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I have been working on this for a while now. I have a large 46-450 Delta Turning Lathe, that I really don't use all that much. After seeing a couple homemade drum sanders online, I decide to make my own version that would attach and detach to my lathe. I wanted a wide, always level table so I came up with sort of a sliding incline plane design (vs some of the online hinged angled tables). The two planes themselves are rather thick so it limits the overall max sanding thickness to about 2" to 2 ¼" which typically plenty for me, but arguably the downfall of this design. The pitch of the planes are 2:9, so about 9" of travel up the plane is required to go from full depth to 1/8" thickness. The Table is 30" wide.

I was worried about it being hand feed while designing but it's actually not too bad. It allows me to adjust federate based on the amount of material taken off. Or if you have just one high spot, you can just feed fast until that area. It has proved to be a bit of a time saver.

Base is made of birch plywood and walnut. Drum is a piece of 3" PVC with hickory end caps turned to fit.

At some point I am hoping to upload a video of it in action.

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Comments

· Registered
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19 Posts
Thats a cool idea. Never thought about doing this.
 

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13 Posts
Very nice, I would like to see the video.
 

· Registered
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4,288 Posts
Very nice…well done

What size is your drum and what is it made out of?

I am thinking about making one and using hook and loop paper. How is your paper attached?

Thanks
 

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The drum is made of 3" schedule 40 PVC pipe. With about 4" long Hickory caps hammered in ends. They were turned to fit very snugly with a very slight taper. The sand paper is just wrapped around at an angle with a washer and screw at each end. The drum is longer than table by about an inch each way so you can't hit the screws holding the paper. I considered hook and loop myself but just wanted to see if this would work first and it does quite well. Thanks!
 

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5,279 Posts
I have a very similar one that I built a few years ago nad I agree that the hand feed is no problem. Mine is set up to run on my ShopSmith in lathe mode. I use it all the time.
I like yours, nice build. It will serve you well.
 

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Shipwright - Oh I remember… I'd be lying if didn't say I stole some ideas from you. Hence the "very similar" comment I suppose. I should have gave you some credit but thanks, I'm Fan of your work.
 

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No sweat. You made some interesting changes. This is your sander.
Sorry if I sounded cranky. I didn't mean to.
 

· In Loving Memory
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That's quite a rig and it looks like it will do a fine job for you. Congratulations. It is a nice build for you and a great addition to your shop.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com
 

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23 Posts
Looks great. Good use for a lathe if it does not get used much. :)
 

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Very nicely done.
Thanks, I've been wanting to go in a similar direction.
 

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Wonderful build, great ingenuity, you did BIG!
 

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Looks great. I am finishing up my lathe's re-power. So I am now looking for accessories to build for my lathe. This looks it may be my next lathe accessory project.
 
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