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For those of you who are using the Jet 10-20 drum sander for thicknessing backs and tops, do you sand the two pieces before they are joined or after joining?

After.
Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

+1 on after

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Yep, after.

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Both. I like for my thicknesses to be very close prior to glue up, and I'll thickness the top to the desired range after the joint is complete.

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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

+3 on after.

Man.........

I've had the Jet 10/20 for about two years now.

It never occurred to me that it might be possible to thickness it after joining - I assumed that you could only pass it through with the width of the plates Matching that of the drum width. I guess that's why they call it the 10 - 20

I just looked at my Jet 10/20 and for the first time noticed that the wood could extend well beyond the side of the drum.....

I guess I'll try thicknessing after next time. I have a tough time getting the joint right when the tops are at about 125 thou..

That's why I love this forum - I learn things that I didn't even realize I didn't know...

Corky,

I like having the angle of the drum carriage set so that the open end is a few thousandths of an inch higher than the closed end. That way, you don't run the risk of a ledge left by the end of the drum. Adjustment is a little tricky, as the so-called adjustment knob is useless. I look at how much movement there is in the button-head screws at the top, the ones that are loosened to make the adjustment. Once it's set, it's pretty accurate.

Pat

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

I like to get them smooth and to equal thickness before I join, so I do that separately. But it's much easier to do most of the sanding after the plates are joined. That allows a little room for error if your plates don't align exactly on the surface.

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Jonathan Kendall, Siloam Springs AR

Pat -

Thanks for the "heads up" - I'll practice on scrap until I see where it's set now.

I generally skim them before to get them flat and even thickness. It makes shooting the joint and glueup more accurate. But I leave them quite thick until after they are united.

If the plates are rough I'll sand them to even them out but nowhere near final thickness, I do that after they're joined - makes it so much easier. I've got mine set up so the open end is about 0.005" higher than the closed end. Took me about an hour to get it set and it's been fine since (about 1 1/2 years).

Just don't lean a hand on the open end while sanding

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

A little off the topic question:

I sure like the Jet 10/20 for finish sanding.
Been using the Delta 18/36 for roughing down to, say, .015" and then finishing on the Jet.
Saves time not having to change paper.

Had some .040" ABS binding consisting of four plys alternating black and white. (B/W/B/W)
Needed a little bit of .030" B/W/B so sanded off .010" on the Jet.
Had to take it slow to prevent melting but it did the job!
It's a sweet little machine.

Nelson

Neither - I just set the wood near the 10-20 and begin to meditate and once in a trance I visualize the drum turning, and it starts to turn, the wood being inserted, the wood flies in the air and into the sander, and then I imagine that I am wearing eye protection and a dust mask too and sure enough those things appear on my stupid looking face.... Ain't life great!!!!

OK, ok - both just like my buddy Bill. I like to thickness my plates first to a joining thickness (I use about .140) and a thickness to check for initial stiffness (I also use .140 for deflection testing too) then I throw them in the piles for another day/month/year.

Once I join a top I thickness sand it joined in the 10-20.

Also some folks have reported that their 10-20's feed belt seems to wanna visit the right side of the machine. Mine is like this too and no matter what I did nothing helped. But the bright side is that the ridge that these machines produce sometimes when sanding plates wider than the drum goes away when the feed belt is not under the left most edge of the drum.... So I let my belt live and travel where it wants and have the added benefit of no ridge when sanding stock wider than the drum.

The 10-20 is a great machine when used properly.

I do mine after. Much better results. I can do harp guitar sets, that ought to give you an idea of the machine's capabilities! But, you must get the drum perfectly set!!! See my "toot" on how to do this in 10 minutes or less. It's really not my toot, but a link to a great way to do it.

Mike
Would you post a link to the 'toot' on tuning the 10-20. I tried searching for it, but the search function doesn't work for me.
Dan

here ya go: viewtopic.php?f=10117&t=25090&p=339055&hilit=performax#p339055

Surely there was a typo there. Don't you mean Medicate?

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Waddy

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Maybe Waddy bro - I can't remember right now......