If you could only have one, a thickness planer or drum sander which would you choose? 

That is a tough one. The planer is faster at removing material but can be limited in width- unless you are willing to spend big bucks. Also most bench top planers can’t get much thinner than between 1/4 to 3/16” without causing some species to split/shatter unless they have a helical head which can really jump up the price. 
 

Open end thickness sanders can do wider material, thinner material but are very slow removing material. 
 

I use my planer a lot more than my shop made thickness sander. 

Seems like the answer is heavily weighted depending on context.  What job does the tool need to do in your shop?

 

If I was making a table top, I'd want all of the stock the same thickness (thickness planer's job) before I glued it up.  After the glue up, I'd want to make the top flat and remove the glue (drum sander's job). 

 

In my tiny shop, I couldn't fit a wide drum sander.  My choice is kind of made because of that.  12" thickness planer is a lot easier to manage in a small space. 

 

In the grand scheme of things, I think of the thickness planer as a the silent partner to a jointer and table saw when it comes down to dimensioning lumber.  A jointer can get two faces plumb, the table saw gets one remaining face, and a thickness planer completes the quartet.

 

.40

 

Edited September 17, 20214 yr by forty_caliber

Hard to answer. I got the planer first and had done the job of the sander by hand for years. THEN wife got me the drum sander for Christmas. I use it for tops but also to size small pieces for boxes or dividers. It is hard to separate the two but I would also say the planer is most valuable. This is true especially is you use rough sawn lumber. Now if you do lots of tables or case work maybe not.

I agree with the others about purchasing the planer first.  For a temporary solution for a drum sander, you could rig something to use on the lathe.  A piece of 6" schedule 40 or thicker to make a drum sander.  To fill the pipe, use wood turned to fit inside interlayered with stiff stuff.  I think that may make it rigid enough to pass as a good drum sander until you can purchase one.  And, I would not turn the lathe any faster than 600 rpms while sanding.  

I have to agree. I would get the planer first. Being able to get all your stock to a uniform thickness is important. You can accomplish the surface sanding in other ways but you can’t really surface wood in the rough with a surface sander. 
Paul

Planer first.  Sander comes to play after the planer is used.

They are two completely different animals. If a person buys a drum sander and thinks they are going to use it like a planer they will very disappointed. Aside from that, from my experience and what I do, I use my planer 100 times more often than I do my drum sander. Do you have a good dust collector? It's nice to have with a planer but with a drum sander it's an absolute necessity to have good dust collection.

The planer will almost certainly get more use in most shops. Some years ago I bought a second hand DS from a colleague with no idea what I would do with it. It actually got a fair amount of use, but that declined over the years and I sold it I've since replaced it, but the new one has also seen very little use. They aren't finishing sanders, and it sometimes takes more work to clean the marks from a DS than those from a planer. Steve made an excellent point...they (DSs) produce mountains of very fine dust, and it takes a capable DC to catch it all and contain it.

The planer without a doubt.

 

I agree with all the above. I had a Performax that I used rarely, to the point it wasn't worth the real estate it took up in the shop, I sold it.

That's just me though, obviously I didn't think the original purchase of the sander all the way through.

Thanks everybody. Planer it is.

21 minutes ago, RustyFN said:

Thanks everybody. Planer it is.

Good choice Rusty, I remember when I was pondering the same thing before I had either, and I asked the same question of folks here as I recall. I had originally thought I was going to purchase the sander first, or just the sander, because I was thinking, heck it'll remove wood too right? So why not double duty it as a sander/planer, then as I learned more from the folks here just what the limits are of the sander, I realized the planer had to come first, because material removal was more important to me than sanding.

 

So, what kind of planer you looking to get?

I have to add one more piece of equipment for the things I build to make it three pieces of very important machines I want to have available in my shop all the time.

  I went to a wood working shop that has been going for about 70 years now and ask them the same question you asked about 22 years ago......Planer, joiner and an open ended drum sander only then they said drum sander and I guess they had not come along with the open ended models back then ?.... It really depends on what you want to make of yourself working with wood. My woodworking starts with the scroll saw and I know lots of guys that only have a scroll saw and make lots of things but I use lots of wood that has to be edge glued to be wide enough to start with so the three pieces of machinery after the usual wood working things and I would start with getting the planer first then the joiner then the drum sander.

This is the one I am looking at. I have their bench top joiner and really like it. The joiner also has the spiral cutting head with carbide cutters.

https://cutech.tools/collections/planer/products/40700h?variant=31617253638247

Thanks everybody for all of the advice and personal experience. I really appreciate it.

Rusty I noticed while looking it over it comes with hss bits and is up gradable to tungsten so do go with the better bits. 

I have seen this Cutech around and it seems to have good reviews.  Might be considering that to upgrade from my Ryobi 10 1/2 inch.  

12 hours ago, Smallpatch said:

Rusty I noticed while looking it over it comes with hss bits and is up gradable to tungsten so do go with the better bits. 

The link I posted should be with the carbide upgrade.

11 hours ago, Gunny said:

I have seen this Cutech around and it seems to have good reviews.  Might be considering that to upgrade from my Ryobi 10 1/2 inch.  

I have the joiner and it has worked very well. That is why I am looking at their planer.

I got the Cutech planer Friday. Unboxed it but didn’t have a chance to use it until today. Very nice. I planed down an old rough cedar board to make an album cover holder for my daughter. She belongs to a vynal group and everybody has a holder to hold up their now playing cover. I appreciate you all talking me into the planer. I can see now how it will get a lot more use than the drum sander. I sanded down the cutting board I made with my old Craftsman hand held 3” x 21” belt sander and it did a fine job.