Home made drum sander

that’s pretty cool!
thanks for sharing.

-- www.darrylmasterson.com ~ www.darrylmasterson.etsy.com

That’s cool!

-- You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation. (Plato)

Nice. I’ve never considered a shop-built drum sander – until now that is. Thanks!

-- Dave J. Oakdale, MN

google google

here I go

-- No piece is cut too short. It was meant for a smaller project.

Cool Dave! What feeds the workpiece through?

I have to use a push board. I would like to come up with a belt In time. Thanks for all the great feed back.

-- Davesfunwoodworking

Very nice Job. Shopnotes magazine just published a Tools and Jigs edition that has plans for a shop made sander. It is on page 82.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

Shop Notes Tools and Jigs Just published has a Thickness Sander powered by your table saw. Page 82. it also shows a hand operated feed table.

Nice job.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Lol. We were posting at the same time Karson.

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

thats a great looking sander. what did you use for the drum?
i solved my sanding problem by building a stroke sander. part of the fun of woodworking is building your tools to work with. keep up the good work.

-- jerryw-wva.

The drum is made out of 4 inch round 3/4 inch mdf. I think i used 18 or 20 of them glued together. I drilled out the center and put them on a shaft and glued them up.

-- Davesfunwoodworking

thats a good idea for making the drum. how do you fasten the sanding belt on to the drum?

-- jerryw-wva.

I cut the end of the drum and put a wedge in to hold the paper. It to will need to be changed. Not sure yet how.

-- Davesfunwoodworking

Sounds a lot like the version in ShopNotes. I considered making one of these about 6 years ago and then I found a great buy on a Ryobi Reconditioned sander. They are very useful. Good luck on your use of it. be careful of cherry wood. When the sandpaper builds up a corn, you then get a big burn strip down the board. Maple will do it also but it seems to be harder to do.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

That’s on my list of things.
Great job . You wont regret having tha in your shop.
What size motor are you using and is it adequate?

Bob

-- A mind, like a home, is furnished by its owner

Bob, Thank you. The motor is out of an old swamp cooler. It seems to be just right.

-- Davesfunwoodworking

Nice, I love home built machines. I built one using my lathe. Turned a glue-up of 2X4s and wrapped it with sandpaper. Added a hinged table over the lathe bed and reversed the rotation on the motor. Had mixed results, of course the first things I tried to sand were cherry table tops. Having power feed would help a lot. And like you seem to imply, the bed must be one strong puppy.

Steve

-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon

Ya know, if it weren’t for wives and their tight purse strings, we men wouldn’t be inventive at all!

This is real cool. I wonder if you could find an old washing machine and use the rollers out of it for feed rollers. Even old typewriter platens might help.

-- Bob Vila would be so proud of you!

ShopNotes used 1 1/2 mdf plugs cut with a holesaw. Then stack them on a threaded rod. I would thing that you could get an cloths hanger rod from the lumberyard and use it. They wrapped it with cloth electrical tape to get a little stickyness on it.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Now there’s food for thought.. Two questions – were the bearings salvaged from something? I imagine new ones would be costly. And what is a Swamp Cooler please? Thanks!

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

Dave great looking project – I have enjoyed looking at all of your shop made tools. One thing that I would like to point out though – when the wife says “go buy one” never, never, ever discuss price, just head for the nearest place that you can buy one from. You can always defend spending too much by simply saying “YOU told me to go buy it”. Not that I would ever do that :-))

-- Bill - "Suit yourself and let the rest be pleased." http://www.cajunpen.com/

Stewart a swamp cooler goes on top a house or in a window. It has a pan and is filled with water. It has 3 or 4 pads one for each side of the cooler. The pads are made from wood shavings. A water pump sits in the bottom of the pan and pumps water up to the top of the pads. The water then goes through the pads. Then there is a big blower wheel inside that pulls the air through the pads as the air goes through the wet pads it cools and blows into the home.
As to the bearings, The blower wheel runs on a shaft and the shaft has bearings at each end. I used the shaft and the bearings. As to cost Here they are like $12.00 to $14.00 for a pair of them.

-- Davesfunwoodworking

Thanks Dave. My problem will be to find space for such a beast. (Sander rather than swamp cooler!)

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

Hey Stewart, here is a link to a photo of a swamp cooler…..

http://www.wonderquest.com/swamp-coolers.htm

-- We must guard our enthusiasm as we would our life - James Krenov

That’s pretty darn cool!

-- http://www.woodsongsfurniture.com

Cool idea. A lot cheaper than the one I paid for. But it does the same job.

-- Carpe Lignum - Seize The Wood,

Thanks WayneC. That make it clearer. I can’t think of a single day this year in these parts when we would’ve needed one of those! However, I imagine that type of sander would be invaluable for whenever I get around to making my acoustic guitar and working wide boards down to a few millimetres.

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

Thanks for the inspiration!

Wayne & Karson – Thanks for the heads up, I think I’ll pickup the Shop Notes issues your referenced.

-- Chris

awesome job… dont get your fingers stuck in it…

Drew

-- Drew, Pleasant Grove, Utah

I wonder if the double sided tape that you can use for lathe turnings would work for holding the sandpaper? I would think you would need it just at the ends. Even if it lasts one time, you could simply add another piece of tape when you change the sanding belt.

Nice job with the drum sander. I need one too.

-- Bill, Turlock California, http://www.brookswoodworks.com

wow now that is cool. i think that I’ve found my next project. i have a refinishing project coming up soon so after i scape off all the finish i can use it to smooth up the surface. thanks for the great post.

I was just reading that issue of shopnotes again.

I don’t have a problem finding the parts. There’s a local Grainger’s supply that has them, but the buggers won’t sell to individuals, only to businesses.

I’m going to build this, hopefully before the end of summer. Some person on woodnet built a really souped-up version. Might be worthwhile to see if he’ll share his customized plans…

-- Made lots of sawdust and pounded some nails. Haven't finished anything, though.