Homemade Drum Sander?

[®smpr_fi_mac®]

Somewhere I had seen where someone made a table for above a drum sander roll, with a slot. Hand feeding would be pretty easy with that sort of configuration.

Matthias Wendell (or however you spell his name) has plans for another's design like this on his page.

[Cecil]

Somewhere I had seen where someone made a table for above a drum sander roll, with a slot. Hand feeding would be pretty easy with that sort of configuration.

IIRC, the table above design uses Velcro backed strips.  This allows the centrifugal force to lift the sandpaper just slightly, thus kissing the work.

Article and plans (I think).  The article is as old as the smart phone.  It is possible the plans are as rare as a version 1 smart phone.
https://stockroomsupply.org/drum-sanders...aster.html

[jteneyck]

IIRC, the table above design uses Velcro backed strips.  This allows the centrifugal force to lift the sandpaper just slightly, thus kissing the work.

Article and plans (I think).  The article is as old as the smart phone.  It is possible the plans are as rare as a version 1 smart phone.
https://stockroomsupply.org/drum-sanders...aster.html

That design, and at least one other mentioned, are for surface sanding but they won't control thickness like a true drum sander does.  If it fits your needs it wouldn't be too hard to build.  A true drum sander though offers a lot more challenges to build

John

[EricU]

I agree, if you are trying to control thickness, the design needs to be better.

[wjt]

I have, some where, an older Wood Smith that has a DIY drum sander plan in it, but it's powered by the table saw arbor. It shows how to build a hand-cranked conveyor. I'll try to find it and post it up.

The plans are in ShopNotes issue # 86

Bill

[JDuke]

I considered making one several years ago and looked at using the bed from a treadmill for constant speed that is variable.

The older treadmills have DC motors that are great for variable speed and many of them used a rheostat to just turn the speed up or down.

I also managed to find a foley belsaw planer that has the kit for using it to drum sand, but have never switched it over to use it that way.


If I recall correctly Mathias wandel who was mentioned earlier used the guts from a bench top planer to make a sander, and he mentioned that the feed speed may not be ideal.


Duke

[jasfrank]

A thickness planer would be a much better tool to control thickness. Wrapping abrasive on a drum really isnt the best method if thats your goal. An abrasive sander is usually not designed to surface to a precise thickness. But your milage may vary

[MarkSLSmith]

A thickness planer would be a much better tool to control thickness. Wrapping abrasive on a drum really isnt the best method if thats your goal. An abrasive sander is usually not designed to surface to a precise thickness. But your milage may vary

I have a thickness planer and in general I agree with this statement.  There are exceptions to this rule, I believe.

Isn't it true that if one bookmatches veneers, there is a risk of tearout because the planing direction is opposite on either side of the veneer boundary?  I'd like to glue the shop-sawn veneer to the substrate and use a planer or sander to reduce the thickness to the target as the last step.  

Secondly, I have found it difficult to plane veneer even when using a sled.  If the grain isn't perfect, like if there is a knot or any small defect, then I get a chunk ripped out of the veneer even if I take the lightest pass possible.

Mark

[SceneryMaker]

I tried using the planer to flatten some segmented rings with sufficient success to lull me into that false sense of security that we all know. Then I had one ring explode with enough enthusiasm to make me wonder if it destroyed the planer as well as the ring. After checking that the planer wasn't damaged, I went back to sanding my rings.

[MarkSLSmith]

I finished it.  I'm pleased with the way it turned out.  Here are a couple of videos of it in action. 

https://youtu.be/ilxmuh4m7s0

https://youtu.be/ZI6HLXe6biE

Some comments.  

I started out with 100 grit sandpaper.  Too slow.  In the videos, I'm using 60 grit.

Gloves are essential.  One of my fingernails is thinner than it used to be.

I feed it counter rotation.  Control of the workpiece is very good, even with a heavy cut.  I can sand in both directions with near equal ease.  

I need to make a remote on/off switch for that side of the lathe.

Comments welcome.

Mark