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As others have noted, the drum sander is great for helping to flatten panels, but it isn't final sanding since it leaves straight sanding lines in the wood. Taking the panel to 180 grit helps relieve some of the final sanding to be done with an ROS. I typically keep 80 grit on mine to knock down rough edges from bandsawing, etc. A couple of days ago, I ran the curved apron assembly for the credenza I'm building through the sander to clean up the edges and get it to final width. I did the flat sides with an ROS, of course.Thanks everyone!
Jim I know that a drum sander does only one thing, and that is the final sanding flat of panels, it is NOT a planer etc. What I really want it for is when I have some nice figured wood, and I want to resaw it, then use it like a veneer, with the planer I have, any figured wood comes out with all kinds of craters in it, which is a darn shame. The other option is to spring for a spiral head planer, but that will NOT do thin panels, I understand it will blow them up
Making veneers with my drum sander is a snap. I've made veneers with several types of wood, taking them down to 1/32" or less.