Do I need a belt sander

[Tim Douglass]

Considering that I have worn out at least one belt sander and wouldn't even consider a shop without one I think you are completely out to lunch.

That said, what the OP needs is to be able to true up his panels, I assume some that are already glued up, otherwise he is better off to try to improve the alignment on future panels to eliminate the need for either sanding *or* planing. Cauls are the obvious (to me) answer for future panels. For truing existing ones the belt sander works well, the main problem is that they are very aggressive. I have overcome that in part by using finer grits than seem reasonable. For a glued-up furniture type panel I wouldn't use anything coarser than

150. It works slower and doesn't create the problems you get with coarse grits. Might even go a lot finer than that.

If you want to plane, fine. It will probably give you a better surface than sanding once you master planing. I haven't and probably won't ever get real good at it because I don't have the time to spend in the shop. I don't care what the experts say, it is a challenge to learn how to do a good job with a hand plane.

Tim Douglass

[GARY]

I suppose the OP is referring to the glued edges being uneven from boards that aren't flat, or have some curvature. Without a joiner or planer, I have the same problem sometimes.

Gary

[Pops]

Wow, didn't mean to start such a ruckus. You hit the nail on the head (I have problems with that too!). I need to get better at the gluing process. I have both a jointer and planer. This last set of glue-ups were by far the best but still off a bit.

What are cauls? If they are the answer (from your opinion) I would be interested in understanding what you are referring to.

thanks to you and everyone who has offered great advice.

[Tim Douglass]

Pieces clamped across the glue-up to hold it flat. Every foot or so you put two *straight* 2x2 pieces (hard and stiff is best) across the panel, one above and one below, and use clamps to squeeze them down tight. Then you pull the pieces together with your pipe clamps (or Bessys for the elite). If all pieces are the same thickness and have good edges you should get a near perfect panel. To prevent your cauls from becoming one with your panel (interesting effect, but not terribly useful) put a layer or two of that 2" wide packing tape on them, you know, the stuff that looks like really wide scotch tape.

Good luck!

Tim Douglass

[dave martin]

Of course you need a portable belt sander!

One of the best accidental buys I ever made was for a portable belt sander that can be placed on its back & thereby function as a small, fixed belt sander.

I had the sander for maybe a dozen years and didn't use it very much until I tried setting it upside-down on the bench (with the belt pointing up.)

This mode of operation greatly eases the aggressiveness problem. It is MUCH easier to precisely move the work over the sander rather than visa-versa.

I store the sander on the wall with its belt facing out; in this mode it works great as a grinder as well as for occasional sanding.

I now use the belt sander a lot in one of its fixed modes. It has become one of my essential machines.

I lock its trigger on & use an external switched outlet for power.

[Howard Ruttan]

A ruckus is good. A ruckus is the wRECk. At least this thread isn't a troll trap.

[Silvan]

Yeah, well, some day, some day indeed. Not anytime soon though, I'm afraid, unless Steve has an ugly one he wants to sell me cheeeeap. :)

[Frank Shute]

I always seem to get some misalignment too no matter how carefully I go even with panel clamps.

What I use to rectify matters is a no.80 Stanley scraper plane. They're cheap tools but with a bit of fettling they're good for all sorts of purposes including removing glue ooze on your panels.

A few strokes with the scraper plane, maybe a bit of mucking around with a hand scraper and a bit of light sanding will do the trick. Your panel probably wont be dead flat but it will be good enough.

If the misalignment is much greater then you'll have to get a bench plane out.

I'm doing a built-in desk ATM with which I used that technique & the results are acceptable. Unfinished pics at:

to answer your question; I think you can get away without a belt sander, I'm quite happy with my ROS and if I wasn't lazy I could probably get away without that too.

[Michael]

That's a nice looking desk. What's your plan for the area under the stairs?

Michael

[Frank Shute]

There's a sort of gallery with a couple of drawers there now. I'm going to the job today to start building some shelves above the desk.

I'm hoping to have it all finished in a couple of weeks time. I'll then take some more pictures & post a link on the wreck.

[Pops]

Great looking desk.

I guess the next long thread is what type / brand of scraper to buy. I don't have one but from all the comments (not on just this thread) they are handy gadgets.

P> >

[Frank Shute]

Thanks a lot.

I'm really fond of my Stanley #80 (Is it the only Stanley tool worth buying? ;)

I honed the edge of mine before turning a burr and I also lapped the sole & put a bit of wax on it. It's invaluable for panels IMO:

hand scrapers I like Cliftons:

you live the other side of the pond, I'm afraid I don't know where you get them from.

There's a bit of an art to fettling and using them. Hopefully, somebody could provide you with a relevant link.

You'll need a burnisher too - loads of different makes of those but I believe Veritas make one; pretty sure they make card scrapers too but I haven't tried them. My impression of Veritas gear is that it's pretty good though & worth the bit extra.