Take the quiz: “What Power Tool Are You?”

Here’s me:

Funny - kinda right in a way… If you take it you can post your results on your blog or website. You can also just leave comments in the thread. If you have ideas for other quizzes let me know: gfrench@toolcrib.com.

Tags: power, tool, personality, quiz,, power, tool, quiz

If you’ve built any of these I’d appreciate your thoughts. If you prefer the metal/plastic collapsible kind let me know what brand and why. You can leave comments on this post or email me at gfrench@toolcrib.com.

The sections are as follows:
1) Celebrity Saw Horses
2) Wackiest Sawhorse
3) Best Sawhorse Idea I Couldn’t Find Plans For
4) Sometimes You Need a Mobile Carpenter Bench, Not a Sawhorse
5) Your Basic and Free Sawhorse Plans
6) Space Saving Sawhorses
7) Sawhorses for Sheet Goods
8) Sawhorses Etcetera

1) Celebrity Saw Horses:
If a woodworking celebrity designed it or uses it… it has to be good, right? Well, you’ll have to be the judge of that. I just thought it would be fun to break them out of the pack

Norm Abram’s Picnic Table and Saw Horses Why did they put the sawhorse and picnic table together? Who’s gonna pay 6 bucks for sawhorse plans? That’s more than the cost of materials! Anyways, there are folks who have built this style of sawhorse and love it. This is the only non-free plan I link to.

Roy Underhill’s Sawhorse Design (PDF) Underhill’s one of the original galoots. His sawhorse is solid and suitable for corded tool users too - it’s based on a sawhorse he found in his parents’ basement.

Chris Schwarz Sawbench
Chris Schwarz is the editor of Woodworking Magazine. He’s a big handtool aficionado too, a galoot if I understand correctly His Sawbench is well suited for hand tool users: Free Construction Drawings for the 2008 Sawbench.

Schwarz’s sawbench is similar to this Sawing Trestle plan from the 1900s.

2) Wackiest Sawhorse:
This is just a patent, so don’t take the idea and make millions from it. You’ll get sued. That said, it might be a good influence on your design if you’re crafty enough to figure out how to build one.

FIVE-LEGGED SAWHORSE

3) Best Sawhorse Idea I Couldn’t Find Plans For:
SawPony - shorter saw horses for when you want to put a foot or a leg up on the work you’re cutting to help hold it down. I guess you could just make shorter saw horse legs… Here’s where I read about them: show me your saw horses

4) Sometimes You Need a Mobile Carpenter Bench, Not a Sawhorse:
Are you using your sawhorses as mobile carpenter benches… setting up your chop saw on them, etc… It might be that you really need a mobile carpenter bench.

Mobile Carpenter’s Bench from Tim Carter

Or… maybe you just want to store more tools on your sawhorses. Check out these sweet sawhorses: Tool Tote Sawhorses.

5) Your Basic and Free Sawhorse Plans:
Sometimes vanilla is the best flavor. These sawhorses are straight ahead, no nonsense sawhorses that you will have for the next 25 years. So pick your plan carefully

The Cheapest, Easiest, Ugliest, Most Functional Saw Horse Known to Mankind

Simple Sawhorse

The Classic Sawhorse

The 14-Minute Sawhorse

the Ultimate Wood Sawhorse

wide topped sawhorses

a functional, strong and elegant sawhorse

The World’s Best $6 Sawhorse?

6) Space Saving Sawhorses:
Sometimes space is at a premium. These sawhorses will politely fold up or stack up and get out of the way when they’re not in use.

Knock-Down Sawhorses

Foldaway Vise Table & Sawhorse (PDF)

Stackable sawhorse plans

Sawhorse - Knockdown Workstation Accessories

7) Sawhorses for Sheet Goods:
Sometimes you need a little extra help with those sheet goods. These sawhorses will gladly and ably pull more than their own weight.

Sheet Rack

Knock-Down Sawhorse Cutting Grid

8) Sawhorses Etcetera:
I didn’t know which category to put these sawhorses in, but I knew I needed to include them. Here’s everything else that didn’t fit in the categories above.

chain saw sawing horse (pdf)

Replaceable Inserts Save Sawhorses

Saw Clydesdales

Other Resources:
Workshop Sawhorses = 29 plans with pics and everything
Any Sawhorse Plans?
Free Saw Horse Plans
Saw Horse Plans

Tags: free, sawhorse, plans,, free, saw, horse, plans

1) Dull Blade
A dull blade doesn’t move as quickly through the wood, thereby creating friction. Friction creates heat. You know the rest. Try sharpening your blade or buy a new one.

2) Blade Alignment with Miter Slot
If the blade is out of alignment with the miter slot you could have burning and other performance issues.
Squaring Your Miter Gauge the Right Way

3) Blade Parallel to Fence
If the blade’s not parallel to the fence you’ll get the burn, especially one side of the wood. Fixing this is fairly simple though.
Table Saw Alignment for $0.05?

4) Blade Bent or Warped
If your blade is bent or warped then it’s HIGHLY kickback prone. You should immediately replace it. Warping often happens when a saw blade is overheated, so if you’ve been having burn problems for awhile then you could be aggravating the problem
warped saw blade?

5) Blade Height
In one forum I read where a fellow kept getting burns on his cherry. The blade manufacturer suggested he raise the blade height and this worked in stopping the burn. Blade height affects the angle that the teeth hit the wood. Too low and you make your blade work too hard, causing friction.

6) Appropriate Blade for the Cut
Are you ripping with a cross cut blade? If you’re new to woodworking you might not even realize it’s happening… Make sure that your blade matches the kind of cut you’re making.

7) Dirty Blade
A dirty blade moves through your stock more slowly. This causes friction and burning. Clean your blades.
ToolCrib.com’s Ultimate Guide to Cleaning Saw Blades and Router Bits

8) Feed Rate Too Slow or Uneven
Those who are newer to woodworking may not realize that their table saws can usually accept a pretty high feed rate. If you’re stopping and starting to adjust your hold, or just moving the stock through very slowly you’re likely to get burn.

9) Warped Wood/Improperly Dried Lumber
Warped wood will bind, as will improperly dried lumber that releases as you cut it. Both instances can cause burn.

10) Splitter Misaligned or Missing
A splitter will help keep the wood from binding around the blade. This bind can cause friction and kickback.
When Kickback Calls… Six Favorite Table Saw Splitters

11) Arbor Flange Run Out
Arbor flange run out can be a bit of a larger project, but if you correct this issue you may see a big increase in performance.
How I Fixed my TS Arbor Flange Runout

Some Woods Prone to Table Saw Burn:
NOT that you should blame the wood, but it’s true, some woods are more prone to burning than others. Here are a few. Have you had experience with any others?

Cherry
Mahogany
Maple
Purple Heart

Highly recommended table saw tune up resource:
TLC for Your Table Saw This video from woodworker Craig Stevens gives you a great guide to tuning up your table saw, including corrections for blade burn. Sweet!

More Blade Burn Resources:
Wood Species and Table Saw Burn
How to Eliminate Saw Blade Burns
Bad burning on table saw cuts
What causes burn marks on the table saw
How I Fixed my TS Arbor Flange Runout
Table saw blade burning wood
Freud Fusion vs. Forrest WWII Blades: Which High End Blade is the Best?
Best Table Saw Miter Gauge: Incra vs. Osborne vs. Kreg

Tags: table, saw, burn,, wood, burn, in, table, saw,, blade, burning, wood

Check out Getting the Most Out of Your Benchtop or Contractor Table Saw for the heartwarming tale of woodworkers who put great fences on POS saws and got great performance from them.

A recent thread at Woodnet caught my attention though, as I’d never really realized what a contender the Rigid contractor saw is. One forum member asked for opinions comparing the Rigid 3650/60 to a Delta 36-979. Rigid came out the winner… by a nose.

Rigid TS3650: 6 Votes

Delta 36-979: 5 Votes

The saws are actually so close in quality (according to WoodNetters) that - if you’re considering one or the other - you should consider seeing them both in person before making your final decision. Here are a few bullet points that could help you decide too, based on what’s most important to you.

>> rigid has built in dust collection
>> delta dust collection is not great - asthmatics beware!
>> the rigid fence is a solid fence but doesn’t play well with other fences
>> delta works with the T2, Unifence and Biesemeyer fences
>> rigid has better built in casters
>> delta may have a higher resale value

Other Contractor Saw Resources:
Delta 36-979 10″ Left Tilt Contractor’s Saw (reviews from LumberJocks)
Ridgid TS3650 Tablesaw (review by Phil Bumbalough)
Getting the Most Out of Your Benchtop or Contractor Table Saw
$600 For New Contractor Saw: Bosch vs. Rigid vs. Grizzly vs. Jet (note that he went with the Rigid after all…)
A Table Saw Buying Guide: Benchtop vs Contractor vs Cabinet vs Hybrid

Tags: Rigid, 3650, vs., Delta, 36-979, contractor, saw

My inspiration for this post came from WoodNet’s Moving! Any suggestions?

First off, the only answer to the question “how do I move my woodshop?” is “IT DEPENDS.” I found a great list of depends by Allen Bookout over at SawmillCreek’s thread Shop moving question?:

It depends on what you already have.
It depends on who is paying for the move.
It depends on where you are moving to.
It depends on what kind of equipment you have to move.
It depends on how long the move is.
It depends on how physically fit you are.
It depends on your current financial situation.

In order to sort through all of these “depends” I’m going to outline the basic methods that I found listed in forums. Some of these you can mix and match. If you have any more ideas or experiences please include them in the comments!

Pack Your Own Pods
This isn’t intended to be an advertorial for pods, but I did notice more than a couple forum members describe good experiences with using them. Basically they drop of big storage units at your house that you load up and move when you’re ready. Another advantage is that they’re low to the ground and you won’t have to lift your tools. Pods are midway between DIY and pay someone to do it for you.

Some issues noted:
They have a weight limit that people at pods seemed reluctant to state. Plus you have to pack them evenly or they will have difficulty lifting and transporting them. One forum member mentioned laying down 3/4″ plywood on the floor to keep from punching holes with his heavy power tools. Also one guy at WoodNet had an issue with a Pod contractor who tried to load a pod on a truck with a non-standard vehicle. This ended up wrecking some of his stuff though the contractor ended up paying for it. Oh yeah - you’re still doing all the loading yourself here too

Hire a Moving Company
If your company’s paying for you to move then this is probably the best answer. I noted lots of folks offering great common sense advice like taking pictures of all your valuables before you move and talking to your insurance company before moving to make sure that everything is covered. Some folks described supervising the tool loading pretty carefully on both ends. Another note - be sure to tip these guys after they load up and after they unload.

Some issues noted:
This is probably the most expensive method of moving. For long hauls I saw prices as high as $14k to move a house + shop. If your company’s paying for it AND you don’t mind giving up control then this could be a good move for you.

Buy Heavy Duty Trailer and Sell It Afterwards
If you already have a truck as your primary vehicle you could consider purchasing a heavy duty trailer and selling it or even storing it afterwards. Many folks find such trailers HIGHLY useful for hauling wood, power tools and other assorted heavy items.

Some issues noted:
Reselling the trailer could be a hassle, as could storing it depending on where you live. Also, if you don’t have a truck then you should have already skipped to a different suggestion.

Sell Non-Essential Tools, Move the Shop Core and Purchase New Tools
I saw this suggestion a number of times… it seems that many woodworkers use moves as an opportunity to upgrade their woodshops. Basically, don’t move what you would soon upgrade or replace anyway. Sell what you want to replace before you move and tuck that money aside for upgrades once you’re settled.

Some issues noted:
This can add expense + sometimes you don’t really need to upgrade. If you’re not moving very far then it’s not quite as much of an issue.

Rental Truck with Lift Gate/Rental Truck + Rental Fork Lift
For the more DIY folks out there who like to have a little more control over the process consider renting a truck with a lift. Or a truck without a lift and a fork lift. OR a truck plus movers working on the side for extra cash. This method will probably be the cheapest all the way around because you’re taking more responsibility.

Some issues noted:
You’re doing all the work yourself - some lifting included. You will have to find, hire and manage the help yourself (if you hire people). Definitely check up with your insurance company on how to best cover your stuff during the move. And remember to tip well if you hire people - these are heavy tools we’re talking about here.

Have Your Tools Moved by Freight
I saw this mentioned only once by someone from Canada. He did it about 10 years ago. I’d say look into it, but I don’t have many details about it… Here’s a company that ships freight style (you crate it, we freight it).

Prepping Your Tools for the Move
Prep your tools for moving. Remember they may jostle some and those heavy motors could break off. I read of some folks crating tools with home-made crates and then attaching the crates to the truck bed. Others simply removed the add-ons and added a coat of wax. I read about one guy who simply rolled his power tools onto the moving truck last and hit the road.

Layout Your New Shop Before You Move In
Think hard about shop layout before you start unloading your tools. You might even consider packing your tools with your new shop layout in mind. Why? That way you can pack so that you unload with your tools and equipment in the order you want to put them in your new shop. Pay careful attention to your dust collection duct work!

Woodshop Tool Moving Resources:
Moving! Any suggestions? (WoodNet)
Shop moving question? (Sawmill Creek)
Question about moving vans (Sawmill Creek)

Tags: Moving, Your, Woodshop:, How, to, Move, Your, Woodworking, Power, Tools

Question: looking to tear down a brick fireplace in which I need to save and reuse the brick, also plan on tearing out some on floor tile. which tool do I use, an rotary air hammer…which model do you recommend…would like to keep below $350. Please Help. Thanks

If you already have an air compressor then an air hammer will be your best bet. They are relatively inexpensive…

Check out the Porter Cable Pneumatic Hammer for example:

$42.05 shipped.

There are models as low as 14$.

I think the Fein Multimaster would work well for you too, though it’s getting well out of your price range if you get one with “all the fixins”. I wrote about it first here: Ceramic Tile Removal Tools. A FMM with a more basic set up falls below your target price.

Fein MultiMaster FMM 250Q

$309.00 shipped.

I think a rotary hammer may be a bit more tool than you need, though I suppose that depends on the quality and age of the mortar. I’ve never done this kind of work, but I’d say that if you’re set on a rotary hammer that you first consider renting one because it’s not going to be as versatile a tool as the Fein MultiMaster.

It’s sort of like the old router vs. shaper debate - if you were tearing out brick every day I’d suggest something a little more industrial. In your case I think you’ll be fine with a tool with less muscle and more versatility.

If you’re still set on getting a rotary hammer then these look like good models:
Bosch 11255VSR BULLDOG Xtreme 1-Inch SDS-plus D-Handle Rotary Hammer

$228.98 shipped

Makita HR2455X2 1-Inch D-Handle SDS Rotary Hammer 4-1/2-Inch Angle Grinder Combo Kit

$249.25 shipped

Here are some resources for removing bricks and keeping them salvageable:
how do I remove brick I want to reuse?
My son and I removed about 350 sq ft of brick off the house when I put on the kitchen addition. We used a compressor and a pneumatic hammer on most of it. Just put the hammer on the mortar joints and pulled the trigger. The bricks popped off, intack. When we got close to the edge we used a grinder to make the transition as you need to take out a weave pattern to tie in the new section. One person did the removal, the other cleaned off any mortar left on the brick and stacked them. We saved at least 95% of them.
read more (from the GardeWeb.com)

How do you remove mortar off of brick?
We use Muriatic Acid mixed with water 1:10. Thats 1 part muriatic acid to 10 parts water… (this is a very dangerous chemical! research thoroughly before using it).
read more

Demolition Best Practices
“When demolishing brick structures, work along the mortar joints and ease the bricks apart cleanly.”
read more

Chipping tile mortar an excellent forum thread.

I hope this helps, and if you have more questions or if anyone else has insight please let me know in the comments.
-G

Tags: Best, Tool, for, Brick, Removal, and, Salvage

Here’s the question as it appeared recently in WoodNet:

Looking long range I would like to know what the advantages or disadvantages are between a router in a table with a lift and a shaper. I see the prices of router table components plus routers like the PC 7518 and can’t help but wonder if it would not be better to just save up for a shaper instead of trying to make a router into a shaper.

My objective would be to build kitchen doors and drawer fronts and what ever other hobby projects come down the line.

As in all “what tool should I buy” questions it comes back to usage. In this case - kitchen doors, drawer fronts and other hobby projects. The short and sweet answer is he should get a router - it’s ultimately more versatile than a shaper could ever be. The long answer is, of course, it depends

Routermeister Pat Warner describes shapers this way:
“They are designed for all-day door, drawer or molding operations. Duty cycles are measured in “shifts” not minutes. They are production animals. Their cutters are big (way over 2″ in diameter), expensive and last for hours. The set ups are not particularly difficult but once in “spec” they are not touched for the length of run. Although capable of experimental work, shapers are usually set up for routine big jobs of long duration.”

Warner says this about routers:
“Router tables give up production for versatility. Router tables are easy to fixture, and they fill an important need for a wide range of cabinet and furniture responsibilities. They are great for short run solutions but don’t expect shaper performance from one.”

from ROUTER OR SHAPER? by Pat Warner

Here are some thoughts from various woodworking forums:
“If your building cabinet doors or doing anything in volume, the shaper is the way to go. For building furniture, a router table is perfect.”
-Jokerbird (WN)

“If you are going to spend more than $600 on a router setup for shaper work, I say get a shaper.”
-AZ Engineer (WN)

“I have a small pro shop and I could not live without either one. I accomplish many things on my shaper: tenoning up to 1-1/2″ long, rabbits, crown (up to 5″), coves (up to 5″), styles and rails, curved stock, pattern shaping, every kind of profile you can think of plus use of ALL of my router bits (1/2″).”
-Paul B. Cresti (SMC)

“After years of building the “perfect router table,” I finally discovered that a router collet on the shaper outperformed anything I could build. Vibration is eliminated with a cast iron machine, and adjustments come quick and easy.”
from WoodWeb

“There’s very little a shaper can do that you can’t duplicate with a router table. Shapers are used more often in industrial woodworking shops, and I do almost all my machining of wood with a really good, well-built router table. The one thing a shaper has going for it is that it comes with a split fence, but you can build that into your router table design without much hassle.”
Rick White (woodworking.com)

“The best part is that at around $1100 the Steel City shaper is half the price of the delta and not much more than the little jet. In fact, what finally pushed me into the purchase is that when I realized that after spending the same amount of money to get the ultimate router table setup then it would still not be as good as the shaper.”
Tom Jones III (SMC)

Be watching for a guide to buying shapers… the more I learn about them the more interested I get!

Shaper vs. Router Resources:
Shaper Which One? (SMC)
Router table vs shaper (SMC)
Router Table Versus Shaper
Shaper versus router? (woodweb)
Shaper versus router?
Router Table vs. Shaper. Is a 1.5HP shaper enough?

Our Router Resources
Best Router for Beginning Woodworker?
ToolCrib.com’s Ultimate Guide to Free Router Table Plans
Best Router Bits: Whiteside vs. Freud vs. Eagle America and MORE
Making the Router Decision: Horsepower vs. Rated Amperage
A Router Buying Guide for the First Time Router Buyer

Tags: Shaper, vs., Router

Here’s what’s in this post:

>> Top 5 Reasons to Clean Your Saw Blades and Router Bits
>>WARNING: Don’t Use Oven Cleaner or ANY Other Caustics/Lye-Based Cleaners
>>Recommended Saw Blade and Bit Cleaning Products
>>Recommended Saw Blade and Bit Cleaning Tools
>>Interesting and Useful Cleaning System
>>Saw Blade Cleaning Resources

Top 5 Reasons to Clean Your Saw Blades and Router Bits
Just incase you’re not convinced that cleaning your blades is worth the time… OR if you already clean your blades regularly and just need 5 reasons to pat yourself on the back… here are the top 5 reasons to clean your saw blades and router bits.

1) Pitchy coating increases friction and therefore heat.
2) Pitchy coating increases insulation on blade, making it retain heat.
3) Increased heat accelerates the dulling process
4) Dirty blades “act” dull and require more push through force
5) Cleaning your saw blades saves money over replacing them

(From Tom Hintz’s Cleaning Circular Saw Blades)

WARNING: Don’t Use Oven Cleaner or ANY Other Caustics/Lye-Based Cleaners
In reading through forum threads I found lots of folks who still use oven spray cleaner. Then there are lots of folks who say don’t use it, but don’t have any proof or studies to back up their reasoning. Then there’s Freud’s “Charles McCracken.”

Here’s why he recommends in Tom Hintz’s article that you never use oven cleaner (especially on carbide tipped blades):
“These attack the binder in the carbide and, on Freud blades, they also deteriorate the special tri-metal brazing we use. This can cause carbide or brazing failure and could lead to injury.”

Here’s a link to pictures that Mr. McCracken posted in SawmillCreek showing what a caustic cleaner can do to the surface of a blade after immersion for 24 hours. Oven cleaner is bad for your saw blades and could deteriorate them to the point that they are dangerous for you to use. DON’T DO IT!

Recommended Saw Blade and Bit Cleaning Products
I read through numerous forums and articles to bring you the following list. It’s far from exhaustive, but it’s a great place to start. Note that some of the ideas are a little… on the creative side. Boiling your blades to loosen pitch, for example. Or the guy who soaks them in coffee overnight. Anyways, here are the cleaning solutions I found and the number of folks who suggested or recommended them.

Simple Green: 14 Recommendations

from simple green’s site:
“We do not recommend long-term soaking of Carbide blades in Simple Green. Long-term exposure like this can possibly cause cobalt leaching that will, in turn, affect the integrity or carbide. Shorter term “spray/wipe/rinse” applications do not create that kind of problem.”

CMT 2050: 5 Recommendations

Kerosene: 5 Recommendations
(Kerosene mentioned as a cleaning option by both Forrest and Freud, though not the sole cleaning option)

Woodcraft brand Resin Remover: 4 Recommendations

Great description of using Resin Remover to clean blades from Vanguard >>

409: 3 Recommendations

Washing soda: 3 Recommendations

Other Saw Blade Cleaning Chemicals and Techniques
-Orange Oil
-Goop
-TSP
-T-9 bit and blade cleaner
-”I use a 5 gallon bucket w/ 1/2″ of water/amonia 1 to 3 mix…” Joe Scarfo from SMC
- boil them in an electric frying pan: Put water in it an turn it on then soak the blade awhile,a quick scrub with a brass kitchen brush and usually its clean. threecreeks3 from Rigid Forum
- DNA (denatured alcohol)
- “I put some coffee in a pan place the blade in the pan and let it set overnight.” Tom W from the Rigid Forum

Recommended Saw Blade and Bit Cleaning Tools
Ideally you’re only having to brush away residue rather than apply elbow grease. Here are the top tools I found mentioned:

>>Plastic-brisled brush or tooth brush
>>Plastic scraper
>>Cloth
>>5-Gallon Bucket
>>Brass-bristled brush (it could be argued that if you have to use brass then you’re not using the right cleaner… but I saw brass mentioned frequently so I added it to the list.)

Post-Cleaning Treatment
Once your blade is cleaned you need to dry it well and coat it with WD-40. I also read someone suggest you rub paste wax on them after drying. Yet another woodworker suggested drying the blades with compressed air and then giving it the WD-40 treatment.

Interesting and Useful Cleaning System
I read this idea and had to put it in wholesale. This guy has thought cleaning all the way through. Here goes:

“What I use is a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. If you put a 10″ blade in the bucket (with nothing in there) you’ll see the blade fits in the bottom with only a little bit of room to spare. Get one of those refill bottles of a cleaner you like, 409, Simple Green, etc. and then pour it in the bucket. Now get some marbles or something else that doesn’t float to keep your blade from sitting directly on the bottom. The marbles also make it easy to get the blade out of the bucket, by giving you some room to stick a finger through the arbor hole.

When you’re done, put the lid on the bucket and store it away. In this way you can keep reusing the solution. Throw the solution away when it doesn’t seem to be working anymore, or there’s too much gunk in the bucket. I’ve been using 409 with good results. You can also use this bucket of cleaner for router and drill bits as well.”
Michael Faurot - SMC

Saw Blade Cleaning Resources Used in Writing this Post:
Cleaning Circular Saw Blades from Tom Hintz
Cleaning Blades from Vanguard
Saw Blade Savvy (from Industrial Strength Woodworking)
Cleaning Circular Saw Blades from WoodCraft

saw blade build-up SMC
What do you use to clean your table saw blades? LumberJocks
Saw Blade Cleaning SMC
Cleaning Resinous Buildup from Table Saw Blade Rigid Forum
Carbide and Lye (Oven Cleaner) - Problems? SMC
Cleaning Bandmill Blades

Tags: how, to, clean, saw, blades,, how, to, clean, router, bits

You should base your choice in size and type on the size and quality of material you’re sanding. The other main consideration is whether or not you’re running a production shop… We’re going to focus mainly on non-production shop drum sanders here and it’s my understanding that a production shop might just be better off with a wide belt sander.

Open-Ended Drum Sanders
Open ended drum sanders give you more room to maneuver your boards, thus making it more versatile with a smaller footprint. The drawback is that you lose out on stiffness of the machine AND you will more than likely have to run your material through twice to sand both sides.

Closed-End Drum Sanders
Closed end drum sanders are typically wider. They’re designed for quicker sanding of large pieces of material. Since it is wider you will be more efficient at sanding and work at roughly twice the rate of open-ended drum sanders.

Double-Drum Sanders
The double drum sander has twice as much sand paper as a standard drum sander and therefore doesn’t need to have the paper changed as often. Plus you can have two different grades of paper for two-stage sanding.

Widths Range from 10″-37″+
In my research I found drum sanders ranging from 10″ all the way up to 37″+. I came across one woodworker who suggested that at 16″ the extreme hobbyist woodworker should be fine, and at 24″ you’ll never run out of machine.

Dust Collection
Because of the amount of dust you kick up dust collection should be a major consideration. Consider buying or making a cyclone dust collector, because your sander’s going to do a number on your lungs if you’re not protecting yourself.

Variable Feed Rate
Deep scratches, snipe and burning - a drum sander can really ruin a great piece of wood if you’re not careful. A variable speed rate gives you more control and allows you to better adjust to various grits of sand paper.

Sandpaper Attachment Methods
There are two modes of attaching sandpaper to the drums - peel and stick and hook and loop. Hook and loop is preferable, especially for the hobbyist woodworker - you can remove the sandpaper before its used up. Peel and stick sandpaper has adhesive on the back. When you remove it from the drum the sandpaper is ruined.

Top Drum Sanders by Size
Now that we’ve gone over some of the more crucial things to look for in drum sanders, here are a few top models, organized by size. I selected these based on their prominence in forums as well as the reviews they’ve gotten from experts.

12″ and under Drum Sander
Grizzly G0459 12″ Baby Drum Sander

Grizzly Baby drum sander G0459 (SawmillCreek)

Jet 628900 Mini 10-Inch 1 Horsepower Benchtop Drum Sander, 115-Volt 1 Phase

18″ and under Drum Sander
JET 629004K 16-32 Plus 16-Inch 1-1/2 Horsepower Open Stand Drum Sander, 110-Volt 1 Phase

JET 16-32 Plus Drum Sander Review by Tom Hintz

Delta 31-255X X5 18-Inch 1-1/2 Horsepower Drum Sander, 120-Volt 1 Phase

Delta 18-36 drum sander-Mini review

25″ and UNDER Drum Sander
Grizzly G1066R 24″ Drum Sander

25″ and OVER Drum Sander
Powermatic 1791290 Model DDS-225 25-Inch Drum Sander

Grizzly G0450 37″ Drum Sander, 15 HP 3-Phase

More Drum Sander Resources:
What drum sander to buy LumberJocks
Drum Sander SawmillCreek
Drum sander - advise LumberJocks
Seeking Advice on Thickness Sanders LumberJocks
drum sander buying guide
Tool Buying - My Mistakes and Otherwise

Tags: Drum, Sander, Buying, Guide

Paul B . Cresti:
“Festool stuff is nice but as anything you can live without them and still produce great work…..but they sure are fun to use and cool to own”

jason lambert:
“Life’s too short for bad tools…”

Of course, there’s an equal and opposing force. This quote, from the same thread, sums up the opposition:

Cliff Rohrabacher:
“I haven’t found any interest in anything they make adequate to pay the prices they want.”

Well, we have yet to have a Festool-only blog post here at ToolCrib, so here it is. I went through and counted up responses to Which Festool tool could you not live without so that those of you who are already converts know which tools to buy next. It also gives the non-converts an opportunity to cluck about the high prices As for me I’m just waiting for the iPod/Festool cross over tool

Top 5 Festool Tools:
1) Vacuum CT-22: 11 Votes

2) Festool Sanders: 11 Votes Total
–Ro150: 2 Votes
–RO125: 1 Vote
–Deltex DX 93: 1 Vote

3) Festool Domino: 7 Votes

4) MFT Multi Function Table: 5 Votes

5) Plunge Saw TS55: 4 Votes

Honorable Mention:
12v drill/driver: 2 Votes

Routers: 1 Vote

People Who Don’t/Won’t Ever Have Festool:
don’t use festool: 5 Votes

Note that a couple different people said that they didn’t like Festool’s jigsaw…

Festool has figured in some previous articles on the ToolCrib blog. Here’s how they did:
Festool placed 2nd in Top 5 Most Popular Random Orbit Sanders.
Festool placed 3rd in The 11 Top Woodworking Power Tools That Give 100% Satisfaction or Better
Festool placed 5th in Top 5 Woodworking Tool Companies with the Best Customer Service
Festool placed 7th in The Battle of the Power Tool Brands TOP TEN

Tags: best, festool, tools,, what, festool, to, buy