[CarveOne]

I saw one of these at the stockroom booth at a woodworking show. I have thought about building one, also. Even started gathering parts.

The problem I see is this: Stockroom uses Velcro "hook" material covering the roller. THe sanding belt has the Velcro "pile" on the back. When meshed, the two halves are spongy. That allows the cushion between the roller and the board being sanded. When the roller is spinning, centrifugal force throws the sanding belt out and it rubs against the board. With a sanding belt wrapped to a hard roller, will the sander work as good?

I put my sander on the back burner until I learn more. Hope yours works good! Keep us posted.

John

Thanks for the reply John.

I ordered a couple of 2" pulleys (one is 1/2" bore for the motor shaft and the other is for the 3/4" drum shaft) and a 1/2" link belt from Grizzly Industrial yesterday and expect them to arrive by middle of next week.

Were they using something like an inflatable drum?

I am guessing that a hard drum will work ok since it will still have the cushion provided by the expanding velcro. If it's too hard, maybe a smaller diameter drum with a layer of 1/4" thick (hot wire cut) multicolored carpet padding contact cemented to it will work adequately. In that case I can use the 2" electrical conduit from Lowes for the drum. The padding may not survive being rotated at 1725 rpm without the sanding strip being wrapped around it.

CarveOne

[johnmac]

Stockroom uses a hard drum with a Velcro sleeve over it. I'm not sure how the sleeve is fastened to the drum. The hook and loop of the Velcro is the only cushion. When the drum spins, it throws the sanding strip out, and a combination of the spiral wrap and the Velcro catch it. The sander takes advantage of this, and it may be the secret to ti's success.

Are you going to use the Velcro setup? If so, about the only place I found the pile backed sanding strips was at Stockroom. I must admit, the setup is pretty simple and slick. Oh, and the proper name of these are Face Sanders.

John

[CarveOne]

Stockroom uses a hard drum with a Velcro sleeve over it. I'm not sure how the sleeve is fastened to the drum. The hook and loop of the Velcro is the only cushion. When the drum spins, it throws the sanding strip out, and a combination of the spiral wrap and the Velcro catch it. The sander takes advantage of this, and it may be the secret to ti's success.

Are you going to use the Velcro setup? If so, about the only place I found the pile backed sanding strips was at Stockroom. I must admit, the setup is pretty simple and slick. Oh, and the proper name of these are Face Sanders.

John

That name makes more sense.

The 3" wide zinc stearate hook & loop rolls come from Klingspor at this link. There is a Klingspor Woodworking store about 1-1/2 hours away by interstate that I can probably get it from next time I go there for other reasons. It's a favorite stop of mine anyway. Online order will be cheaper the first time, and pick it up at the store when it is convenient.

I was at Lowes today and found 4' long by 2" wide velcro strip for $9.89 or so. It may take two packages to fully cover the 3" diameter pipe surface. I would spiral wind it around the drum using contact cement unless these strips have very good adhesive on them. Need to glue the correct half onto the drum for sure.

The plywood top I laminated with Formica has a little bow to it at each end. I bought some 1" x 2" red oak for framing to help flatten it out (hopefully). Will work on that later this evening.

CarveOne

[johnmac]

Home Depot also has the Velcro in a roll. It has an adhesive backing. Good to know a second source for the sanding strips.

I bought a roll an adhesive backed roll of sand paper at Lowes with the intent of sticking it on the roller. But then I got to thinking about the hard sanding surface and was unsure how it would work when hand holding the board. That's when the project got pushed to the back of the work bench. You've got me rethinking it now.

John

[CarveOne]

Home Depot also has the Velcro in a roll. It has an adhesive backing. Good to know a second source for the sanding strips.

I bought a roll an adhesive backed roll of sand paper at Lowes with the intent of sticking it on the roller. But then I got to thinking about the hard sanding surface and was unsure how it would work when hand holding the board. That's when the project got pushed to the back of the work bench. You've got me rethinking it now.

John

I don't think that the hard drum is an issue. The drum doesn't press against the wood, only the sand paper does due to the velcro "growing" in diameter as the drum spins. They don't press down on the board, just keep it in contact with the sand paper. They use a bolt (or two) to set the table surface when the drum is not spinning to where a board does not quite touch the sandpaper. When the drum is spinning the sand paper will sand the wood. It would be nice to have a fine adjustment of the table clearance with a crank or knob.

Flatness of the table plate is important. The one I made has about 3/32" cup in the middle relative to the ends. I cut and glued a strip of oak at the front and rear this evening then slid a 1/4" wooden spacer across the middle under the plate and weighted each end down with four 4" solid concrete blocks to pre-stress it. When the Titebond II has cured tomorrow morning I'll see if it is still cupped. If it is I'll have to get something flatter and cut another one.

CarveOne

[johnmac]

[QUOTE=CarveOne;678841]I don't think that the hard drum is an issue. The drum doesn't press against the wood, only the sand paper does due to the velcro "growing" in diameter as the drum spins. They don't press down on the board, just keep it in contact with the sand paper. They use a bolt (or two) to set the table surface when the drum is not spinning to where a board does not quite touch the sandpaper. When the drum is spinning the sand paper will sand the wood. It would be nice to have a fine adjustment of the table clearance with a crank or knob.

Yes, your correct on how the Velcro makes this setup work. I almost built one using plain adhesive backed sand paper to a hard roller. I then started to realize that it may not work the same.

John

[CarveOne]

[quote=johnmac;678866]

I don't think that the hard drum is an issue. The drum doesn't press against the wood, only the sand paper does due to the velcro "growing" in diameter as the drum spins. They don't press down on the board, just keep it in contact with the sand paper. They use a bolt (or two) to set the table surface when the drum is not spinning to where a board does not quite touch the sandpaper. When the drum is spinning the sand paper will sand the wood. It would be nice to have a fine adjustment of the table clearance with a crank or knob.

Yes, your correct on how the Velcro makes this setup work. I almost built one using plain adhesive backed sand paper to a hard roller. I then started to realize that it may not work the same.

John

One thing about this idea is that the drum surface doesn't have to be perfectly true. The cushioning effect of the velcro should prevent, or minimize, the bumping that would happen to a board with plain sand paper glued to a hard drum.

Do you remember what diameter the drum was? I'm guessing that it is 2-1/2" to 3". If I don't find a suitable 3" steel pipe soon I'm thinking that I'll get a short section of Schedule 40 PVC from Lowes and try it to see if static becomes an issue. They sell it in 3' and 5' lengths for a few bucks and if it isn't round enough I can skim the surface true in my 12x36 lathe.

As for static, the PVC pipe will be mounted on a steel shaft with steel support donuts, and I can connect a wire from the pillow block bolts to the AC ground wire at the motor to drain it off. If dust gets attracted to the drum right away I will know that the grounding is not effective enough when relying on the bearings for a grounding path. It won't take much sanding to see that something else is needed.

CarveOne