New Project - building a drum sander

**Hack** · 10-03-2009, 07:56 PM

Well, being an avid woodworker, I have a pretty nice setup out in the shop. Built some nice stuff over the last decade if I do say so myself. One thing that has always bugeed me was the lack of a way to sand wide panels. I only have a 12" planer and anything over that I have to go to a local shop and have it done. No big deal, but they are getting expensive and rude and don't like the little guy anymore so....lets build a sander.

Nothing real fancy. About 25" width. with power feed and up to about 5" thickness capacity.

Gonna build it out of aluminum extrusions and mdg for the most part. Why?

Well I have some extrusion laying around, and I have some mdf laying around, and I have a motor laying around, and I have some pillow blocks laying around and I have some ......well you get the point.

Below is a quick rendering of what it might look like.

Dan

**ViperTX** · 10-03-2009, 11:13 PM

The hardest part of this project is building/finding drums which are accurate and balanced.

In the past I've seen where drums were built from MDF, which I believe is not the right solution.

It would be great to find a source of 6 inch diameter tube with the ends sealed, I'm there are some type of wringers (such as the old fashioned washing machine type) that are used commercially. Maybe there are some photocopier drums or print press drums/rollers available.

Paul

**geezergeek** · 10-04-2009, 06:23 PM

I have two each: 11" diameter/37" length, 6" diameter/53" length welded steel "rollers". The 37" has a 1 15/16" keyed shaft extending from each end. The 53" has a opening on each end to receive a shaft of about the same size. They are new, about a year old. I bought them thinking there would be a set of plans available soon that had a power feed, height adjustment, etc. designed for a larger machine than the 2x4 wood sander plans currently available.

A question I had of your proposed specs: If you are going to the trouble to build a 25" why wouldn't you instead build one larger that could handle a full door, or the complete width of a table top?

cheers. Joe.

**Bart_D** · 10-06-2009, 03:07 PM

Have you thought about the rollers that are being used on a treadmill.
Look at http://www.treadmilldoctor.com/Rollers_13

Success,

Bart

**geezergeek** · 10-09-2009, 02:18 AM

The rollers I stumbled onto weigh about 250# for the11", and just under 200# for the 6" ones. I was looking for a lot of mass to solidify and stabilize the unit.

**devincox** · 10-09-2009, 10:35 AM

I scavenged the rollers, motor, and controller,power supply,bearings, belt etc. from a treadmill. I wont be starting for some time due to other projects. I'm building one of these,
http://stockroomsupply.com/V_Drum_Sander.php
(for guitar tops) I decided on this design because I dont have enough room for a floor mounted model and will need to hang this on the wall when not in use, and it wont be used that often.

Devin

**CarveOne** · 10-10-2009, 12:02 PM

Originally Posted by devincox

I scavenged the rollers, motor, and controller,power supply,bearings, belt etc. from a treadmill. I wont be starting for some time due to other projects. I'm building one of these,
http://stockroomsupply.com/V_Drum_Sander.php
(for guitar tops) I decided on this design because I dont have enough room for a floor mounted model and will need to hang this on the wall when not in use, and it wont be used that often.

Devin

Oh great. Now I have yet another project I just have to build.

I need to stick to my cnc router build log and not go poking around the Zone too much.

Update: After looking around here for usable parts, the only thing I don't already have on hand to build the 18" version is a roller, two small pulleys and a link belt. I would rather build the 24" version though, and need a suitable motor. Will call on my buddies for that one item. Now to figure out how to build the drum roller....

CarveOne

**Hack** · 10-10-2009, 06:26 PM

Couple of answers to questions. First of all, I decided on the 25" width due to a few reasons. One reason in the fact that 98% of everything I do is 24" or less. This includes cabinet doors, endpanels, plaques, etc. Very seldom do I do a table top or something similar needing a larger sander. Second is the HP required for such a large sander. The motor I have on hand for the drum is only 2 hp. I thought that going to a bigger drum width would tax the motor.

I am looking for options on the drum still. I had originally figured on MDF and it will work, but I do have a budy with machine tools and could do a metal drum. Time will tell, but I intend to use MDF as of the moment.

So far I roughed in the table out of 1020 extrusions. It measures about 25 1/2" wide by 32 1/2" long. The next picture is the bearing blocks that will bolt to the extrusions on each end to hold the rollers for the conveyer. The bronze bushings are an oilite that I had laying around 1" ID. I figure the conveyer to turn at 0 to 20" per minute max which would convert to about 8 rpm max. The bronze bushings should last along time at that rate. These blocks will be modified more at a later date as I work on the tensioning / tracking mechanism for the converyer.

And of course a couple of pics for eye appeal.

**devincox** · 10-11-2009, 11:13 AM

Can't find the link at the moment but I saw a page where a guy used PVC pipe for his drum. Cheap and light. Just a thought.

**CarveOne** · 10-11-2009, 12:56 PM

Originally Posted by devincox

Can't find the link at the moment but I saw a page where a guy used PVC pipe for his drum. Cheap and light. Just a thought.

I was considering that as well, but there is a risk of high static voltages building up on the drum and having loads of dust stick to it. A static discharge can cause a sanding dust explosion under the right conditions. I'll have a 24" drum cabinet based on the Stockroom Supply drawings completed later this afternoon. Still not sure what to use for the drum, or whether to buy the kit from StockRoom Supply.

I'm more interested in seeing what Hack comes up with though, even as I don't have the kinds of uses for it that he does.

CarveOne

**Hack** · 10-19-2009, 06:12 PM

Well I was able to make a bit more progress over the weekend. As everyone has probably figured out, this might take me a while. An hour here, and hour there.....hey any time in the shop is a good thing.

Was able to route out some rollers for each end of the conveyer. 64 pcs total. They are 2.75" OD with a 1" hole I.D. These will eventully be placed onto a 1" steel shaft. I have the steel shaft, but need to do some machining to them first. I will then epoxy the MDF to the shaft and glue it to each other. Then I have a few ideas as to how to true it up using my cnc router as a lathe. Thats all to come.

The little ears you see on the discs are the tabs I left in place while machining on my router.

**Hack** · 11-08-2009, 04:12 PM

Well just to show that I haven't fallen asleep on this project here are a couple of more pictures. I made up all 4 of the legs for the sander. Put some adjustable feet on them to help with any issues with uneven floors. It may not be much, but it is progress.