I have made a simple Plank Thicknesser to dress planks to a consistent thickness after they have been roughly cut on a large saw bench. The setup was pretty easy to build from plywood. The sanding drum spindle was turned from a single piece of hardwood and was mounted in ball bearings housed in the wooden blocks at each end of the spindle. The sanding drum was then covered in a linishing belt glued on with contact cement. The drum is then driven by an electric hand drill.