# thickness sanders



## mikemcnerney (Jul 28, 2008)

Has anyone used a craftex 12, 18, or 24" sander. Or made a thickness sander out of the "stockroom" 24 " drum kit.
Mike, Ot


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

No I haven't .. is that the Busy Bee brand?


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## Oakvillain (Mar 7, 2008)

I would stay away from Craftex (Busy Bee). It's a very poor quality machine. I would recommend you spend your maximum and purchase a high quality used machine or a manufacturer who would stand behind their product. Delta, General Int, Performax... When I built my bench I hauled my benchtop to a local woodshop and they did it for me. You may try that if you do it non regularly. If you do buy you'll need a good air cleaner and dust collector as you are aware.

My 2 cents.

PS. As for kits, I've known WWers who have given up on these kits.


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## mikemcnerney (Jul 28, 2008)

I am now looking at a new general 13" in the 1500 buck range. Knowing that it and the bust bee cratex are built overseas, does it matter? How important do folks think that sanding the glued up top or back is s opposed to an ~8" piece which is a limiting factor with the 13"
Mike


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## Oakvillain (Mar 7, 2008)

Not sure I understand your question.

most of the smaller units are open ended on one side so you can sand a piece twice the width of the drum. General International is a good brand. They have good quality control on their overseas machines. I have a jointer by them and have no issues.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

mikemcnerney said:


> I am now looking at a new general 13" in the 1500 buck range. Knowing that it and the bust bee cratex are built overseas, does it matter? How important do folks think that sanding the glued up top or back is s opposed to an ~8" piece which is a limiting factor with the 13"
> Mike


These guys had them for 1300 or so.. good guys 

http://www.brettwood.com/home

http://www.brettwood.com/general_woodworking_machinery?start=15


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## mikemcnerney (Jul 28, 2008)

*sander*

I am reluctant to use a open ended sander as I am concerned about deflection. I guessed I assumed a drum built like a thickness planer would be way more accurate. Busy bee does have an 18" craftex. Still hoping someone will pipe in who has experience with the busy bee stuff.
General & busy bee both have a 15% restocking charge if you are completly disatisfied with it, so I don't find that too bad.
Mike


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## YJMUJRSRV (Jul 17, 2007)

gone fishing


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## Lowtones (Mar 21, 2006)

My Brother has an open ended sander, unfortunately I don't know the make. He has had a lot of problems with it. Deflection being one. I bought a SuperMax 24" which is fixed on both ends and have been delighted with it. it was in the $2000 range. What I would like to mention is that they are drum sanders not thickness sanders. A misconception I once held. You need to take a thin cut or you will bog down and burn your wood. Mine has a load limiter so if you try to take too thick a pass it slows the feed down to a snails pace to save your wood. You can make many passes and use it like a planer but it is slow going. And don't underestimate the cost of the sandpaper. Use a crepe stick to clean it often. A roll doesn't go as far as you would think and costs a lot of money. Also if you don't cleanup your glued joints and decide to just sand excess glue off it will burn into the paper and then onto the piece you are sanding. And last but not least if you don't have a dust collector of some sort already, you will need to get one. If you are on a tight budget check out all the costs. Just my two cents worth.


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## YJMUJRSRV (Jul 17, 2007)

gone fishing


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## Jim DaddyO (Mar 20, 2009)

Lowtones sander works like a dream. That is from seeing it in action. I think his 2 cents are worth at least a nickel!!!! lol.


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## Lowtones (Mar 21, 2006)

Jim DaddyO said:


> Lowtones sander works like a dream. That is from seeing it in action. I think his 2 cents are worth at least a nickel!!!! lol.


Damn right it's worth a nickel. I was talking American currency. lol


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## mikemcnerney (Jul 28, 2008)

*test drove*

I tested the general 13" with 100 grit & it was accurate but like the man says it's not a thicknesser.
I tried the delta 18" open ended & there was a lot of deflection. I don't like it.
I then tried the craftex 18" & it was OK. Sometimes the wood would slip on the feed table. 
Right now I am leaning toward the general or the cheaper craftex 12"
Does anyone use a subtable with sandpaper on it?
Mike McNerney


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## Lowtones (Mar 21, 2006)

mikemcnerney said:


> I tested the general 13" with 100 grit & it was accurate but like the man says it's not a thicknesser.
> I tried the delta 18" open ended & there was a lot of deflection. I don't like it.
> I then tried the craftex 18" & it was OK. Sometimes the wood would slip on the feed table.
> Right now I am leaning toward the general or the cheaper craftex 12"
> ...



My SuperMax does.


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## Mike Potvin (Apr 30, 2009)

I have the 13" Craftex and its "OK". My main complaint is that the feed belt can be a little tricky to adjust so its occasionally possible to have the drive rollers turning and just slipping inside the belt.

You absolutely MUST have a dust collector!

Mike


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## YJMUJRSRV (Jul 17, 2007)

gone fishing


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## Hypno Toad (Aug 1, 2009)

$1300!?

I bought a Ryobi portable thickness planer for $275, I think you're getting ripped off. Wy not just get a thickness planer, why do you want a sander?


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## Lowtones (Mar 21, 2006)

Hypno Toad said:


> $1300!?
> 
> I bought a Ryobi portable thickness planer for $275, I think you're getting ripped off. Wy not just get a thickness planer, why do you want a sander?



Well if you work with figured wood you can only go so far with a planer because of tear out. I have both and they certainly both have their place and use in the shop. As far a price goes, I guess it just depends what you want. That usually depends on what you expect from it and how much you are going to use it.


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## YJMUJRSRV (Jul 17, 2007)

gone fishing


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## Lowtones (Mar 21, 2006)

YJMUJRSRV said:


> Its kinda funny how some people here do not understand nor stop to think about what will happen to figured and/or thin stock in a planer ...
> 
> The guys on here talking thickness planers are not intending to mill stock with it. Its to finish delicate, thin and figured materials. Still we'll get another 4 people going "why dont you just use a planer?" ... we're making guitars not shelves with home depot wood.
> 
> Just put your brazilian backs thru a planer .... yeah then glue the splinters back together and you're all done! After that you can run your frogs egg maple thru for a final pass!


I don't know how wide a piece most planers will handle, but mine will handle only 15 inches. That's enough to do an electric solid body but I like to put the entire piece through the Sander after glue up. It can accomodate up to 25 inches of width. Good luck affording a planer that you can put the front or back of an accoustic or hollow body through.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Lowtones said:


> Good luck affording a planer that you can put the front or back of an acoustic or hollow body through.


Most bigger shops have a thickness sander or want one.... the home guy can generally get by with out one. I just don't have the room for one. It would save me hours sanding cabinet doors etc.


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## Lowtones (Mar 21, 2006)

shoretyus said:


> Most bigger shops have a thickness sander or want one.... the home guy can generally get by with out one. I just don't have the room for one. It would save me hours sanding cabinet doors etc.


I hear ya. I spent many many hours in the past doing much of my sanding with a belt sander. That was before having either a planer or a sander. Then came the planer. I thought I was in heaven. Then I started working with mostly figured Maple. The planer is still good to a point but you have to clean it up with a sander of some sort. And that's just for the glue up. Once I carve the top, it's all hand sanding after that. That's where you will find out there is a hell of difference in different makes of sand paper. I buy all of my sandpaper at Moffit & Powell. The stuff they have comes from Switzerland. It's awesome. All the really fine wet sanding paper I buy from from Sherwin Wiliams Auto Paint store.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Of course there is always the Stroke Sander..... I want one of them too...


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## Lab123 (May 27, 2007)

I have a 12" thickness planer and a delta X open end thickness sander....when building acoustic guitars you really need both...I use a thickness planer to get the plates close to the final thickness .Glue them together and finish off with the thickness sander....Thickness planers can really do some serious damage on your sides and backs.....Glue can be a problem on the drum sandpaper but can be avoided if you use cabinet scrapers to remove excess glue and then put it through the thickness sander....If the thickness sander is set up properly you should get the tops and backs even,if you are are not getting a uniform thickness just flip over the plate and run it through again a couple of times without adjusting the height....They are both great tools if you use them for what they were intended for. Larry


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

A cabinet scraper is one of my best friends ...one if the best tools ever for cheap.


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## geezer (Apr 30, 2008)

I've never owned a drum sander but most of them seem underpowered and frustrating to use.I bought a used stroke sander about 10 yrs. ago and other than taking up alot of space ,feel I got the most bang for the buck.If I could have afforded it, I would have bought a widebelt sander.I worked for a shop once in Edmonton that had an old(late 1800's) triple drum sander with a 7.5 h.p. motor on each drum.It would sand 4' wide and could flatten out entry doors in a pass or 2.Probably overkill for guitars though.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

geezer said:


> I've never owned a drum sander but most of them seem underpowered and frustrating to use.I bought a used stroke sander about 10 yrs. ago and other than taking up alot of space ,feel I got the most bang for


I was involved in a shop where the guy bought a 1922 double stroke sander. The thing was HUGE... had a 10 hp motor on it. It took a 29 ' belt. It took me 1 1/2 days to come-a-long it across the shop floor.


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## geezer (Apr 30, 2008)

The stroke sander I have is Italian(no brand name on it)and only 4 h.p..Luckily it all came apart into pc's.It's open ended so I can sand up to about 14'(that is if the wall wasn't in the way).


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## YJMUJRSRV (Jul 17, 2007)

gone fishing


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## geezer (Apr 30, 2008)

I have a 12" Makita planer, and with a new set of knives, have surfaced lots of figured maple with a fairly high success rate.On thin pc's I stick them to a carrier board with carpet tape(to minimize the chance of them crumbling.)Of course what the hell do I know,I make furniture not guitars.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

geezer said:


> I have a 12" Makita planer, and with a new set of knives, have surfaced lots of figured maple with a fairly high success rate.On thin pc's I stick them to a carrier board with carpet tape(to minimize the chance of them crumbling.)Of course what the hell do I know,I make furniture not guitars.


The Makita is an exceptional planer for the finish it can do. You just don't want to replace the rubber rollers... easier to buy a new machine. I know a few that have them ,, or had.. 

I have spent $ 6 on my planer since 88'.. 

YJMUJRSRV.... I need to learn... send some of that wood up here... kkjuw


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## Mike Potvin (Apr 30, 2009)

I just wanted to post a quick update on my previous post about the Craftex 13" drum sander. I was never totally happy with it as I mentioned. I had a small issue so I took it in to Busy Bee. While I was there I asked them to go over it with a fine tooth comb and set up up for me (I did the original setup out of the crate). They noticed that the drum was not quite parallel to the table. They adjusted it and tested it. After a few passes it went out of alignment again. To make a long story short, they swapped it for another and now I'm really happy. This thing works like a charm!

Mike


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Did you replace it with the same brand? You have to be careful with the import stuff. It has the looks but sometimes is a bit off. My shaper has a really nice adjustable fence that will never be parallel. I end up making jigs for it. 

My jointer gave me grief for a long time too. It was fine when I brought it home. After awhile I was having a hard time getting a good glue joint. It took me a year to figure out that the beds had warped (dished) ... in all but one spot. The fence has to be in one place to get a good glue joint. Not worth the money to try and get it reground.


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## Mike Potvin (Apr 30, 2009)

shoretyus said:


> Did you replace it with the same brand?


Yes, they swapped it under warranty. It was replaced with a refurbished unit, but I would rather have one that was just completely rebuilt and tuned than a new one out of the crate. I still get the balance of the 2 year warranty on the replacement.



shoretyus said:


> You have to be careful with the import stuff.


True. Some are great, others not so much. There seems to be a huge difference between Korean and Chinese made tools. Busy Bee carries both and its not always easy to tell which is which.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

True. Some are great, others not so much. There seems to be a huge difference between Korean and Chinese made tools. Busy Bee carries both and its not always easy to tell which is which.[/QUOTE]

Gee what happened to Tiawan?


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## JCM50 (Oct 5, 2011)

Mike Potvin said:


> I just wanted to post a quick update on my previous post about the Craftex 13" drum sander. I was never totally happy with it as I mentioned. I had a small issue so I took it in to Busy Bee. While I was there I asked them to go over it with a fine tooth comb and set up up for me (I did the original setup out of the crate). They noticed that the drum was not quite parallel to the table. They adjusted it and tested it. After a few passes it went out of alignment again. To make a long story short, they swapped it for another and now I'm really happy. This thing works like a charm!
> 
> Mike


I have the CT125 13" Drum Sander from Craftex and love it. 

After the initial setup, I've had no issues with the unit. You will need a dedicated electrical circuit for it. The dust collection is very good and after 1 year, the only adjustment I've had to do is re-tension the conveyor belt. 

During the setup, I had questions and they were very helpful.


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## Mike Potvin (Apr 30, 2009)

Mine is still chugging away, although these days I really only use it to thin headplates and binding strips.

Mike


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## JCM50 (Oct 5, 2011)

Mike Potvin said:


> Mine is still chugging away, although these days I really only use it to thin headplates and binding strips.
> 
> Mike


I use mine a lot. I like to get at least one pass of a glued up body blank to get the surface as flat as possible. 

Mike - you from Ottawa? If so, we should meet up!


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## Mike Potvin (Apr 30, 2009)

JCM50 said:


> Mike - you from Ottawa? If so, we should meet up!


You bet. We've probably passed each other at one of the lumber yards!


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