Tag Archives: woodmaster drum sander

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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Hey, Woodmaster owners, YOU could be our next Woodmaster Woodworker of the Month! Email photos

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