Would this work? . . . Drum Sanding

It would work fine and you could use adhesive backed sandpaper to do it and make whatever size you wanted.

Two issues, however:

1. Dowel is almost never round.
2. You have to centre drill the dowel EXACT.

This would then best be done on the lathe. Using star and live centre’s you have the exact centre already marked. You can turn whatever circumfrence/diametre you wanted EXACTLY, then you could mount a bit in a drill chuck in the tailstock and centre drill exactly.

If you pull it off, then you’ve accomplished something, BUT, drill press sanding drums aren’t that expensive. :)

Cheers!

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

I belive there was a shop notes article on this not too long ago where they made drums. Perhaps this will trigger someone’s memory of the specific issue.

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

Jeff, by the time you spent the money for dowel and the associated hardware, you can get a decent set from Sears. I would be nervous about the homemade ones, getting them trued up for round, the through hole perfectly centered and getting them accuratly sized. That would require more accuracy than what is in the average workshop. I am not trying to sound mean or like a wet blanket but one must choose their battles and this one isn’t worth the effort compared to the cost.

-- Greg - Charles Town, WV

Jeff,

On a small scale, I have used drum sanders on my CHEAP Cummins Tool mini drill press. I bought this drill press for $30. It works great for most project sanding. I buy factory made drum sanding bits. It is fun to use and the drill press base’s cutout fits the drum sander head perfectly so there is easy and flat access on the drill press base.

-- WaywardHoosier - Behind schedule and over budget, but who's counting?