[CarveOne]

This 24" drum sander is based on the Stockroom Supply info on their web site, and will have modifications as needed to make it work with parts and materials that I already have on hand.

The basic structure was cut from 3/4" B-C grade plywood and assembled with Titebond II and deck screws today.

The 3/4" ID bearing blocks have a mounting base that is wider than 3/4" so I added a 3/4" plywood doubler plate to the outside at each end of the structure for them to sit on. Threaded inserts will be installed into the structure for mounting the bearing blocks.

The motor mounting plate will be hinged so that the weight of the motor keeps tension on the link belt. The old Delco "RigidFrame" cast iron 1/4 hp 1725 rpm runs so quiet it can hardly be heard. This motor is under powered for using the full drum width but it should work ok for my uses. I don't plan to use full drum width very often, if at all. If I happen to run across a free 1/2 hp motor I'll change it out.

i have a piece of 1018 cold rolled steel bar stock that will be used for the drum axle. It will need to be turned smaller on the pulley end for a 1/2" ID pulley. Flats will be put on the axle where set screws are located.

I intend to make a drum from 3" galvanized steel pipe that will be surface turned on the lathe, and balanced for minimal vibration. Galvanized pipe has a welded seam that may cause the pipe to be a little heavier on that side of the pipe. Probably enough to cause vibrations. Steel end caps will be welded into the pipe. The axle will go all the way through the pipe and end caps. A spacer ring will be located in the center of the pipe and held in place with three countersunk flat head socket screws that will get radiused while truing the surface in the lathe. The screws will have red thread locker on them.

The table top will be made of 3/4" B-C grade plywood, with red oak framing to help keep it flat. Formica will be applied to the top surface.

This project will not be fast paced. It will be mixed in with my CNC router build and a non-CNC DIY open back banjo build as I feel like working on it and have the parts to continue building it.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

Yesterday I cut some 3/4" B-C grade plywood to size for the top plate, then laminated it to a piece of scrap motley brown Formica I had used on my work benches. The slot will not be cut until I decide on the drum diameter.

Lowes only had 1-1/2" galvanized (or the black) pipe and the rigid or EMT electrical pipes were just 2" diameter. I was looking for 2-1/2" or 3" galvanized pipe. It seems to me that a heavier wall steel pipe will have an advantage over thinner wall pipe due to flywheel effect.

I'll see if a local welding shop has something of use. The plan is to use some 3/8" HRS plate I have on hand to machine three donuts to fit inside the pipe, at the middle and at each end. They will be MIG welded in place.

CarveOne

[johnmac]

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

[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

[johnmac]

Their drum isn't very big. Only about 2" or 2 1/2" in diameter. That requires a very small diameter pulley on the drum. Seems to me that a bit larger drum would make building the unit and fitting the top easier.

John

[johnmac]

Have you thought about getting the drum mounted to the shaft yet? I saw an article on building a conventional style drum sander and the builder using PVC pipe for the drum. He used a large hole saw to cut spacers out of 3/4" plywood. He used a saw that produced a plug that just slid in the pipe. Then drilled out the center hole to fit the shaft. The two end spacers are drilled and pinned to the shaft. The other spacers are glued to the shaft to hold them in place. Then the PVC drum is held to all spacers with countersunk screws.

John

[CarveOne]

Their drum isn't very big. Only about 2" or 2 1/2" in diameter. That requires a very small diameter pulley on the drum. Seems to me that a bit larger drum would make building the unit and fitting the top easier.

John

That's what I was thinking. I have 2" pulleys and a 1/2" link belt coming from Grizzly Industrial that are supposed to arrive on Tuesday. 2" pulleys seem kinda small but will clear the table top more easily with the larger diameter drum. The larger diameter drum also adds more SFM, and potentially more drag on the motor. I think the widest thing I might sand is a block of wood for a guitar body.

Have you gathered your parts together yet?

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

Have you thought about getting the drum mounted to the shaft yet? I saw an article on building a conventional style drum sander and the builder using PVC pipe for the drum. He used a large hole saw to cut spacers out of 3/4" plywood. He used a saw that produced a plug that just slid in the pipe. Then drilled out the center hole to fit the shaft. The two end spacers are drilled and pinned to the shaft. The other spacers are glued to the shaft to hold them in place. Then the PVC drum is held to all spacers with countersunk screws.

John

Yes, I was going to machine pieces of 1/4" or 3/8" steel plate I have into the proper diameter donuts with a 3/4" center hole for the steel shaft. Tack weld the donuts to the shaft in three places 120 degrees apart. Slide the sleeve over it and drill and tap 3 or 4 holes in each donut for screws and countersink. File the screw heads flush with the drum where needed. This will work ok for steel or PVC drums, but the donuts need to be sized for whichever type of pipe is used. I can tack weld it (MIG) without warping the shaft. I didn't want to weaken the shaft by putting screws into it. Making a hub for set screws would work also. The plywood idea will work fine and be easier.

CarveOne

[johnmac]

Other than planning, the sander is on the back burner for now. Winter came quite early for us this year. I just got gas run to the garage / shop for heat. Top priority now is getting my 36" X 43" steel frame, ball screw driven router table wired. Its been a long time coming! :wee:

John

[ger21]

Here's the drum sander I'd like to build.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=87536

[CarveOne]

Other than planning, the sander is on the back burner for now. Winter came quite early for us this year. I just got gas run to the garage / shop for heat. Top priority now is getting my 36" X 43" steel frame, ball screw driven router table wired. Its been a long time coming! :wee:

John

I need to do the same. Making do with a portable gas heater and BBQ cylinder last winter and hope to do something better this winter.

CarveOne

[CarveOne]

Here's the drum sander I'd like to build.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=87536

You build it and I'll follow it if you post it here.

That one sounds interesting but I don't need to log into yet another woodworking site just to see the photos. I'm afraid I might find another dozen (or two) projects on that site that I just have to build. I have this drum/face sander, a camp banjo, and a CNC router in the works now.

CarveOne

[johnmac]

If you ever feel the need to expand your woodworking horizon, the Creek is the place to be!

John

[CarveOne]

If you ever feel the need to expand your woodworking horizon, the Creek is the place to be!

John

Yes, I know that. Just can't afford that site right now, even if it's free. Too many good things to do there that will distract me.


I finished adding an oak border on the table top today. It looks plenty flat now. After cutting the slot for the drum I'll glue on some oak strips on both sides of the opening. Tomorrow I'll sand the oak border and then stain and coat it with satin polyurethane.

CarveOne