this might be heresy ...

[Mark Kosmowski]

Are there any times when a thicknessing sander gives a better end result than a proper selection of properly tuned handplanes with the skill to use them? Or other hand tools?

I'm wondering about thin stock and marquetry. For marquetry, if a recess is carved out of the piece to put a small marquetry embellishment and the marquetry is a bit proud of the piece, perhaps ROS or hand sanding is better than thickness sander. If the veneer is self-made thicker stock, careful handplaning should work too.

Is there a minimum thickness for use of handplanes as a surfacing technique? Such as 1/8" or 1/16"?

Thanks!

[mike holden]

Mark,
The usual tool in the case of veneer is using a toothing plane, a scraper plane, or a card scraper - that is, if you are using handtools.

that said, a thicknessing sander is a useful tool for final sanding.

Usually marquetry involves many, many steps - each of which involves some leveling and a hand tool is more appropriate as you can localize the leveling.

Mike

[Mark Kosmowski]

Would a cabinet scraper work also?

[James Taglienti]

You're talking about a wide belt or drum sander i guess?
I worked in a cabinet shop for a couple years and they had a few wide belt sanders. They worked beautifully and it was easy to set them to remove even a tiny bit of wood. Still, if I had spent days or weeks or months on a piece of marquetry i think I would be very reluctant to send it through one of those machines. I'd be more apt to sit down for a few hours with a sanding block, or a card scraper. A random robot sander might work too. Sanding might seem safer but remember how many grits you intend to progress through.

A scraper plane might work. If the inlay is sitting too far proud of the workpiece the card could chip or even peel it when you initiate the cut so try to feather the edges with a hand held scraper beforehand.

[David Gilbert]

I've had the opportunity to use several of my friends' planing sanders. They are wonderful machines that remove very small amounts of wood each time so they are pretty slow but they have some other problems that you should remember. Since the drum is turning at a speed and the board is moving through the machine at another, you get essentially a standing wave pattern in the wood. These are similar to power planer marks but are much finer. The sanding planers can also generate a noticeable snipe. Often the lines or snipe are so fine that you only see them after your finish is completely applied (GRRR!).

My experience says that you need to plane or sand these to get the kind of surface that you will be really proud of.

Cheers,
David

[David Laaneorg]

I work in a custom cabinet shop, and we have a very nice big thickness sander. It is a large belt sander, not a drum sander, if you need to know. In preparing stock, we joint, plane, rip, then use the thickness sander to get it to final thickness. But this does not mean that final sanding is done, it is only the means to achieve final thickness. The adjustment of the thickness sander is much finer than on the planer, so we can creep down to the thickness we need literally by the thou, if need be. But the finish is rough and still needs sanding. We do use it to level panels and such, but that is just to achieve a level surface, not to finish. Basically, at our shop, the thickness sander is simply a much more controllable form of a thickness planer.

I don't know if this helps sort things out, or if it just makes things muddier.

[Don C Peterson]

Are there any times when a thicknessing sander gives a better end result than a proper selection of properly tuned handplanes with the skill to use them? Or other hand tools?

Thanks!

I seriously doubt that any machine could produce a "better" result than skillfully used hand tools. What machines do is make it easier to achieve a comparable result with less skill and work.

Sure, some machines are capable of greater precision and consistency than a hand tool, but wood isn't a precision material so for me that point is moot...

[Mark Tsujihara]

Are there any times when a thicknessing sander gives a better end result than a proper selection of properly tuned handplanes with the skill to use them? Or other hand tools?

I'm wondering about thin stock and marquetry. For marquetry, if a recess is carved out of the piece to put a small marquetry embellishment and the marquetry is a bit proud of the piece, perhaps ROS or hand sanding is better than thickness sander. If the veneer is self-made thicker stock, careful handplaning should work too.

Is there a minimum thickness for use of handplanes as a surfacing technique? Such as 1/8" or 1/16"?

Thanks!

I took a class with Paul Schurch, the well-known marquetry artist, and he levels his veneers and inlays with a hand held belt sander running 80 grit. It sounds aggressive, but he is sanding away the layers of veneer tape, which is surprisingly sturdy. As long as the tape is there, the wood underneath is ok. It's nerve-wracking the first time you do it, but once you get the feel for it you can get great results.

Mark

[David DeCristoforo]

"...he levels his veneers and inlays with a hand held belt sander running 80 grit."

Arr arr arr... Real tools for real men! No sissies scraping their veneers here. Plus it leaves all those hand planes free for propping doors open in the summer...

[Mark Tsujihara]

"...he levels his veneers and inlays with a hand held belt sander running 80 grit."

Arr arr arr... Real tools for real men! No sissies scraping their veneers here. Plus it leaves all those hand planes free for propping doors open in the summer...

Heh, I guess it's out of place in the Neanderthal forum, but for him, time is money. He makes pieces of furniture and art for a living (plus teaches noobies like me) and the sander is faster than scraping it level. For him, anyway. For me, I'm still likely to burn through my veneer before it's all leveled

Mark

PS he still uses a hand scraper to fine tune areas once he's done with the sander.

[Harold Beck]

Mark,

I prepare a lot of shop sawn veneers and thin stock for bending and I find that a drum sander is very useful for this. I have tried a cabinet scraper on veneers I cut to make shaker boxes from and had some trouble getting the entire piece to a similar thickness.

Typically I am working with stock from 0.050" to about 1/4" thickness. It also works very well on birdseye stock that gave me fits otherwise.

HB