Disc sander to thickness stock?

[Brian W Evans]

So, I promised LOML that, after my fifth tool purchase in as many months, I would refrain from buying any more "big" tools for one year. (Of course "big" was never defined ;)). However, I really want a drum sander to help me thickness and prep the boards and veneer I resaw on my new BS. Do I have to wait a year, or is this possible:

One of my new tools is a 12" disc/ 6x48" belt sander (Griz G1183). It is a very substantial piece of iron with rock solid tables. The table for the disc sander leaves about 6" of disc exposed. Could I build a tall fence, clamp it to the table, and use this setup like a small, vertical, hand-fed, thicknessing sander? I've seen this done on a TS using a sanding disc, but my sander is a lot bigger.

How about it? Will it work? What are the safety issues? Any thoughts on fence design? What about feed direction?

Thanks.

[Frank Drew]

Brian,

Last question first: the feed direction would have to be such that the rotation of the sanding disc forced the work down onto the table rather than wanting to lift it up.

However, I've never seen this done and I think I'd try to come up with alternatives. Which isn't to say it won't work, but for one thing you'd probably have some hellacious crossgrain sanding marks to remove no matter which part of the disc you're working.

[Perhaps someone here does just this operation with great results, so then what do I know?]

[Tony Bilello]

I would think it would difficult if not impossible to feed a long board through the disk without the edge of the disk cutting into it.
Maybe I'm just not understanding the question.

Tony B

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

It's be easier is you used a hand plane.

It's make more sense if you built a router bridge and used that. It's really very fast and clean doing it that way.

With thin stock you need to pull a vacuum to keep the stock flat on the table. Not hard if you have a air compressor or any vacuum pump

[Brian W Evans]

OK, maybe this was a pipe dream. I might still try it, though. I don't expect finished results, just want to do some thicknessing. As I said, I've seen this done on a TS - in Doug Stowe's box making DVD or in one of his books, maybe. I'm pretty sure it was him.

If I try it, I'll let you know how it goes.

[Dave Lehnert]

You are not too far off from your thinking. This is something that Shopsmith has had for years. Kinda a slick deal. It is Thickness Sanding on a Conical Sanding Disc. It is a disk with a 4degree taper. Here is a video on the subject. If you do not own a shopsmith it may give you an idea how to rig something up. Jump ahead in the video about 3 min to see the demo.

http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Archives/SS114/SS114_Thickness_Sanding.htm

Here is another video that better shows how it works.

http://www.shopsmithacademy.com/SS_Archives/SS101/SS101_ConicaL_Sander.htm

[Gene Michael]

The 48" belt sander sounds like a better place to start. How about making a jig that would permit you to pull a piece of wood through the space between the jig and your sanding belt? This would eliminate the problems of a disk cutting into the wood or cross grain sanding marks.

[Jason Beam]

You didn't happen to buy an oscilating spindle sander yet, didja? I used one of those for my thickness sanding once - just used one of my practice hand-cut dovetail samples as my 90 degree fence and clamped it to the table. A little monkey-ing with it to reach the desired thickness and feeding through was a breeze.

I'm also of the "use yer belt sander" camp. It'll be easier to jig up a feed system for it (yes it might be upside down ... try the front edge where the drum is hanging over the machine - or try underneath, there's usually a little clearance under there, too. :)