drum sander on cabinet doors?
#9
I have several cabinet doors that need some final clean up and I'm wondering if a drum sander would work well to make quick work of doing some pre-sanding (so to speak) before final sanding with a ROS.
I'm looking to clean up the boards of marks, glue squeez-out, and level any minor unevenness in the joints between rails and styles.
(these are flat panel, shaker style so the panel will not be engaged by the sander, but are already pre-finished).
I've been using a cabinet scraper and while I enjoy the process (I actually do!) I'm wanting to get these doors finished and hung in the kitchen almost as much as my wife does.
I suppose that while a drum sander should do well on the styles that it will leave me with a lot of cross grain sanding marks to remove on the rails.
I don't have a drum sander, but I might know someone who does.
Anyone ever do this? Does it work and is it worth the time save to then spend a little more sanding the rails?
Ray
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#10
Yes, been there. Quit doing it because of the cross scratches on the rails.

My drum sander wasn't easy to switch grits all the time. Easier and faster to just pick up the 6" ROS and sand them. I start with 80, then jump to 150.
Steve

Missouri






 
The Revos apparently are designed to clamp railroad ties and pull together horrifically prepared joints
WaterlooMark 02/9/2020








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#11
(05-12-2020, 01:45 PM)DogwoodTales Wrote: Anyone ever do this? Does it work and is it worth the time save to then spend a little more sanding the rails?

I did once. My opinion: it works. The time thing, I'm less certain. If that squeeze out is PVA, you will want to get as much off as possible before sticking the door into the sander. The PVA will clog the belts, and then they leave a burn streak across your door...the belt might be saved with some work, but I quit trying and just replace them. The time thing: I've found a DS leaves pretty deep scratches, and it takes some time to work them down. That may be because I only use coarser grits ( normally run 120, and never go higher than 150...the fine grits clog to easily), or it just might be the nature of the tool. Given you have to go somewhere else to use one, you might want to try and then form your own opinion...but to me it's pretty much a wash up (at best). But as they say, YMMV.
I started with absolutely nothing. Now, thanks to years of hard work, careful planning, and perseverance, I find I still have most of it left.
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#12
If the panels are flat, I don't see why a random orbital sander would not be sufficient.  That is what I used for shaker style doors a while back. They  got painted so that might hide something, but the doors looked fine before paint in my opinion. 

My opinion:  No matter what size wide belt sander you buy there will be a point in the future where you will have wished you had ordered the next size larger.  
Big Grin

The 51" sander will probably save you from buyers' regret. 

https://www.elitemetaltools.com/tool-sho...?sku=G9980

Under $22,000.00 (plus freight).


[Image: g9980_det1-df66d829f7ad9d56d918b230f1225...k=lSgjOs0d]
No animals were injured or killed in the production of this post.
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#13
That thing would be nice, but would be the only stationary tool I could fit in my single car garage workshop.
Thanks to all for the replies ... and getting the idea out of my head 
Laugh
Maybe there's a market for a flat bed sander that sands like a ROS.
Ray
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#14
(05-12-2020, 03:03 PM)DogwoodTales Wrote: That thing would be nice, but would be the only stationary tool I could fit in my single car garage workshop.
Thanks to all for the replies ... and getting the idea out of my head 
Laugh
Maybe there's a market for a flat bed sander that sands like a ROS.

A stroke sander.
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#15
(05-12-2020, 01:45 PM)DogwoodTales Wrote: I have several cabinet doors that need some final clean up and I'm wondering if a drum sander would work well to make quick work of doing some pre-sanding (so to speak) before final sanding with a ROS.
I'm looking to clean up the boards of marks, glue squeez-out, and level any minor unevenness in the joints between rails and styles.
(these are flat panel, shaker style so the panel will not be engaged by the sander, but are already pre-finished).
I've been using a cabinet scraper and while I enjoy the process (I actually do!) I'm wanting to get these doors finished and hung in the kitchen almost as much as my wife does.
I suppose that while a drum sander should do well on the styles that it will leave me with a lot of cross grain sanding marks to remove on the rails.
I don't have a drum sander, but I might know someone who does.
Anyone ever do this? Does it work and is it worth the time save to then spend a little more sanding the rails?

I have 100 grit on my Performax 16/32, and that's all I ever have on it.  Pretty much everything I do goes through it.  I don't think I've ever had to do any more work with the ROS to get out cross grain scratches than I would have without it, because all the joints are as close to perfectly 'flat' as they can be when I'm finished with the drum sander.
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#16
Like some others, I've done it but don't anymore because of the cross grain scratches on the rails.  It didn't matter what grit I tried they were still there and required substantial effort to get rid of and on a couple I only found out they were still there after I tried putting finish on them.  That was the end of that experiment. And you will see them on some commercial cabinet doors that have been run through a wide belt sander, so even high end equipment isn't immune from the problem.   

So now I use a combination of techniques to flush the stile/rail joints.  I start with a hand plane to get them as flush as possible, switch to a cabinet scraper if needed, and then move on to the ROS.  However you do it it doesn't take many doors to remind me that the more time I spend getting the joints as perfect as possible before and during glue up is more than paid back after.  

John
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