Thickness Planer

[gucu]

Hi

I am a hobbyist and I like to work with pallet wood. The major problem is all the sanding! I want to automate the job and I am wondering whether a thickness planer will do the work. I have never used one and so don't really know much about it. I understand that it makes them thinner but does it smooth the planks and if so how smooth? Pallet wood is not that wide but would it be a good idea to get something thicker than say 6" in width.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks

Rich

 

[MattRoberts]

So a there are two main options available to you:

A planer and a drum sander.

A planer is able to remove larger amounts of material than a drum sander (several mm at a time), but unless you get an expensive one, the surface of the wood won't necessarily be ready for finish without some sanding. A lot depends on how sharp the planer blades are, and these can be costly to sharpen yourself and lots of people and them away to be professionally sharpened. Also, if you miss removing a nail in your palette wood, it will really mess your planer blades up.

A drum sander takes much less material off the wood, so relies on the wood being pretty flat to begin with. But it can of course leave a finish ready surface. Drum sanders tend to be a fair bit more expensive though for the equivalent size.

A lot depends on how smooth a surface you're looking to end up with,and how much your budget is.

 

[gucu]

Hi

Thanks for the reply. I was aiming for smooth as possible. I do reckon on doing some sanding but at the moment I am sanding 3 levels of grit.

I don't have a huge budget but the drum sander does seem to be the right option. Does it have similar problems with blade sharpening please?

Thanks

Rich

 

[MikeJhn]

Pallet wood is notorious for having hidden nails in it, the blades on a Thichesser will notch when hit, this will give you a raised area on the wood you are trying to flatten, if you are able to accept this possibility then it will help, but the quality of pallet wood will make it difficult to get away without some finishing work.

Mike

 

[gucu]

Just looking at the cost of drum sanders and they all look to be over £1000 which is well outside of my budget. But in looking I found belt sanders. I am currently using a Ryobi orbital sander so anything would be better.

Thanks

Rich

 

[clanger]

Mike just beat me to it. I like my planer blades the shape they are; I wouldn't risk them just for the sake of using cheaper/salvaged wood.

Chris

 

[gucu]

So rule out thickness planer then as I agree I don't want to break it and have costly resharpening.

It seems the options are:
1. Costly drum sander
2. Buy a better sander and hand finish

Any other thoughts please?

Thanks

Rich

 

[ColeyS1]

A belt sander will be miles and miles and miles quicker than an orbital sander. So longs the woods dry 80 grit belts should smash back the surface. If not, try 60 grit then work back up to 80, 100 etc. I've found mirka belts to last the longest.

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

[MikeJhn]

You could consider the Thicknesser, but use disposable blades that you will have to accept the costs of replacement at frequent intervals.

The Drum sander will tear its sanding surface to bits for the same reason the Thicknesser will notch its blades, so not the answer IMO.

How often do you tear the surface of your sander with your current equipment, this will give you an idea of how often you will chip the blades of a Thicknesser.

All this is assuming the pallet wood is as bad as the pallets I have used in the past, but no more since realising its a false economy, please don't take offence, I can get Oak at €70.0 M3.

Mike

 

[flh801978]

where do you get oak at £ 70 a cubic metre?

 

[gucu]

I rarely tear any paper - thanks for the question it is a good thought.

Currently I have a very good source of pallet wood and I like the idea of recycling. I understand the dislike - consider it practice for when I get to the point of being able to build something well!

I think looking at pricing I am going to get a belt sander. Do I get one desk mounted please?

Thanks

Rich

 

[MikeJhn]

where do you get oak at £ 70 a cubic metre?

You should have got the clue when I said € not £, its 600Km away in the Dordogne where I have my main workshop.

Mike

P.S. forgot to add its sold for burning in the log stove.

 

[gucu]

Can I visit say next May!

Rich

 

[MikeJhn]

Of course, bring a trailer.

Mike

 

[gucu]

Any recommendations for a belt sander make please?

 

[ColeyS1]

I've had this one for a few years and it's fantastic.

Get a belt cleaning block aswell- it'll rejuvenate dirty belts making them almost like new. Worst belts I've ever had were hermes. They were garbage. Hermes belts were pants. They looked like belts but didn't last five minutes. I hate hermes belts and would never use them again even if I was given them. Steer clear of hermes belts - waste of money imho.
Belts sanders are designed for rapid stock removal. Orbital sanders are more for a final polish.

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[sunnybob]

dont get a bench top belt sander. You will struggle a lot trying to run a long plank sideways across the fixed belt.
Get a hand held sander with the largest flat surface you can afford.
Of course, then the wood will always come out thinner one side than the other as you work more on the rough spots.

There is no easy or cheap answer to this, other than buying a buried nail metal detector and spending a long, long time checking every piece of wood for not only nails, but also the thin wire staples used to hold labels on.

I'm still new at this hobby, just over 3 years now, and I am STILL learning there no shortcuts to a nice finished article.

 

[gucu]

Ok thanks for all the help. A good morning. I will be buying a hand held sander with the longest flat surface I can afford and avoiding hermes belts.

Enjoy the rest of the day.

 

[ColeyS1]

With a belt sander the key is to always keep it moving. If you dwell too long on one spot you'll dig a hole without even trying. For example, if I had a 6 inch scratch I'd be constantly moving at least 12 inchs each side. It can be quite scary to start with cause it removes material so quickly. It can't differentiate between wood and skin and will take off anything in its path. Make sure you secure the piece you're sanding or it'll fire it across the workshop !! Lol

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[sunnybob]

My friend brought his big commercial electric planar to a picnic area where we were refurbishing the wooden benches. he put the planer on the top, and walked back to plug it into the extension lead.
Yup, you guessed it, he had left it in the on position.
That thing literally leapt across the table, stretched the cord full out and fell to the floor as the plug was wrenched out.
Just like a cartoon. But it was a very good job no one was standing in the way because no body could have reacted fast enough to move.