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After spending many hours (mostly sharpening rather than pushing) planing down an ebony back from 4mm to 2mm, I really long for something easier and faster than the plane. A drum sander is out of the budget and no time to build one, so I was wondering about a ROS. Bosch makes a very nice one I can afford. How long (roughly) does it take to remove say 1.5mm off a very dense wood plate with 80 grit discs?

Thanks!

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I bet you could lick off that 1.2 mm faster.

But seriously, I find that sanding takes off a minimal about. a belt sander with 60 grit is one thing, but a ROS, I don't think it would really help.

MHO.

Thanks. I could get a belt sander, it's same money. Pity because I found the ros attractive for other jobs too, like final smoothing of the back or finish buffing.

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I thicknessed my first few guitars with a ROS. I bought some of those really aggressive metal sanding discs (equivalent of 40 grit, i believe) at Ace Hardware. It goes pretty fast, takes like 10-15 minutes per piece. You have move pretty evenly or you wont get a consistent thickness.

None of these sets were on ebony, though.

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-Marcus
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I have an old Bosch 6" ROS that has a reversible gear drive that goes from regular random orbit to non-slip direct drive.
In direct mode, it is aggressive, like a belt sander but with more control. You would be able to go through hardwood pretty quick. I'm sure that they still have this feature in some of their 6" models.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

I've used a heavy duty belt sander on furniture wood. Pretty difficult to really control the thicknessing. It might get you in the vicinity though. The other issue is dust control, especially on a wood such as Ebony.
There probably is a very good reason why many use a drum sander.

quitting the all hand tool approach Alex?
i have the bosch ROS on the mail and could try something like that when it arrives and let you know, but if you go that route you´ll have to think about dust collection and dust hazards. i have a drum sander i seldom use because that stuff gives me the creeps and i don´t want to spend the big money on another dust collection system (mine is severely under-powered). anyway, i don´t envy you planing ebony must be tough stuff...

good luck,
Miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

If you have drill press, the wagner safety plane will get you in the ball park pretty quickly.

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Matt Jacobs

"Don't tase me bro"

Sorry no drill press.

I love planing and all that but this set has been really annoying...1 minute of planing following by 5 of sharpening or something like that, when I am behind with my work and already do 12h days...

The Bosch GEX 125-150 AVE I was looking at seems to have quite an impressive dust extraction after looking at a few demos.

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Alexandru - I connect my sanders to a shopvac or my dust collector. Does a good job of keeping the dust at bay.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Alex (Marian), just joking. 12 hours day? talk about dedication...

re: dust, if i got this correctly the problem is not the bigger dust your shop vac or the bag can take, but the smaller (<1 micron?) particles that are really difficult to get rid of and that stay in the air for a long time.

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I'm afraid Ebony is tough on the old steel edges. I try to avoid the stuff as much as possible and wouldn't dream of using it for Back/Sides. I even find the stuff hard on the sinuses when using Plane and scraper, no abrasives.
HSS blades will give you a bit longer service but they take longer to get sharp. When I have a lot of Planing to do I sharpen 3 or 4 blades at the same time.

HHS (M2?) after-market blades will give you at least 2-3 times the planing time of "normal" blades. Sharpening time on diamond plates is, for me, about the same as other blades. Has anyone tried that new Veritas PM-V11 stuff yet? Supposedly 3-4 times the edge retention of A2 tool steel, up there with M4.

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

news to me... i´m curious, though. is it out yet?

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

For that price - I would go for a cheaper drill press and see if you can get the Wagner saf-t-planer - it will cost you about the same, even the knock off version of the saf-t-plane should work. I think it would work better than any of the sanders or hand planes. Follow it up with a scraper. I ran mine on a $40 drill press for quite a while, and if it weren't for the lack of a rack and pinion height adjustment, I would still be using it as a dedicated saf-t-plane drill press.

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It's this new idea from recent decades that everyone gets a participation award. - MUX

I'm using two planes simultaneously, one with M42 hss and the other A2. I agree the edge lasts for longer with the M42 and I think it is easier to sharpen too! I plan to get the new Veritas steel myself, I think they will have it in stock in October.

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Have you considered a toothing blade for your plane ? I recently planed a Macasser Eb. Back & sides using one on my Veritas smoother.
Cut across the grain with it mostly and it soon gets thinner, also try to learn to plane left handed so you don't end up as knackered ! ! You'll have muscles on your muscles.
Another tip is tiny bit of candle wax on the bottom of the plane, when I thicknesed the Mac. Eb. The plane sole was getting hot !
I'd really recommend one as an alternative to giving up on hand tools.

Peter

Thanks, I had the toothed blade on my wonder about list. I always thought it is more for handling difficult grain patterns rather than heavier stock removal and since I already use a Veritas at 50 degrees and a Mujingfang at 60 simultaneously (push pull) so I don't have tearout problems. A pity LV doesn't list a toothed blade from the new wonder steel yet.

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i´m starting to drool at that wunder-steel too. do i hear TAS?

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

I have a toothed blade for my Veritas LA jack. Used it once. I get much faster stock removal on difficult grained timber by planing cross-grain with an M2 blade sharpened to a crescent shape (i.e. planing in scrub plane mode) with a standard Stanley/Bailey #5 then finishing up long grain with a high angle plane (A2 blade) either with my 60 degree frog #6 or with the Veritas LA jack at 62 degrees. I definitely recommend the wax if you don't already use it.

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Trevor Gore, Luthier. Australian hand made acoustic guitars, classical guitars; custom guitar design and build; guitar design instruction.

http://www.goreguitars.com.au

I just picked up the new Bosch and I'm liking it a lot. Nice weight and nicely balanced. The dust collection is probably the best you will see of any ROS with out using a vacuum attachment. Not the best tool however for thicknessing. It might be a little difficult to get an even thickness. I have never really put in the time to really try and make a ROS work for that task. I suppose if you put in a little time and took frequent measurements, if anyone could make it work for them, it would be you could Alex. I would be inclined to go at it with 60 grit to start. Change paper as soon as it gets dull and finish up with a hand plane. If only you were a little closer, I'd lend you mine to practice. That Bosch does have nice weight for that task and with a "D" handle and the front handle you would have pretty good control. Pretty nice tool to have for other sanding tasks also.

Good Luck,
Danny

I got mine and agree with all mentioned things , just to add "don't count that you can polish with it..."

I tried thinning plates with an ROS on #1 and gave up fairly quickly - couldn't keep it even. I ended up putting the plates aside and ordering a Wagner Safety Planer which worked. I would rather use a plane with a toothed blade, followed by a bench plane and then a scraper if doing it by hand now.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

make friends with a cabinet / millwork shop that has a timesaver. there must be someone in your neck of the woods with a thickness sander. whenever possible i try to show up with two guitars worth of top, back and sides so that i don't have to bug them that often.

In the meanwhile I bought a Veritas scrub plane blade and set it in an old wooden smoother. I can attest that it absolutely rocks. Makes short work of removing the bulk off anything, including extra thick ebony fingerboard blanks.

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