Not Dave's Mill

I am in the process of remodeling the new (old) farmhouse and that calls for a lot of work I don't necessarily enjoy. Part of that is replacing the interior walls with Knotty Pine tongue and groove paneling. When I bought the planks, I planned to sand them using hand held random orbit sanders. It didn't take long for me to figure out that sanding over 7,000 linear feet of boards was going to be too labor intensive and take way too long to complete. So, I bought a drum sander with automatic feed to help out.

I built an in-feed and out-feed table using materials I had on hand. Once everything was adjusted just right I stood at the out-feed end and did touch-up and final sanding with a random orbit sander.

I haven't had time to install my overhead dust collection system so I just connected directly to the dust collector.

That looks like Robby the Robot bringing your lunchbox...:hehe:...Ben

Good looking pile of lumber. Glad you figured a way of doing it faster.

I love buying bunks of lumber.:pimpgrin: I did miles of t&g aspen in the cabin. A very good friend owns the local aspen sawmill (and logging Company). https://aspenwallwood.com/. I like working with t&g soft woods; it's pretty easy and the results are immediate.

I'm curious why you are sanding it? Both the pine and aspen that I have put up was suitable for staining and plenty smooth for a wall. I do like your assembly line. My Uncle in Arkansas has a small sawmill where he makes his own cedar t&g and his setup is very similar to yours.

When I went thru that phase the last time, I had lists, tools, and sawdust everywhere always. I loved it.:evilgrin:

Nice set up Mike :cool:

Just as a point of information---and I would do exactly what you have done---but sanders with power feeds (per NFPA code) cannot be connected to interior dust collectors, they must go outside and be equipped with spark detection and a deluge system.

Our wide belt sanders require anywhere from 6,000 to 9,000 CFM. Fans are 25 to 50 HP.

That's going to look real nice when you are finished.