It was a long drive but worth every mile; I had a good time sharing information and, oh yeah, we able to fix the sander. I was visiting Scott Conner with Conner Hardwood in Algood, Tenn. They have a very nice showroom with the storage/warehouse just through the back door. It would be a treat to have a building that size...lots of room to grow and do millwork for stairs, handrails, just about anything you have to do.
We spoke about work; they also have made the move away from builders and are doing more remodels. The builders just beat them up on price as well as take way too long to pay. They do have a few builders they trust, plus are willing to pay for the work. They order their supplies via catalog and use UPS often because-lucky-they have a UPS hub across the street. They cut edger paper from rolls and still run a drum sander on some jobs; I like to see the old-school folks, they respect the trade and craftsmanship.
The big machine was just not dressed, so we set up the dressing board, confirmed the adjustment for flat, and then got 'er done. The right side of the unit was cutting hard; the edge of the drum was not rolled at all. After dressing the drum and rolling the edge a bit, we set up with 80-grit paper, then went to 40-grit to make sure the tracking was on, and at the point we starting sanding the floor, and it cut flat and fast. Scott said that the lines were gone 100 percent; before he could see them when he was standing up. We got down on the floor and ran our hands across the floor to see if we could feel anything...nothing.
I am going to think about the trip again and let you all know what they do over what we do. The truth is the sun was right in my face all the way home and my head hurts, so looking at the screen just adds to the discomfort.
