How to Make Wow-Factor Tables on Steroids

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Eric Flansburg works full time but is starting a woodworking business he can jump into when he retires years from now. He’s developing a high-end niche with big, hand-crafted, custom-made tables.

“My woodworking goal is to give my customers a real ‘wow-factor’ — something they’ve never seen before; custom furniture with a gorgeous holographic effect that just blows your mind.

With its LED lights on, Eric’s table glows. This one features natural objects in the epoxy resin “river.”

LED lights and 3-D effect

I call my conference tables ‘river tables.’ I like to say they’re ‘conference tables on steroids.’ Some are black walnut with cherry trim. There’s a river of clear epoxy resin running down the center creating a holographic, 3-D effect. Some rivers have LED lights that give a glowing effect. Some customers come in and place special stones or other objects in the epoxy before it sets. And sometimes I’ll laser-engrave images or logos in the surface.

Eric talked extensively with the boys at Woodmaster before choosing his big 50″ single-drum Woodmaster Drum Sander. “One of the best purchases I’ve made,” says Eric.

Planning ahead

I work full time as a police officer in upstate New York. I’ve also started my own business in preparation for retirement in 10 years or so. That gives me plenty of time to build my knowledge and grow the business. 

As far as business experience, I’ve done woodworking and general contracting for many years. I was in the Air Force and was in a high-level position in the dairy industry in charge of safety policies and procedures.

Here’s how Eric forms his rivers. Wood slabs are fastened down to an OSB panel that’s removed later. The spaces between slabs will be filled with a river of epoxy resin

Wow-factor

My woodworking business is ‘Custom Wood Light Graphics.’ I make high-end furniture for businesses, bars, and individuals. It’s all word of mouth, all custom, one-of-a-kind work.

7,000 grit 

I’ve perfected my own finishing method to achieve a perfect, glass-like finish. I don’t use polyurethane; it’s all sanding and buffing. I start with 40-grit sandpaper and work up to 7,000 grit. Then I do a 6-stage buffing process. When I’m done, the finish is perfectly flat, smooth, and even feels soft, like a new car finish.

Prepped for pouring, this river table has natural objects that will be visible through the clear epoxy resin “river”

Unbelievable

I’m a very meticulous woodworker and my Woodmaster 50” is one of the best purchases I’ve made. The amount of sanding time my Woodmaster saves me is unbelievable. Sanding my 11-foot conference tables by hand would take an ungodly amount of time! And there’s no way I could get the finish as perfect as I want it by hand. 

Here’s a screen shot from a video Eric posted to his Facebook page. Visit and see many more of Eric’s photos and videos documenting how he makes his “Tables on Steroids”

Unparalleled

I did my research and ended up with my 50” Woodmaster Drum Sander. I looked at planers and sanders to find something wide enough for my work. Some were cantilevered; connected only at one end. To sand a wide surface on a cantilever drum sander, you have to flip the workpiece and run it through twice. I didn’t like that idea. I read lots of reviews and realized Woodmaster was the company I wanted to deal with. They guys are awesome. Very accommodating and their customer service is unparalleled. 

I trust Woodmaster

If anybody’s looking at drum sanders, I’d say definitely call Woodmaster and talk with the guys. Mark has been very good, very helpful to me. We talked a lot about what I wanted to do and how I could accomplish it. He made a lot of suggestions and recommendations based on my goals and it all worked out very well. 

Woodmaster’s not pushy at all. They have a lot of knowledge and gave me full info. I trust Woodmaster’s advice and followed it. That’s huge. It’s a great company.”

— Eric Flansburg, Woodmaster Drum Sander Owner, Baldwinsville NY

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“I’ll still be spinning sawblades when I’m 90!”

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No storage problem here. Between the array of custom cabinets and 35 perfectly uniform cubbyholes, there’s a place to store everything

“I started woodworking at eight years old. I was helping Grandpa on his table saw and ended up with four stitches. Boy, did I get in trouble!

Precision to 1/64”

There were cabinetmakers in my family and by the time I was in my teens, I worked and learned from them. Dad was a good woodworker but my uncle Jerry taught me the most. God as my witness, he had triple bifocal glasses and would build things to 1/64 of an inch. That’s what I do today. What I make is to 1/64” or it doesn’t go out the door.

Randy uses his 50" Woodmaster Drum Sandy constantly. It's on castors so he can roll it where he needs it. To the left is his 25" Woodmaster Molder/Planer.
Randy uses his 50″ Woodmaster Drum Sandy constantly. It’s on casters so he can roll it where he needs it. To the left is his 25″ Woodmaster Molder/Planer.

Cabinetry is what I do. It’s who I am. I eat, drink, and sleep cabinetry. I’ve worked for cabinet shops but I’ve been self-employed since the ‘80’s. I don’t advertise at all. No website, no Facebook. Everything is word of mouth. I’ll work for one individual, then another one and another one. A friend tells a friend. I’ll give a bid and they usually take it. And off we go! I work for million dollar homes and the guy down the street. People know my work and, praise the Lord, He keeps opening doors for me.

Randy tells us, “I eat, drink, and sleep cabinetmaking and I love to stay busy!” He says his wife’s a ‘woodworking widow.’ She’ll look at him and say, ‘You’re thinking about your projects again, aren’t you?” And Randy can’t deny it.

Retire? No way

I’m 65 now but there’s no way I’m going to retire. Social security isn’t enough to shake a stick at. And, anyway, I want to still be spinning my sawblades when I’m 90. I pray the Lord will keep giving me the strength and ability to work with my hands because I love to stay busy!

I once had a 25” Grizzly®. It sucked! It wasn’t worth anything. When it came time for me to get a better sander, I looked at a 38” Woodmaster Drum Sander a friend had. I ran doors through it and I was sold!

I called Woodmaster they sent me a flyer. It was like Christmastime for me and I bought one in 2012. It was a tossup between the 38” and the 50” drum sander. I’m very glad I went with the biggest – the 50”. I’ve sent panels 48” and 49” through and it worked beautifully. I use it all the time on my face frames, doors, and more.

Custom cabinetry is Randy’s specialty. “I’m one of a dying breed of custom cabinetmakers,” he says.

Then I got a Woodmaster 25” Planer/Molder in 2013 and I have one of their big dust collectors on order now.

Adjustable feed rate’s the best

I build my drawer boxes, face frames, doors, drawer heads out of 7/8” material, often poplar. I put all the pieces through the drum sander one after another so they’re all uniform. Woodmaster’s adjustable feed rate is the best thing. I often run the sander at 90% speed and it works real well. I feed them in and my sidekick helper catches them at the other end.

I couldn’t do the work I do without this drum sander. Couldn’t live without it. It’s a great machine and I’d recommend it to others in a heartbeat!”

— Randy Guard, Woodmaster Drum Sander Owner, Amarillo TX

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A drum sander’s the only way to get this kind of precision

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Steve Elett, Woodmaster Woodworker of the Month, and his Woodmaster Drum Sander
Here’s Steve Elett and his Woodmaster Drum Sander. Congratulations, Steve, our Woodmaster Woodworker of the Month!

“My wife, Paula, and I call ourselves ‘serious retired winter woodworkers.’ We spend probably seven months out of the year building things in our home workshop. We’re not in business and we don’t sell anything. We don’t have a website or any social media about our woodworking. We just do it for the love of woodworking.

We build all kinds of things. Some for ourselves and we give a lot of what we make to family and friends as gifts. We designed our home and built all the cabinetry – that saved us probably $35,000 to $45,000. We built two wardrobes for friends who own an old farmhouse. They’re each 9’ tall by 26” deep by 5’ wide. One of our first projects was a pool table. We’ve built poker tables, a complete cherry bar, furniture, TV cabinets, wine cabinets, dressers, and even 5 sets of bunk beds for our 9 grandchildren at our family lake house!

Steve and Paula made all the cabinetry in their home. They call it a “hobby”…that saved themselves up to $45,000!

Nothing as frustrating as equipment that doesn’t work well

We own top-of-the-line tools because there’s nothing as frustrating as tools that don’t work well. That’s why we have a 26” Woodmaster Drum Sander and a mid-sized Woodmaster Molder/Planer.

We avoid buying expensive lumber from big box stores. Instead, we start with rough-sawn hardwood lumber. We buy it from sawmills and we’ve even cut trees, had them sawn into boards, air dried them, and turned them into finished lumber with our Woodmasters.

For the first time, we have TWO Woodmaster woodworkers of the month! Meet Paula Elett who’s been a professional finisher for years. Now she and Steve are a man-and-wife woodworking team.

Hand-sanding is my least favorite thing

I have to say hand sanding is my least favorite thing to do. That’s why we got the Woodmaster Drum Sander. I chose the 26” model because, at the time, I couldn’t imagine needing anything wider. And to this day, I’ve never wanted anything larger. Oh, I’ve gone as wide as 22” or 23” for bar tops. I’ve used big, industrial sanders and I’ve learned there are ways to replicate big machine results using the Woodmaster.

What I like about this drum sander is it’s so darn dependable. The part I like best is how easily you can adjust the sanding depth. You just turn the crank and raise or lower the bed. The height adjustment screw is 16 threads per inch, so each full rotation of the crank changes the height 1/16 of an inch. A half-turn gives you 1/32” height change. A quarter turn, 1/64”.

How would you accommodate 9 grandchildren at your lakeside vacation home? Steve and Paula do it with the 5 custom bunk beds they built.

Precision to 0.005 – drum sander’s the only way

I can get accuracy to 0.005 – that’s five thousandths of an inch — with the drum sander. When I’m making cabinet door stiles, for example, I stand them on edge and put them through the sander all at one time. They come out precisely the same and the finished work looks so much better that way. A drum sander’s the only way to get that kind of precision.

And I love the variable feed rate because not every piece of wood has the same characteristics. I can feed it fast or slow and adjust it as I go.

A hobby that got out of hand

This all started as a hobby that got out of hand. Paula and I are sneaking up on 50 years together. In our first home, we set up a small hobby area in a corner of the basement. We grew out of that and built a workshop addition. We outgrew that and built a new home with a hobby shop that’s about 1,600 square feet.

We’re in this together. Early on, we refinished her grandmother’s old, 1920’s secretary desk and learned we have similar interests in woodworking and doing-it-yourself. Paula’s a pro finisher. She did finishing work for several big cabinet manufacturers, craftspeople, builders, and painters.

As for me, I first got interested in all this in junior high school where we had a good industrial arts program. And my dad was a better-than-average woodworker. I learned a lot from him. I’m a draftsman by education and I plan our all our projects on my CAD system.

Lucky grandkids to have super-handy grandparents like Steve and Paula!

And one other thing…

I talk up Woodmaster equipment every chance I get. Woodmaster’s never let me down. And one other thing: woodworking’s a great hobby during the pandemic!”

— Steve & Paula Elett, Woodmaster Owners, Angola IN

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Shop Teacher Talks Drum Sanders: “INFINITELY VARIABLE FEED RATE IS ONE OF WOODMASTER’S MAIN ADVANTAGES”

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Did you take Shop Class or Industrial Arts in school? You may have had a Shop teacher like Ed Hess. Ed recently retired from a 36- year teaching career. He’s been a hands-on guy his whole life.

Now he’s set up his own workshop, making miles of molding, paneling, cabinets, picture frames, and more with his Woodmaster equipment – his Woodmaster Drum Sander and Woodmaster Molder/Planer.

“I’m retired now but I can’t give up woodworking”

“I’ve used power equipment my whole life. I got really interested in woodworking – I’ve got it in my blood. I taught what they now call ‘Tech Ed’ for 36 years. When I retired, I just couldn’t give it up and built a 30 x 46 shop for myself. A lot of it is set up for woodworking equipment including my Woodmaster Drum Sander and Molder/Planer.

Here’s Ed’s 38″ Woodmaster Drum Sander. He’s set wood panels on the outfeed, between the rollers. “The wood is slightly lower than the rollers,” says Ed. “The boards keep small workpieces from dropping between the rollers.” Thanks for the tip, Ed!

Years ago, I built my own house. And I built the shop I have now – poured the concrete, studded out the walls, installed trusses, wiring, plumbing, and finished everything.

I’ve owned a Woodmaster Molder/Planer since 2005 and recently added a Woodmaster Drum Sander, the 38” 3875 model. I used it a lot to red our kitchen and to build all the cabinets that line the walls of my shop.

Ed’s son is building a multi-million dollar home and Ed’s helping with the trim. “We put 10,000 feet of cherry through the Woodmaster!”

Wide belt sanders? Too big, too pricey, too much current

If you sand by hand with an orbital sander, you end up with swirl marks and I wanted a better sanding solution. I started looking for a small wide belt sander but there aren’t any. All the wide belt sanders are big and have 10 – 20 horsepower motors that draw 50 amps and more. And they take up a lot of floor space. I’m not set up for that. Plus, the big ones start around $20,000 — very expensive.

I’d owned a Woodmaster Planer for years. I bought my Woodmaster Drum/Sander and it’s perfect for me. It fits my shop and it’s in my price range. It does a good job and really fills the bill for the work I do. I haven’t had any problems.

“Infinitely Variable Feed Rate is one of Woodmaster’s main advantages”

Variable feed rate is one of Woodmaster’s main advantages. Both my sander and planer have it. Sometimes you want to run the workpiece through very slowly. Other times you want to put it through fast. Slower on harder woods, faster on softer woods. The Variable Feed Rate is trouble-free, dial 0 to 16 feet per minute. It’s awesome. It runs from a digital DC motor. So it’s DC drive – direct current.

The advantage of variable feed rate is you can just dial it up or down as you go. You need it on knots and knotty wood. As the workpiece feeds through and you get to a knot, you can just dial it down at that point then speed it back up.

Ed runs 2 grits at the same time

The smaller 26” Woodmaster Drum Sander would have been big enough for most of what I do but I wanted the bigger 38” model because it gives me sanding flexibility. I can set up two sandpaper grits at the same time on the same drum. 19” of 100 grit on one end of the drum, and 19” of 50 grit on the other end. That gives me two grits without any paper changes.

Or, if I have a bigger project, I can just peel off the hook-and-loop sandpaper and put one grit on the whole width. It’s perfect.

No problems

I’ve had very good luck with Woodmaster equipment. No problems. Everything works as it should and functions well though I did move the control box and install my own depth gauge.”

— Ed Hess, Woodmaster Sander & Planer Owner, East Bethel MN

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P.S. Here’s a QUESTION for Woodmaster Owners Only…..

Woodmaster Owners, DID SHOP CLASS INSPIRE YOU?

In the old days, boys took Shop and girls took Home Economics. Boys learned how build things, use power equipment, do woodworking, metal working, and more.

Many Woodmaster woodworkers tell us Shop was their favorite class in school. For some, it sparked a lifelong dedication to woodworking…as a hobby, part time money-maker, or even as a career.

 Some of us learned woodworking skills from our dads or granddads. But for many, Shop class was where we discovered how to turn simple materials into useful, valuable, and beautiful projects. And we learned how SATISFYING it is to have D-I-Y attitude and the skills to back it up.

A Shop teacher’s view…

“Shop, or Tech Ed, teaches students to get their hands and their brains to work together. It gets students to think in a new way. It’s good, hands-on work that’s easy for students to do.

I’ve had students who’ve gone on to very successful careers in the trades as cabinetmakers, builders, construction workers. My own son is a cabinetmaker. Now I’m making things with my grandson. I feel good about what I’ve done over the years” – Ed Hess, retired Shop teacher

Woodmaster Owners Only…

HOW WERE YOU INSPIRED BY SHOP CLASS?

LET US KNOW!

MAKE MONEY BUILDING TABLES with a Woodmaster Planer & Drum Sander

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Caleb Wilkinson is a woodworker in a company that’s building a business in live-edge tables. Not just any tables, but big, handsome tables, 2” thick slabs or glue-ups of Texas red cedar, eastern juniper, or walnut.

Caleb and company turn out big, bold, darned handsome tables!
Caleb and company turn out big, bold, darned handsome tables!

Most are custom, built to order, though there are production models, too, and some are put out on consignment. Kitchen tables, conference tables, end and coffee tables, too. Business is good!

Growth Goals

The company’s goals are to grow by creating a larger inventory and getting their tables on consignment in more retail outlets. They’ve supplied a regional restaurant chain and are seeking contracts with others as well as hotel chains and bars.

They needed a heavy-duty Planer

Caleb had a TimberKing sawmill and created slabs for their tables. But these days, they buy slabs from others. They got a Woodmaster 725 Molder Planer to run slabs. They found ordinary planers are just not big or heavy duty enough to take their slabs that run 2” thick and up to 24” wide. “We’re very happy with the Woodmaster planer. It does a great job.”

Woodmaster Molder Planer

Spiral Cutterhead? Unbelievable

They give the spiral cutterhead very high marks. “It’s unbelievable. Very quiet and leaves a very smooth surface.” They like the indexable cutterheads. “There are hundreds of little cutterheads, each with four faces. When one face wears, you turn it to a fresh face.” The company estimates they can plane 10,000 board feet per face, or 40,000 board feet per set of indexable cutters.

Here's a nice big table with live edge legs. These folks make all the tops and the legs, too, some legs are of welded steel.
Here’s a nice big table with live edge legs. These folks make all the tops and the legs, too, some legs are of welded steel.

Drum Sander — full 50″ wide

Caleb runs the planer and also the company’s Woodmaster Drum Sander, the 50” wide 5075 model. They bring in rough wood and straight line it, then plane it level and flat. Then they assemble the pieces with a biscuit joiner, glue ‘em up, and run them through their Woodmaster Drum Sander. “It does a great job.”

50" Woodmaster Drum Sander
Here’s the 50″ Woodmaster Drum Sander. 50″ — that’s wide enough to sand 2-up cabinet doors, full size doors, big table tops, more.

They particularly like the drum sander’s method of attaching sandpaper to the drum. “It’s easy to put on new paper with the sander’s hook-and-loop material like Velcro®. It’s very difficult on Delta sanders but Woodmaster’s system makes it simple.

Did we mention chairs? Caleb and company make many things on order, including these handsome chairs and coffee tables
Did we mention chairs? Caleb and company make many things on order, including these handsome chairs and coffee tables
Woodmaster Drum Sander (left) and Molder Planer
Many woodworkers have both Woodmaster machines in their shop. Here’s woodworker, Howard Gelles, who’s also making money in his woodworking business. “I’d tell anybody who’s looking for a commercial quality sander or planer to go with Woodmaster. These are the best machines for the money. Woodmaster, keep up the good work!” Read Howard’s story!

Darn clever

The company’s working on a clever drying solution, too. They’re turning an 8 x 40’ shipping container into a dry kiln, with dollies for the rough wood and a heat pump to pull the moisture out.

Well, Caleb and company, more power to you and good luck building your woodworking business with Woodmaster Tools!

— Caleb Wilkinson, Woodmaster woodworker, Valley View, Texas

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• Call us TOLL FREE 1-800-821-6651

• Email us info@woodmastertools.com

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Email editor@woodmastertools.com photos of you, your projects, and your Woodmaster, write a note about yourself.

High-End Millwork with a Woodmaster Drum Sander

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“Here we’re sanding mahogany doors for the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C. on our new Woodmaster 50” drum sander. This is a nice upgrade to our shop.” — Steve Lichok, Owner, Hamilton Ross Millwork

“We fabricate the difficult ‘parts and pieces’ others don’t know how to build — or don’t want to!”

“I’ve done woodworking and custom homebuilding all my life. I’ve built 75 houses from the ground up! For the last 9 years, I’ve run my own millwork business, Hamilton Ross Millwork. I have seven staff. Some are full-fledged cabinetmakers, several are apprentices, and one handles outside sales. We specialize in radius molding. We make a lot of doors, windows, molding, primarily for high end home builders in the Annapolis, Maryland area.

“Stunning” is an appropriate description of Steve’s work as in this beautifully done entryway

We’re fabricators. We make what I call ‘parts and pieces.’ We got started by fabricating architectural pieces for contractors who build multi-million dollar homes. Lots of arched openings, jambs, mahogany doors, specialty built-in bookcases, and more. We build the difficult stuff others don’t know how to build, or don’t want to build.

Here’s a Hamilton Ross home office with a million-dollar view.

Lumberyards once had their own millwork shops — not any longer

When I was a kid, my dad was a salesman who sold to lumberyards. I went with him and I’ve been in every lumberyard in the Mid-Atlantic states. They all used to have their own millwork shops but none do now. That’s why I started my millwork business, to provide millwork services in the Baltimore and D.C. area. We get lots of orders for curved molding. We build the pieces to order and sent them out. We don’t do any installation work.

Lots of historic restoration work here

Things evolved, and these days we’re selling to homebuilders, remodelers, as well as contractors. And we sell to those who’re doing historic restoration, too. We replicate historic doors, windows, moldings, windows, fireplace mantles, bookcases, straight and curved molding, custom stairs, historic parts, and more. There’s a lot of that kind of work in our area.

We recently had a contract to build six doors for the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C. The structure was torn down but they kept the entryway. The original embassy doors had deteriorated badly so we’re reproducing them. Many times, we’ll work from blueprints supplied by a preservation architect. For example, we built reproduction doors from the original 1908 plans for a lighthouse in the middle of Chesapeake Bay. And we’re getting ready to build historic-reproduction doors for a structure that’s being returned to its original, 1794 condition.

Happy with his first Woodmaster, he got another, bigger one

Years ago, I bought a used 26” Woodmaster Drum Sander. I was so happy with it that when I needed a bigger one, I went directly to Woodmaster for their larger one, the 50” 5075 with the upgrade to the farm-duty 7HP motor. That really gives us the ability to put custom doors through and get them truly flat. This drum sander greatly speeds production. It really reduces hand sanding and gives us a better surface – completely flat.

Built-in bookshelves by Steve Lichok. Note the classic rolling library ladder.

Asian-built sander? No thanks

When it was time to get a bigger sander, I absolutely chose Woodmaster. I looked at reviews of others – there are Asian-built machines – and, no question, I’d buy Woodmaster. It’s extremely reliable, it really never breaks. Plus, I’d dealt with the Woodmaster company for years because I had my original 26” Woodmaster.

If anybody asked me, I’d say don’t look at any other brand. Woodmaster Drum Sanders are so trouble-free and paper changes are so easy, I couldn’t be happier. Woodmaster has a good reputation and I haven’t found anything I don’t like about them.”

— Stephen Lichok, Hamilton Ross Millwork, Woodmaster Drum Sander Owner, Annapolis MD

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HOW ROB BUILT A SUCCESSFUL FURNITURE BUSINESS FROM SCRATCH

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Congratulations, Rob Lemire, Woodmaster Owner from Maine — a Woodmaster Woodworker of the Month!

Ever wonder if YOU could start a successful woodworking business? Here’s how Rob did it…. 

“I learned woodworking from my grandfather. By my teen years, I was working side-by-side with him in his jack-of-all-trades business – roofing, remodeling, additions, painting, and more. He really taught me how to do high quality work. As I got older, I took on bigger jobs. He told me to go to college and that I’d always have hands-on skills to fall back on.

After a 30 year teaching career, Rob wanted to start a custom cabinetmaking business. Fate had other plans. Today he's in the Adirondack-style furniture business...and business is going great guns

After a 30 year teaching career, Rob wanted to start a custom cabinetmaking business. Fate had other plans. Today he’s in the Adirondack-style furniture business…and business is going great guns

I worked 30 years as an educator. But I always did side work and summer jobs as a finish carpenter and cabinetmaker. I’m retired from teaching now but deeply involved in my furniture business, Maine Adirondack Chairs.

“Plan A” wasn’t working – so Rob went to “Plan B”

When I left teaching, I wanted to start a business. My first choice was building custom cabinets and furniture here in central Maine. But there isn’t enough of that kind of work here. So I went to my second choice. I thought of the white cedar Adirondack furniture I’d made years earlier. I started building and selling Adirondack chairs and it soon started growing into a viable business.

Within a couple of years, the business grew to the point that I needed a helper. That’s when I hired Melissa May, a local woman who has great qualities like skill, reliability, responsibility, and trustworthiness. I pay her very well and, the first couple of years, we worked together building chairs, some custom furniture, dressers, beds, accessories, tables, love seats, and more. We sell and ship nationwide though a majority of our customers are waterfront owners in Maine.

Rob's business started to take off to the point that he needed another pair of hands. Along came Melissa, shown here putting finishing touches on one of their handsome white cedar Adirondack chairs.

Rob’s business started to take off to the point that he needed another pair of hands. Along came Melissa, shown here putting finishing touches on one of their handsome white cedar Adirondack chairs.

The business just kept growing. All I can say is, ‘Bingo!’ Orders kept flying in and I hired a friend of Melissa’s, Petra Mesaric. After a few years working with me, Melissa and Petra developed their own production skills and work systems. I saw they could work on their own. Like a good employer should, I stepped away at that point and took care of the business while they built the furniture. For the past 3 years they’ve been running all the production. I manage the business, marketing, materials, and accounting. They make everything we sell.

"Business doubled then doubled again," says Rob. Petra came on board and things began to really take off.

“Business doubled then doubled again,” says Rob. Petra came on board and things began to really take off.

Business doubled…then doubled again

At that point, the business exploded and grew 100% at a clip. Sales doubled then doubled again. My small business was really turning into a good-sized one. This growth mandated that I upgrade our shop machinery. For example, we’d been hand-sanding with a hand-held DeWalt 5” disk sander. I looked at alternatives and especially customer comments. I spent one winter researching drum sanders and came to the conclusion that Woodmaster is the best choice. I ordered a Woodmaster 26” drum sander.

I looked at Grizzly, Powermatic, Jet, Woodmaster, and other drum sanders. I read as many reviews as I could find. Everybody raves about Woodmaster. The fact that Woodmaster gets great reviews, is built in the USA, and has a powerful engine, made it hard for me not to buy one!

The 26” model drum sander fits our needs perfectly. And I also bought a Woodmaster 712 Molder/Planer to run all the molding for my home. I basically got it for free. It paid for itself in the money I saved by making my own molding.

Funny how success brings more opportunities. Petra (left) and Melissa were asked to demonstrate their D-I-Y skills on an episode of the "Maine Cabin Masters D-I-Y Network."

Funny how success brings more opportunities. Petra (left) and Melissa were asked to demonstrate their D-I-Y skills on an episode of the “Maine Cabin Masters D-I-Y Network.”

Melissa (left) and Petra (right) run the shop at Maine Adirondack chairs. Ashley (center) is the host on "Maine Cabin Masters." Here they take a break after Melissa and Petra completed the 3-seat settee on-camera.

Melissa (left) and Petra (right) run the shop at Maine Adirondack chairs. Ashley (center) is the host on “Maine Cabin Masters.” Here they take a break after Melissa and Petra completed their 3-seat settee for the episode.

A full day’s sanding in 1 hour

The Woodmaster has really speeded up production. Melissa and Petra build furniture in batches, maybe 20 chairs at a time. They stack up all the parts – dozens or even hundreds of parts. When it’s time to sand, they put them through the Woodmaster, 8 pieces at a time, side by side across the Woodmaster’s 26”.

Sanding parts for 20 chairs with a disk sander might take a full day. The Woodmaster does them all in 1 hour!

Business is excellent and continues to grow dependably, about 25% every year. We don’t have to worry about the economy, we’re busy building 30 to 40 chairs every week, April or May through September or October.

Running 1,000 linear feet every week

We’re running 1,000 linear feet of white cedar through the Woodmaster every week. I absolutely love its ability to get work done. I don’t know, I may need another one. The Woodmaster company takes good care of me, too.

If somebody’s thinking about getting a Woodmaster, I’d say don’t hesitate. Just work with Woodmaster and get one. Pay on time if you need to but take advantage of this good tool and get one.”

— Robert Lamire, Maine Adirondack Chairs , Vassalboro ME         Facebook

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How to make a machine-flat hardwood tabletop

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Here's a one-of-a-kind, L-shaped desk to die for. An epoxy resin fills the split, creating an accent that runs full length. Lacquer finish.

Here’s a one-of-a-kind, L-shaped desk to die for. Josh’s “Waterfall Desk” is oak with an epoxy filling in the natural split, creating an accent that runs full length. Lacquer finish.

“My wife and I own and operate an architectural salvage business. We buy the salvage rights to pre-WWII buildings like 1920’s schools, old churches, factories, hospitals, homes, and other buildings. Then my crew and I salvage and sell antique architectural parts including old windows, doors, wood flooring, fences, trim, sinks, tubs, fixtures, beams, lumber, hardware, and much more.

Meet Joshua White, 50" Woodmaster Drum Sander owner and architectural salvage entrepreneur.

Meet Joshua White, 50″ Woodmaster Drum Sander owner and architectural salvage entrepreneur.

Josh's shop holds an ever-changing inventory of unique, hard to find, antique, and extraordinary objects. A haven for architectural salvage browsers.

Josh’s shop holds an ever-changing inventory of unique, hard to find, antique, and extraordinary objects. A haven for architectural salvage browsers.

Tuk-tuks, a cross between a motorcycle and a rickshaw, are everywhere in Thailand. Want one in the USA? Go see Josh.

Tuk-tuks, a cross between a motorcycle and a rickshaw, are everywhere in Thailand. Want one in the USA? Go see Josh.

Driven by customer demand, we’ve branched out into more exotic products. We go on buying trips to places like Costa Rica, Indonesia, India, and Europe and ship back 40’ containers of very unusual old and antique items. For example, we recently imported a British phone booth, a Thai tuk-tuk, a life-size wooden horse-on-wheels, Hindu sculptures, unusual furniture, and a whole lot more. It’s taken us decades to develop the systems and connections to make all this possible but everything’s working great now.

Sustainably-harvested hardwood slab

Another part of our business is built around hardwood flats, or slabs. In Costa Rica, we buy and ship back slabs (we call them ‘flats’) of sustainably-harvested tropical hardwoods like parota, monkeypod, jatoba, purple heart, and others. These big, heavy flats come to us rough-sawn, straight off the mill, and we process them further with our 50” Woodmaster Drum Sander. We sell them as-is and also turn them into unique furniture.

At first, we hand-sanded the flats. It would take our guys almost a whole day to do one tabletop. We’d plane the wood, glue it up with clamps, then spend six hours or more sanding each one by hand. When I got the Woodmaster, we could do the sanding in 10% or 20% of that time. And we get better results.

Hand sanding leaves dips and voids

Here’s what I mean about results. Sanding by hand, you’ll never get a truly ‘machine flat’ surface. You cannot get that absolutely flat surface with hand sanding. It’s impossible. You can hand-sand for hours by hand, then run your hand over the surface, and you’ll still feel dips and voids.

Josh (right) and employee, Barry Brooks, give a sense of the scale of one of their big, big slabs, sustainably harvested in Central America.

Josh (right) and employee, Barry Brooks, give a sense of the scale of one of their big, big slabs, sustainably harvested in Central America.

When you send a slab through the Woodmaster, it comes out absolutely flat. I call that ‘machine flat.’ It’s completely flat, ‘machine flat,’ and better quality than hand sanding in less than a quarter of the time.

Josh and crew travel to Costa Rica to bring home truly unique slabs for the furniture they make. This perota wood slab measures 39" wide and 96" long. It'll go through Josh's 50" Woodmaster with room to spare.

Josh and crew travel to Costa Rica to bring home truly unique slabs for the furniture they make. This perota wood slab measures 39″ wide and 96″ long. It’ll go through Josh’s 50″ Woodmaster with room to spare.

If you use it properly, this drum sander can work wonders. You have to have realistic expectations – it takes off maybe a 32nd of an inch each pass. It’s not a magic wand. We work up two or three flats a day from start to finish, from rough-cut to machine flat. The flats range from 36” to 48” wide. That’s why I got the 50” Woodmaster.

Paid for itself in 30 to 60 days — best machine I ever bought

Woodmaster sells a great product and this is the best machine I ever bought. It has saved us a lot of time and money. You can do the math: would you rather pay someone X-dollars an hour to hand-sand for 6 hours, or pay them that rate for 1 or 1-1/2 hours to sand with the Woodmaster? My Woodmaster paid for itself in 30 to 60 days.

Here's another handsome, machine-flat table from Josh's shop. Note the steel undercarriage and the varied inventory of salvaged items in the background.

Here’s another handsome, machine-flat table from Josh’s shop. Note the steel undercarriage and the varied inventory of salvaged items in the background.

I looked at wide-belt sanders online. They’re huge and cost upwards of $25,000. I wanted one but didn’t have the space and certainly not the budget. If you want a realistic product that most small businesses can afford, Woodmaster is by far the way to go.

I looked at other drum sanders, too. They topped out at 36” and we make tables a lot wider than 36”, and up to 20’ long, though that’s unusual. Most are 4 or 6’ long.  If you’re making tabletops, you’ve got to have a sander wider than 36”. There really are only a couple alternatives: a wide-belt sander, a giant planer, or a Woodmaster Drum Sander. For 5 or 6 grand, you can have this great machine that saves you time and money.

“For the money and value, Woodmaster’s hard to beat”

Really, Woodmaster was the only machine that could do what I wanted. There was nothing else available in the price range. Everything else was just untouchable. For the money and the value, Woodmaster’s hard to beat.

Not just slab furniture...you can find just about anything and everything at Josh's shop.

Not just slab furniture…you can find just about anything and everything at Josh’s shop.

With a 50” drum sander, you can do any tabletop you want to. We’ve easily done over 500 tabletops and finished slabs. Our next machine may be a double-drum Woodmaster Drum Sander. It’s more money than a single-drum machine but it’s twice the speed.

We sell nationwide. For advertising, we’re real big on social media and pump a lot of energy into our website. We do a lot on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and a lot of business comes from word of mouth.

Right for any shop – weekend woodworker, mid-size shop, large shop

If somebody’s interested in saving time and money, especially if you’re making tables, benches, and things like that, I’d say absolutely go for it. In my opinion, if someone’s on the fence, they’d be foolish not to do it. Woodmaster gives you three major advantages: a better finished product, quicker production, and money-savings. And that goes for anybody from a D-I-Y weekend woodworker, to medium-size shops, to even large shops.

And I’ve been very pleased with Woodmaster’s customer service. Their machines are made in the USA and I like to buy USA products when I can. Woodmaster’s not a huge company; there are real people over there, always willing to talk with me. When I need a replacement part, they’re right on it. They’re easy to deal with, they ship right away. They’re good people – I have nothing negative to say at all.”

— Joshua White, Woodmaster Drum Sander Owner, Tampa Bay Salvage, Palm Harbor & Dade City FL

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How to Grow a Successful Woodworking Business

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Can you say, "Wow, that's a big drum sander!" You're right, it's a 50" wide Woodmaster Drum Sander. And it's got twin drums under the hood.

Can you say, “Wow, that’s a big drum sander!” You’re right, it’s a 50″ wide Woodmaster Drum Sander. And it’s got twin drums under the hood.

Not long ago, we talked with woodworker, Jeff Derosia. He’d just lost his job as a Mechanical Engineering Technologist and was starting a woodworking business with a Woodmaster Molder/Planer. Read Jeff’s start-up story here.

Some time has passed, and Jeff’s added a Woodmaster Drum Sander .  We figured his business must be going well. (We were right.) Read the latest news on Jeff, his growing production business,  and his Woodmaster equipment.

“I know things are good when I look at the calendar and see I’m booked well into next year. My phone rings steadily and my woodworking business is growing. Most of my business is through word of mouth from past customers. And past customers come back, too. A guy I did some work for a year ago came back and asked me to bid on a full kitchen remodeling job – cabinets, an island, and more. I got the job.

I started with a 25” Woodmaster Molder/Planer. Now I’ve added the Woodmaster 50” double drum sander. My work ranges from small projects to full kitchens and I do it all turnkey, all in house.

Here's our friend, Jeff Derosia, with his first Woodmaster, a 25" Woodmaster Molder/Planer. His business is growing and he's now added a 50" Woodmaster Drum Sander.

Here’s our friend, Jeff Derosia, with his first Woodmaster, a 25″ Woodmaster Molder/Planer. His business is growing and he’s now added a 50″ Woodmaster Drum Sander.

It’s all about working efficiency and quality

In my business it’s all about efficiency and quality. When I run workpieces through my drum sander, that’s a lot less time I have to spend hand sanding. For example, if I build a door from scratch, I may have to hand-sand it for as long as an hour. If I plane the pieces first to get a good surface, then sand them in my drum sander, it could take just 5 or 10 minutes, maybe 20% of the time hand sanding takes.

Sometimes, sanding a door or a wide panel by hand, I end up with an offset, or slightly different thicknesses across the surface. But when I sand a wide panel with my Woodmaster Drum Sander, I sand the full width all at one time and eliminate any offset or human error. So when I build a door or a wide panel, my Woodmaster lets me work 50% faster than by hand. The time savings depend on the situation so in some situations I may save even more time.

How big is big? The Woodmaster's twin drums are 50" wide. Looks like Jim's panel's about 2/3 the width, or 33 or 34" across.

How big is big? The Woodmaster’s twin drums are 50″ wide. Looks like Jeff’s panel’s about 2/3 the width, or 33 or 34″ across.

Faster production runs

Where the Woodmaster is really an asset is when I’m building 30 cabinets and doors. I can stack the pieces up and run them through one right after the other. In my small operation, I can do in one day what would take me two or three days by hand.

I chose Woodmaster’s Drum Sander based on the experience I had with my Woodmaster Molder/Planer. I did a lot of research and wanted the biggest bang for my buck. I realized that to get a wide belt sander as wide as this one, I’d have to have 3-phase power, a larger shop, and in some cases twice the money.  Or I could have gone with used industrial equipment at an auction, with no warranty and no support.

Cost is a big factor, of course. And since I could get the same quality as a more expensive sander at half the cost, why wouldn’t I get a Woodmaster? Being able to buy a Woodmaster at a good price point, and having worked with them before helped me decide.

Go big

I chose the 50” drum sander based on my work, efficiency, and quality. I tend to go big with equipment. I’m a one-man operation and if I can increase efficiency with big equipment, that’s a big advantage. I make all kinds of projects of all sizes and I didn’t want to paint myself into a corner with smaller equipment. For example, it’s great to be able to sand something 4 feet wide like the custom barn doors I made recently.

Four cabinet doors in one pass. And all with a paint-ready finish.

Four cabinet doors in one pass. And all with a paint-ready finish.

2 drums – 2 sanding passes in 1

I chose Woodmaster’s double drum sander because I want a paint-grade finish on my projects. I set up the sander with staggered grits in a 120/220 configuration. I mount the first drum with 120 grit paper and the second drum with 220. That gives me the equivalent of two passes in one and I get a finish-ready surface. That puts me ahead of the curve with less time, more efficiency, and great quality.

Another way to set up the double-drum sander is to mount half the width of both drums with one grit paper and half the width of both with another grit.

Also, I can adjust the height of the drums independently. That means I can sand with just the front drum, or just back drum, or both drums with each pass. Depending on the project, that flexibility can be an advantage.

I’ve had others…

I’ve had other drum sanders. I had a Jet one-drum sander. I have a mechanical background and I could not get it to sand flat. I used a machinist’s level and I couldn’t get it to sand flat .Its drum is cantilevered – not connected to the machine at one end. You take one pass to sand half the width, turn your workpiece around, and sand the other half of the width.

I called their customer service department. Their answer was, “It’s made overseas and it may be somewhat out of square.’ It was disheartening to hear that’s what Jet customer service thinks of their own machines. And the manual that came with it didn’t cover the model I bought.

Woodmaster’s made in the USA

My Woodmaster tools – molder/planer and drum sander – are made in the USA. They help me achieve the quality standards I demand. These tools have changed my perspective of what I make and how I make it. It’s all been for the better.

Going forward, I have a good foundation with Woodmaster equipment. I want to get a larger dust collection system. I’d like to get Woodmaster’s dual-router setup for my molder/planer. And a second, smaller planer, too. I’ve also been thinking about getting a TimberKing sawmill someday.

I laud Woodmaster their functional, well-built equipment, and for their customer service and promptness. They’re really good people to work with.”

— Jeff Derosia, Woodmaster 50” Drum Sander owner, The Stump Company, Gonzales LA

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10 EXTRAORDINARY THINGS you can do with a Woodmaster Drum Sander

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Hey, woodworkers! Ever wonder what YOU could actually do with a Woodmaster Drum Sander? Here are 10 EXTRAORDINARY things Woodmaster Owners are making, building, and doing right now, right in their shops.

1. Turn “weed trees” into fantastic high-end furnitureMontana woodworker, Andrew Bishop, harvests noxious Russian olive trees and turns them into one-of-a-kind tables with his 50” Woodmaster Drum Sande

> Read Andrew’s story

2. Build Wooden Boats
Woodworker, John Owens, started making wooden boat parts with a Woodmaster Drum Sander. It’s turned it into a nice business.

> Read John’s story

3. Start a family woodworking businessRay Harmon worked as a designer for a high-end furniture company. Now he and his two boys have started their own family furniture building business.

> Read Ray’s story

4. Make beautiful music with a WoodmasterMusician and woodworker, John Mannino, builds premier quality acoustical guitars with his Woodmaster Drum Sande

> Read John’s story

5. Streamline a time-consuming production problemArt Blackwelder solved a time-consuming production problem with his Woodmaster. Face-sanding aluminum and bronze castings makes the letters really stand out. Fast, easy, professional.

> Read Art’s story

6. Build a regulation-size pool table

“I’m a self-taught woodworker,” says Chuck Phelps. “I recently built my biggest, most difficult project, a 4’ x 8’ pool table. Couldn’t have done it without my 38” Woodmaster Drum Sander.”

> Read Chuck’s story

7. Stay BUSY and HAPPY in retirement“So many people retire and have nothing to do,” says John Leipen. “My wife and I run our own retirement woodworking business, and business is great. Every day’s different and we love it!”

> Read John’s story

8. Do a day’s worth of sanding in 15 minutes“My Woodmaster Drum Sander is a Godsend. It’s saved me literally days of hand sanding. Cabinetmakers spend 60% of their time hand-sanding. I can do in 15 minutes what would take me a full day to hand sand.”

> Read Jeff’s story

9. Build a 13,000 square foot home

“Our home is 13,000 square feet. There are 76 interior doors, four kitchens, a dozen bathrooms, miles of molding, and more. Buying the millwork alone would have busted the budget so I got a Woodmaster…”

> Read Charles’ story

10. Make outstanding Adirondack-style furniture“I run an internet-based woodworking business manufacturing rustic, Adirondack-style furniture with my Woodmaster. My customers include hotels, restaurants, celebrities, decorators, even a major celebrity.”

> Read Richard’s Story

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