Thickness Sander Design #2: Initial Modifications

I can’t offer any suggestions, but am looking forward to your ideas.

Lew

-- Lew- Time traveler. Purveyor of the Universe's finest custom rolling pins.

what about the height adjustment? i think you need to think about it very early in the design, as this can influence positioning of anything else.

-- The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep...

“what about the height adjustment? i think you need to think about it very early in the design, as this can influence positioning of anything else.”

Good point. I was more worried about making the whole design collapsible, I have some ideas for the height adjustment, Ill have to think about how to tie that into my overal goals though. thanks for the reminder.

-- If you can't build it, code it. If you can't code it, build it. But always ALWAYS take a picture.

It looks like you are putting a lot of thought into this design, which will pay off in the long run I’m sure. The best piece of advice I can give you is something that I learned from building mine… keep it simple.

The whole reason I decided to build one in the first place is that to me it seemed like such a simple machine. It’s just a spinning drum and a table, right?

I know you are trying to cut cost, but for a model this big, you will need (two) pretty substantial motors, fairly heavy bearings and shaft, and you are talking about feed rollers, etc. The $$$ are going to add up quicker than you know it.

I went through the same process before I built mine. I designed the heck out of it. But the end, I chose a very simple design that turned out to be very satisfying because it was so quick and easy to make, cost very little, and I was sanding accurately in no time.

By the way, here are a few tips from my design:

• Feed rollers are over-rated. Trust me, it works fine without them. Just push it through at a constant speed like you do on a jointer or table saw. Cutting those out of the design might save you a lot of hassle.

• I have a 1hp motor on my 12” model (4” drum). I think this is the smallest I could get away with. I need a slow feed rate and shallow setting to not bog it down on wide pieces. For a 16” model you will need a fairly big motor.

• Make sure your table is flat, very heavy duty and rigid, and slick on top.

• True your drum after you install the table by pushing sandpaper between the table and drum. This way the drum is true to the table.

Just some food for thought. I’m sure it will turn out great.

-- Happy woodworking! http://www.openarmsphotography.com

Hi Blake, Yea I think I have pretty much decided to scrap the feed rollers. Its not the biggest priority.

I was thinking of only a 1HP, maybe I will bump my expectation up a bit and see what I can find cheap in the > 1 hp field.

For my table I was planning on glueing 2 sheets of mdf together with a plastic lam top and bottom.

Did you use sandpaper on a board or did you use just sandpaper? I have seen the reccomendation to use sp glued to a board…so I was curious how you did it.

I think I have figured out how I want to do my adjustment screw, but I have to think whether it will be a pita to remove it before putting the table away. I also have an idea on a way to actually make it swivel out of the way when I am ready to store it. We’ll see which way I like it better.

-- If you can't build it, code it. If you can't code it, build it. But always ALWAYS take a picture.

I would echo Blake’s four tips.
- I use my machine a lot and it works really well without the added complication of a feed mechanism.
- I have a 1.5 hp motor driving a 16” x 5” roller
- My bed is piece of 1 1/2” kitchen worktop/counter; chipboard already laminated with plastic. Maybe this material is peculiar to UK?
- I used the recommended method of abrasive paper glued to a board & it worked very well indeed. As Blake says, there’s then no argument about the roller not being parallel to the bed

-- Res severa verum gaudium - True pleasure is a serious business. http://www.folksy.com/shops/TreeGems

I think that is probably the same as Melamine coated particle board. I could also get a premade countertop and just cut it to size. But I think the MDF with Plastic Laminate will look nicer and be more durable in the end.

-- If you can't build it, code it. If you can't code it, build it. But always ALWAYS take a picture.