guys.
I have the Perfomax 16/32 drum sander. Way too slow. I need to produce a lot of 1/4" stock.

My Dewalt 12.5" planer will go down to 1/8", so that's not an issue. The issue with that planer is that it seems like after I feed a few boards, I'm again having to help (push) the boards thru, which gets real old, real fast.

[Richard M. Wolfe]

You mentioned a couple species that are really going to make a little planer work....purpleheart and hickory. Also, if you resaw and sand you eliminate possibilities of chipping and tearout with some woods.

[Tom Veatch]

Do ya'll use a sled with your planers because they won't go down to 1/4" or because it's an unsafe practice to run a planer at a 1/4" height?

Just curious. ;)

Paul

I thought my planer manual specified a minimum thickness for planing like it does for molding, but a quick perusal didn't spot it. In any event, I get real nervous planing material less than about 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick unless it's a very light cut.

I don't really know how "unsafe" the practice might be from a personal injury standpoint, but I've had thin material come apart in the planer. I'm not anxious to repeat the experience without the pieces being restrained somehow.

[Tom Veatch]

...it seems like after I feed a few boards, I'm again having to help (push) the boards thru, which gets real old, real fast.

What's the condition of the planer's platen? You might try a good coat of something like Johnston's Wax to slick it up some so the work slides easier.

[dirk martin]

I've planed a lot of 1/4" material, with no issues.

If I go the resaw-WBS route, does it typically take a lot of passes thru the sander? I know it depends on how closely I resaw, but I'm wondering how much 100 grit will take off per pass.

Yes, I have a stock feeder on my BS also.

[Doug Shepard]

If you're using an MM24 with a carbide blade you're going to need very little sanding on the face you dont already have jointed. I would think 2 passes max and maybe even one. But are you going to be able to get 4 boards out of that rough stock? Unless it's on the fat side or you're settling for less than a true 1/4" I think you're only going to get 3. The kerf on the carbide blades isn't like using a TS but it is going to gobble some thickness along with the pre-jointing, sanding or planer passes.

[Joe Chritz]

If you have the funds then a widebelt is without a doubt the way to go.

If it is a stretch you could go with hiring it out to a local shop. The one up the road from me is $1 per minute. You could do a lot of pieces in 30 minutes. Once the stock is good one side take a trip and one pass should clean up the material. A widebelt is many times more aggresive than a drum sander when needed.

I have heard good things about the open end widebelts but the only one I have used is a 36" multiple thousand dollar job at the local shop. It is another league than my drum sander.

Joe

[dirk martin]

Doug, not sure why you're asking about how many pieces i'll get out of my rough stock. I'm happy getting 2 pieces out of the rough stock, so anything above that is even more profit.

[dirk martin]

my local mill charges $1.80 per min. to sand. Sounds high.

[dirk martin]

also, if i decide to go with a WBS, I'd sell my 16/32 Performax drum sander, so that'll certainly offset the cost of the WB. I've had the Performax about a year, and it's not seen a whole lot of use.

[Kevin Groenke]

I'm gonna have to go against the grain on this one;).

It sounds like your talking about A LOT of material and you want to do it as efficiently as possible.

It's not a widebelt, but we've got a supermax 37x2 and it takes FOREVER to surface material that was resawn. Even when the 2 drums are wrapped w/60G and 120G we can't take off more than 1/64" in a pass. Exotics like bloodwood and purpleheart are gonna gum up the abrasives and burn before you run 50'.

With the PM 209HH (byrd spiral) we can go from the resaw to finished in a single pass. The helical head doesn't care about grain, figure or much else. We regularly plane stock to 1/4" and less. With a 1" mdf auxiliary bed we've successfully thicknessed 12" maple and similar (clear, straight grain) to 3/32".

If you're looking for an excuse to upgrade equipment, it sounds like your planer needs it more than your sander.

G'luck.

kg

[Doug Shepard]

Doug, not sure why you're asking about how many pieces i'll get out of my rough stock. I'm happy getting 2 pieces out of the rough stock, so anything above that is even more profit.

I mis-read your post. Thought you mentioned re-sawing in half, then re-sawing those in half once again. I would think you could consistently get 3 though unless you have to joint/plane a lot initially. If that beast you have cant cut straight and smooth, I dont know what will, especially with the power feeder.

[Kevin Groenke]

I'm gonna have to go against the grain on this one;).

It sounds like your talking about A LOT of material and you want to do it as efficiently as possible.

It's not a widebelt, but we've got a supermax 37x2 and it takes FOREVER to surface material that was resawn. Even when the 2 drums are wrapped w/60G and 120G we can't take off more than 1/64" in a pass. Exotics like bloodwood and purpleheart are gonna gum up the abrasives and burn before you run 50'.

With the PM 209HH (byrd spiral) we can go from the resaw to finished in a single pass. The helical head doesn't care about grain, figure or much else. We regularly plane stock to 1/4" and less. With a 1" mdf auxiliary bed we've successfully thicknessed 12" maple and similar (clear, straight grain) to 3/32".

If you're looking for an excuse to upgrade equipment, it sounds like your planer needs it more than your sander.

G'luck.

kg

[Eddie Darby]

Have you waxed the surfaces of your planer?
Dewalt 12.5" planer, what model?

[dirk martin]

Yes, I've got an ideal bandsaw....I just can't figure out whether to use a wide belt sander, or simply plane the pieces to get my final thickness.

[Alison Gray]

I think the ideal would be to get 3 pieces from the board so that when you plane you have much less to take off. I find that waxing the planer more often helps when working with the harder wood. I also agree with Kevin regarding sanding the exotics, really gums it up and that makes sanding seem like more work than planing.