Having thoroughly enjoyed making the Little Bess Ring Box, the smallest project I’ve ever made in boxes, I have decided to go to the other end of the scale. I’ve always hankered after a Drum Sander but could never afford the £500+ price tag. I idly tapped ‘drum sander’ into the search box and found that not only was I not alone in not being able to afford one but that there was a solution. Build you own. There are numerous ideas out there but the soundest seems to be (I’ll probably regret saying that, I usually do) The plan off of Dominics Woodshop. The link is provided on a blog by Yorkshire Stewart to whom I am grateful.
http://www.rockslide.org/drum%20sander.html
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the PLAN link
First things first what have I already got to make this a ‘goer’ or possibility. Well an old induction motor and pulley set
various bits of hardwood, screws etc. etc.
Most of it I’ve had to buy in though and I’ll total it up at the end. Anyway I started off with what has become one of my favourite pasttmes, scouring the net for bargains. This turned up the pillow block bearings, steel rod and a longer pulley belt (longer than the one I had). This allowed me to size things up on the bench
The original design has a 12” wide table and drum but the 3/4” steel rod I had bought allows for a 14” table. Theres a bonus.
Most of the rest of the stuff; timber (I chose softwood its cheaper), screws, threaded rod I could buy from work (and get a 10% discount).
This shows the frame pieces cut to length. Cutting the lap joints on the tablesaw was going to take forever with a 1/8” inch blade. Dado blades seem to be hard to come by in the UK so I improvised. The depth of the arbour on my saw allowed me to double up on blades (6mm or 1/4”). I know this is risky but I asked permission from Autumn’s tablesaw Gods and did it up extra tight. Stood to the side and set it running. A minor tinkling sound, which turned out to be a small piece of sycamore trapped in the guard, but no explosions or flying saw blades. I let it run for 5 minutes. Still no problems. With this setup I finished off the 26 lap/halving joints in an hour and a half. Result!
I’ve lined the struts the bearing blocks are mounted on (and the one the table pivots on) with whatever non-exotic hardwood I had laying about. Oak and Maple. So here’s the build so far.
This has taken about three days so far but I’m on holiday this week so who cares
-- Martyn -- Boxologist, Pattern Juggler and Candyman of the visually challenging. http://www.theartofboxes.com
13 comments so far
degoose
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6588 posts in 1520 days
#1 posted 1101 days ago
I for one will be waiting for the next installment…
-- Drink twice... and don't bother to cut... @ larrysworkshop.wordpress.com For lovers of all things timber...
PurpLev
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7729 posts in 1814 days
#2 posted 1101 days ago
looking good!
-- ㊍ When in doubt - There is no doubt - Go the safer route.
Jack Barnhill
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362 posts in 1531 days
#3 posted 1101 days ago
I’ll be looking forward to seeing the rest of the build. I’d love to have one of these as well but, I’d have to shrink it down to pocket-sized. No room in my shop for such a luxury.
-- Best regards, Jack -- I may not be good, but I'm slow -- www.BarnhillWoodworks.com
Dennisgrosen
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10854 posts in 1281 days
#4 posted 1101 days ago
I thought this blog was to show that you got a plane
but then again you surprice everyone , already near finished
with the sander
thank´s for sharing some of your thoughts before finishing it
and it looks dam good sofare from what I can see
looking forward to see some dust flying from it
Dennis
Mary Anne
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1056 posts in 1374 days
#5 posted 1101 days ago
Oh, good for you!!
I wimped out and bought a drum sander (Jet 16-32 Plus) a while back. Maybe in 6 months or a year, I’ll feel like I have the skill level and patience to build one, but I am really glad I made the purchase.
If I am finding a drum sander to be a valuable addition to my shop, I can imagine how pleased you will be with one in your more capable hands.
BritBoxmaker
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4003 posts in 1202 days
#6 posted 1101 days ago
Hey now Mary Anne. We’ve all got our skills. I cannot turn, I’ve tried. The results are too hideous to post.
LOL
Martyn
-- Martyn -- Boxologist, Pattern Juggler and Candyman of the visually challenging. http://www.theartofboxes.com
BritBoxmaker
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4003 posts in 1202 days
#7 posted 1101 days ago
Jack, you could scale it down.
How about using a wooden rolling pin as the drum? Powered by a hand drill. I seem to remember from the 60’s and 70’s that there were numerous attachments for hand drills. Go on give it a go.
Martyn
-- Martyn -- Boxologist, Pattern Juggler and Candyman of the visually challenging. http://www.theartofboxes.com
Jack Barnhill
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362 posts in 1531 days
#8 posted 1101 days ago
I don’t think I would get the preferred accuracy from a hand drill/rolling pin combination. For now, I think I’ll stick with my thickness planer/ROS combination. But, some day . . . . . . . . maybe.
-- Best regards, Jack -- I may not be good, but I'm slow -- www.BarnhillWoodworks.com
Houtje
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285 posts in 1137 days
#9 posted 1100 days ago
Wow that looks nice, Allways want to make one too.
The problem is I want to much and the time is going so fast.
I have the motor from an old painting machine. Now the rest…....
stefang
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9436 posts in 1500 days
#10 posted 1100 days ago
You never cease to surprise me Martyn. I will be watching with great interest. I have been thinking about making one of these myself, but never can seem to get off my backside long enough. It looks great so far. Keep up the good work.
-- Mike, American in Norway
lumberdustjohn
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1162 posts in 1332 days
#11 posted 1100 days ago
I admire your work.
I am saving up for one.
I have a delta open end with a feed belt.
Want to get one a little bigger someday.
-- Safety first because someone needs you.
BritBoxmaker
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4003 posts in 1202 days
#12 posted 1100 days ago
Thanks for the encouragement A.
I keep coming across niggling ‘show stoppers’ but the idea that at the end of all of this I’ll finally have a drum sander all of my very own is definitely worth holding on to.
Thank you all for encouraging me to ‘blog’. You asked for it!
Martyn
-- Martyn -- Boxologist, Pattern Juggler and Candyman of the visually challenging. http://www.theartofboxes.com
Cozmo35
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2138 posts in 1201 days
#13 posted 1100 days ago
Martyn, you are becoming quit the star on these blogs! I (like many many others) will be very much liiking forward to the out come of this blog as much as the others! Good Luck!
-- If you don't work, you don't eat!.....Garland, TX
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