Shop Made Thickness Sander

turned out nice, i saw the shopnotes version that runs off your table saw it it has always intrigued me.

good job!

-- David - Houston, Texas.

That’s cool. Looks so simple but I am sure you had some challanges.

-- If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail!

Looks good to me. BZ

-- Dudley Young USN Ret.

Chris, this looks pretty good. This is a nice tool to add to your shop.

-- With God's help all things are possible- even woodworking. Woodworking is not just a hobby, it is an (expletive deleted) expensive hobby.

I’m going to be looking real close at this. Thanks!

-- Charlie M. "Woodworking - patience = firewood"

Great build. I think your approach with the grinder as a motor was brilliant too. I wish you could do a blog on how you built it, but I guess it’s too late?

-- Mike, American in Norway - Do it the fun way

Nice job! You say you made the drum, where did you get the sanding paper to put on it?

-- Debt is nothing more than the 21st Century's form of slavery.

Great project. I need one of those so bad… Using a grinder as the motor is a great idea.

-- Hal, Tennessee http://www.first285.com

Maybe a dumb question, but can you adjust the thickness your sanding? How?
Thanks.

Boom

great looking job

-- Joe, Ga

Neat project. Others have asked the same questions I have so I will just watch this post for your reply…

Sweet! I want one!! :^|

How do you adjust the depth?

-- Brian http://www.garagewoodworks.com

Boom, I added another pic of the bolt that raises or lowers the table height.

-- Chris

OK thanks. So the table pivots on one end, and then adjusts witht he screw on the other?
Does the table stay pretty parrallel with the sanding drum?
This is a very interesting build, I might like to try it someday.
Thanks for the info.

Boom

The sanding drum is a circle so the table will always be tangent to the drum. It doesn’t matter if the table is parallel to the floor, side rails, etc, as long as it’s flat and solid.

-- Chunk

Great job. Now I just need to get mine finished.

-- Jerry--A man can never have enough tools or clamps

That’s really cool. The bench grinder motor is a very smart idea. I really need one of these, so thanks for posting.

-- Remember, measure twice, cut once

Nice work!

-- CJIII Future cabinetmaker

This is going into favoirtes. I think you just solved an issue me and a buddy have talked about off and on since last February. Thanks, BTKS

-- "Man's ingenuity has outrun his intelligence" (Joseph Wood Krutch)

Great job! What size diameter drill rod did you use on the drum. Also what is the diameter of the drum? Have you noticed any flexing of the drum at that length?

Thanks. Great job!

-- Tom, Simsbury, CT

3/4” rod with 5” disc I cut disc out of 3/4” MDF and 3/4” oak ply then glued them together (mdf/oak/mdf/oak etc.)then it was glued to the rod. It made it very solid, no flex at all even at 18” of length

-- Chris

I sure could have used this on my last project. Thank you for posting it, and thanks for adding the info about Yorkshire Stewart’s. I’m headed out to the shop now to see how many of the components I have on hand to make one.

-- Autumn "Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without."

Look out Delta, I think we got a winner here.

-- A childs smile is payment enough.

Lost,
Thanks for the info! Was there any special reason that you went Ply/MDF/Ply? I would think the difference between the end grains of the plywood would make it uneven, but I guess you cover it with velcro anyway so it doesn’t matter. Which I guess is my next question. How did you attach the velcro to the drum?

Thanks again!

-- Tom, Simsbury, CT

Sweet project build! I’d really like to see a bog on how this gets built. Does it feed nicely? Do you use a push stick?

Favorited for future plagaristic project endeavors.

Awesome job Lost! I can’t wait to get started on mine. Will need to wait till next year though. Thanks for posting!

-- Brad, Oregon- Wood, it's what's for dinner.

Nice job . what RPM is the grinder motor rated at ?

-- "When your work speaks for itself, don't interrupt."

It looks great, I also like to make my own tools but could never find and info on how and what parts to buy.
Do you happen to know what the title the book was or if there was an ISBN no. Thanks for posting .

Also curious on how you feed into it. I’m guessing push in against rotation direction and then use a push stick to finish getting it through.

Dusty, The grinder runs at 3450 rpm. I used a 2” pully wheel on the motor and a 5” on the drum so the drum rpm is around 1380.
Hardwoodman, I don’t remember the books name but I think it was associated with the people who publish wood magazine. I did make a photocopy of the plans if that is what you are looking for.

-- Chris

I found a copy of the plans from the book in PDF form. Happy sanding!http://www.rockslide.org/Images/drum%20sander.pdf

-- Chris

I guess I didn’t make this a link last time I posted it. Shop Made Thickness Sander Plans. This is copied right out of the book that I based the design of the sander on.

-- Chris

A big thanks to you Chris for supplying those very detailed plans on the link. I keep saying I don’t have room and don’t need one, but I want one anyway. Your idea of buying an inexpensive machine and using the motor is good. I do wonder though if that motor will last long. I assume it isn’t an induction motor and probably uses aluminum windings. I’m not implying it’s not adequate, and I certainly don’t know anything about electric motors, but I just wonder if that would be a factor worth considering if I were to build this sander? This was a great post. Now I just need to get the lead out and make it happen!

-- Mike, American in Norway - Do it the fun way