Sanding slabs without a chiropractor

[Paul Willcocks]

Hi

I just started woodworking as a hobby, the old man was a chippie so some of it is in my blood. I'm trying to make tables and chairs out of slabs. Sold a few so something must be working.... I just demolished a Hitachi 100mm belt sander and blew my budget at the chiropractor after surfacing some 1 metre wide slabs for some table tops. All the drum sander outfits are too expensive for me (remember that chiropractor) and be stuffed I can man-handle a 600mm wide 50mm thick, 4 metre long lump of timber thru a machine on my pat-malone. Has anyone tried using a drum floor sander on slabs? I thought I could work on the ground and make up a starting block to start the sander. Help! Am I mad trying this or is it back to the chiro?

Cheers
Paul
Whitsundays

[bobsreturn2003]

a lot of guys use a woodwiz , would be interested in seeing how a floor sander went , couldnt be as hard as a belt sander , there is a surcare sander that is hand held and made for slabs too , better if you can lift on too a few saw horses. cheers bob

[journeyman Mick]

I used a floor sander for my dining table. I laid it on the ground and set up some timber either end the same thickness so I could run the sander off the ends. It worked well, certainly a hell of a lot quicker than using a belt sander. Apparently those surcare sanders have had some issues, I'm fairly sure I read a thread where someone bought one and it self destructed on top of a very expensive job, manufacturer didn't want to know about it.

Mick

[Paul Willcocks]

Thanks Mick,
Is surecare a brand... I am looking a buying a 2nd hand 10 inch one out of Adelaide (approx $1300), but ain't got any details yet

Cheers
Paul

[Paul Willcocks]

Thanks Bob,

I looked closely at the wood wiz... impressive, but I really need to have some paying work and some floor space to justify that expense.

[RufflyRustic]

I have friends in the wood furniture and antique restoration business who will use a floor sander on slabs without looking back. JourneyManMick's suggestion is a great idea too.

cheers
Wendy

[artme]

G'day Paul and welcome to the fountain of knowledge.

See. You are in the right corner of cyberspace with great advice already given.

[journeyman Mick]

Thanks Mick,
Is surecare a brand... I am looking a buying a 2nd hand 10 inch one out of Adelaide (approx $1300), but ain't got any details yet

Cheers
Paul

Surcare is a brand of sander, made specifically for finishing large surfaces. I believe they make/made two or more models. They have a large induction motor (2hp+?) driving 3 or 4 150mm discs. A bit like a super-duper ganged random orbital sander. They look really good in the pictures I've seen of them but I've heard some not so good stories about lack of customer service and warranty issues. Floor sanders are readily available 2nd hand and very robust machines. If you're going to get one, try to find one that is a belt sander rather than a drum. The belt sanders have a clutch to disengage them whilst the drum sanders need to be tipped back on their wheels to disengage them from the work surface. The belt sander also has a large flat contact patch as opposed to the smaller convex contact patch of a drum.

Mick

[Paul Willcocks]

Thanks again Mick,
This machine I am looking at is a Bono ... apparently they are German made so that's gotta be a +. I like the idea of a wider machine as it can help flatten the surface better. However cupping is one issue I need to be aware of, (not that all my slabs are cupped). My budget is limited.. I found (and now lost) a great site that had 2nd hand machines of all kinds.. mostly restored and buffers were from $2,200 upwards. Hopefully I can land this sucker in Nth Qld for around $1300.
I will post the results....
Cheers

[Paul Willcocks]

Thanks Artme.

After a few years in the dark, my lights are now on!!!! This is a great site

Cheers

[Paul Willcocks]

Hi there RR,

Glad to hear what you said, I've just gotta give the chiropractor approach the flick!! I intend to go-ahead with this embelishment to my tool shed!!!
Cheers
Paul