Went from hand planing doors to using a drum sander overnight

I used to spend 3 hours hand planing each shaker door just to get that perfect smooth face. Then 2 years ago I grabbed a used Super Max 26-1600 off Craigslist for $800 and now I can knock out a full kitchen in under an hour. Anyone else take forever to upgrade their sanding game?

2 comments

2 Comments

margaret_nelson10d ago

Hand planing gives you way more control and leaves a better finish since you're reading the grain instead of just blasting through it. That drum sander is probably burning your edges and leaving swirls you won't catch until the finish goes on.

the_luna10d ago

YES exactly this. I wrecked a whole tabletop last year with my drum sander because I got impatient and tried to rush through some figured maple. The burn marks on the edges were terrible and I didn't even see the swirl pattern until I wiped mineral spirits on it before finishing. Had to take the whole thing back down with my #4 plane and it took forever but the final result was so much better. Hand planing forces you to slow down and actually look at what the wood is doing. My drum sander collects dust now unless I'm doing a ton of identical boards for a big project.