I know this is probably a long shot but I am looking for some help. I have half a dozen pine boards that I am giving to a friend to help him make a farmhouse-style rustic dining table. Unfortunately, the slabs vary in thickness from 1-5/8" to 2-1/8". They will all fit through an 18" planer or drum sander (maybe with a bit of trimming). I am willing to drive a couple of hours in pretty much any direction to get these planed to the same thickness (1-1/2"), but I am finding a hard time finding someone with a planer or drum sander large enough. I am located just north of Bennington, VT, so anywhere in the NYS Capital District (Albany area), Berkshire county MA, southern VT would be great. Just need to find someone. Also, budget consideration - free or cheap is a necessity. I have considered a router sled, hand planing etc. and ruled all that out owing to the amount of work involved.
I regret ever selling my Powermatic 180 planer or 18" Delta drum sander, but this is now and that was then. :-\
Mead Lumber does custom planing pretty sure. They will be expensive I bet.
Meadlumber.net
Northern Hardwoods in Lake George would prolly do it.
518.668.4501
There's another guy named Casey in Hartford NY who does kiln drying/milling. I think I have his number on the board at the mill. I could prolly dig it up if you need it. My iphone died last night so I'm back to my old flip phone and lost alot of contacts.
-Also there's a guy in Champlain NY right over the bridge from VT Caron Wood Products is his name he would do that.
I found his number on Adirondack Wood so it could be way outdated it's 518-298-5660
-Another guy I know of Alex Hudak in St. Albans, VT he has planing/milling capacities. https://www.ashudaklumber.com/ (https://www.ashudaklumber.com/)
There's another guy right next to Meads I don't have his number but I think his company was like MJ Wood Products or something..he's right next to meads. He would probably have the capacity.
Oh and Jimmy Carter in West Fort Ann could prolly do it too. I don't have his number but he's right off rt 149 just before it turns to queensbury northview farm I think it's called. He's a good egg.
These guys might do it too and prolly the closest:
http://ghentwoodproducts.com/
I just looked up Shaftsbury, you are really close to Paulson Wood Products. They might do it or know someone who could. The guy is just as nice as can be. He used to run a Wood-Mizer also.
http://www.paulsonwoodproducts.com/
I have a Woodmaster 718 and I'm just up the road from you.
Gerald
Why not flatten on a band saw mill? Easy and fast.
Going to be hard to find someone to do all that for free.
You might also consider finding someone with a swing-blade mill (Lucas, Peterson or TurboSaw) with a planer attachment.
Guys, thanks for all the responses. Doug, I called Paulson's first and they do not have the capability to plane or sand wide pieces, and didn't know anyone who did.
Turns out that there is a place just down the street from my work, with both a wide planer and a wide belt or drum sander. Some of you might recognize the name or the company: Sperber Tool Works. They used to produce some pretty impressive chainsaw mills back in the 70's and 80's, even featured in Fine Woodworking. The last time I spoke with the owner was 12 years ago, when I was in the same shop talking to him about his mills. I had no idea of his current tooling, so it was a pleasant surprise to find out that he had the machinery to do the job.
I also completely forgot about using a large router sled. That's still an option for future projects.
A large CNC router can also flatten those for you.
That's great news you found someone. I don't have the planning disc for my Lucas and am looking to make a cradle for my Triton router to fit on the carriage of the Lucas.
Quote from: scsmith42 on October 27, 2017, 10:56:06 AM
A large CNC router can also flatten those for you.
That never crossed my mind. I am old school and don't even consider that level of technology most of the time.
Unfortunately those are a lot more rare than a wide planer.
Quote from: Engineer on October 27, 2017, 03:30:29 PM
Quote from: scsmith42 on October 27, 2017, 10:56:06 AM
A large CNC router can also flatten those for you.
That never crossed my mind. I am old school and don't even consider that level of technology most of the time.
Unfortunately those are a lot more rare than a wide planer.
Not around here - there are probably 3 - 4 CNC routers to every planer wider than 36"