Drum Sander diy pre build question.

[Sachakins]

My problem, as I guess is most others too, is limited space in worksop, and budget. All commercial ones i can't afford, new, nor dare try buying second hand, since as s a hobby turner I've maxed out my spends over the last 2 to 3 years, to the extent that SWMBO has strongly hinted I've spent enough on my toys! Or more accurately, "....if I see one more bl@@dy tool purchase, one day you'll wake-up singing soprano for life !"

So wanting to preserve my manhood, am thinking of building diy drum sander, primarily for flattening segmented rings and sanding thin stock for laminating boards for other segmented work.

On all the builds I've seen, drums are always on top. Is there a reason for this?
As to conserve space I was thinking of making an inverted version, ie, motor and pulleys mounted below the drum with dust collection too. Withe the drum just proud of the table surface. Above I would use adjustable guide plate or and pinch rollers for automatic feed of wood?

Think jointer/planer blade setup, ie wood goes over tool not under it!

So do you think its an idea worth pursuing, or am I missing something in the normal designs?

Ideas, comments and inputs please. If you think its just dumb and im trying to reinvent a square wheel please say so, thanks.

 

[NickDReed]

I may have completely miss remembered this, but I think Frank Howath has a video where he is repairing his drum sander which is a machine with the cylinder below the table. Might be worth a look to give you some ideas for design.

Would be interested to see how you go on.

 

[clogs]

there's one US guy on U tube that has built a home made sander that has the sanding drum on top but also able to sand on top...
the drum just pokes thru the top a little....
cant remember his name but is some sort of wood shop guy.....not being rude...short and a little chubby with glasses....
this is the one I will make as soon as the new w/shop is built....

 

[LJM]

“short and a little chubby with glasses....”

Yeah, that sounds like a wood shop guy

 

[Jameshow]

Go for it.

Moving infeed table fixed outfeed table.

Motor under the out feed with a belt to the drum.

Build it out of 18mm mdo/ buffalo board for a smooth work surface.

Cheers James

 

[marcros]

As an alternative, could you make a drum which attaches to your lathe and adapt an adjustable table arrangement to fit on that? It would save the cost of bearings and a motor.

I am just thinking out loud, I haven't got a particular design in mind.

 

[danst96]

I may have completely miss remembered this, but I think Frank Howath has a video where he is repairing his drum sander which is a machine with the cylinder below the table. Might be worth a look to give you some ideas for design.

Would be interested to see how you go on.

yes I watched that one just the other day, its a years old drum sander with the drum on the bed although i cant remember if its actually called a drum sander.

I am interested to see how this goes as i would like to attempt something myself.

 

[kinverkid]

there's one US guy on U tube that has built a home made sander that has the sanding drum on top but also able to sand on top...
the drum just pokes thru the top a little....
cant remember his name but is some sort of wood shop guy.....not being rude...short and a little chubby with glasses....
this is the one I will make as soon as the new w/shop is built....

Stumpy Nubs Woodshop

 

[Yojevol]

@Sachakins . You ask whether there's a reason for the drum to be uppermost. Yes there is. It enables the machine to be used as a thicknesser which is what I use mine for 90% of the time.
Brian

 

[TheTiddles]

You can make one for your lathe, it’s ideal as it runs fairly slow and is pretty solid, you just make a tilting table underneath your drum which you mount between the centres. Use a section of soil pipe or similar to make a good dust cowl or the mess is unbelievable

 

[Sachakins]

As an alternative, could you make a drum which attaches to your lathe and adapt an adjustable table arrangement to fit on that? It would save the cost of bearings and a motor.

I am just thinking out loud, I haven't got a particular design in mind.

Good idea, but lathe is against wall and bolted down, so no space to feed wood.

 

[Sachakins]

You can make one for your lathe, it’s ideal as it runs fairly slow and is pretty solid, you just make a tilting table underneath your drum which you mount between the centres. Use a section of soil pipe or similar to make a good dust cowl or the mess is unbelievable

Good idea, but lathe is against wall and bolted down, so no space to feed wood.

 

[Sachakins]

@Sachakins . You ask whether there's a reason for the drum to be uppermost. Yes there is. It enables the machine to be used as a thicknesser which is what I use mine for 90% of the time.
Brian

I would still have that, top plate/roller would adjust downwards, or would this not work?

 

[Sachakins]

Been hunting round based on the YouTube builds you guys recommend, thanks, and found a Sand flee, which is very compact.
My idea is Something like the sand flee, but with adjustable plate on top and pinch feed rollers to feed wood.
This would allow me to use it just to flatten, as in picture, and with top plate use as a thicknesser too.

 

[Yojevol]

This would allow me to use it just to flatten, as in picture, and with top plate use as a thicknesser too.

How would you keep the workpiece in contact with the top plate? Or is that what the rollers would do?. In which case the rollers would be in the bottom plate and would need to be spring loaded, and powered if they're feeders as well. It's beginning to sound like an upside down conventional drum sander.

 

[heimlaga]

It is sounding very much like an upside down conventional drum sander.
My planer/thicknesser combination works like that in the thicknesser mode and the feed rollers that push the workpiece upwards and hold it tight against the thicknesser table are a crucial part of the concept

 

[Inspector]

You can get kits for them here. Flatmasters and DIY Drum Kits
They will smooth a surface but even if you start with a thicknessed too many passes and the parallelism will change.
If you are going to all the trouble of making an overhead apparatus for thicknessing you might as well put the head above and a slot table above that to joint/surface on one side along the lines of the little chubby guy with glasses. You could also make a conveyer belt type feed too.

Pete

 

[sometimewoodworker]

On all the builds I've seen, drums are always on top. Is there a reason for this?
As to conserve space I was thinking of making an inverted version, ie, motor and pulleys mounted below the drum with dust collection too. Withe the drum just proud of the table surface. Above I would use adjustable guide plate or and pinch rollers for automatic feed of wood?

Think jointer/planer blade setup, ie wood goes over tool not under it!

So do you think its an idea worth pursuing, or am I missing something in the normal designs?

My drum sander has the drum under the table with power and dust collection underneath. It doesn’t have a power feed or pinch rollers, the expensive part for me was the drum, I got mine from Stockroom Supply and built the rest myself I got the 30” drum and have 2 different grades of paper on it. If you like I’ll take some pictures tomorrow.

IMHO building a power feed will be a significant challenge and probably rather expensive

The way it functions is that at rest the paper is not above the table, once it spins up to speed centrifugal force lifts the paper up to a working level. The roller has Velcro on it so the work should not compress the paper onto the roller or it will wear out the Velcro.

most/all drum sanders with the roller above the workpiece have smooth drums and pinch the sandpaper between the workpiece and drum.


A huge advantage with a drum sander with the drum under is the size of workpiece you can pass over it, I’ve just been putting some drawer boxes on edge over mine and they are about 650mm X 450mm

PS a table saw/router/moulder power feeder will probably work nicely.

 

[paul1020]

My problem, as I guess is most others too, is limited space in worksop, and budget. All commercial ones i can't afford, new, nor dare try buying second hand, since as s a hobby turner I've maxed out my spends over the last 2 to 3 years, to the extent that SWMBO has strongly hinted I've spent enough on my toys! Or more accurately, "....if I see one more bl@@dy tool purchase, one day you'll wake-up singing soprano for life !"

So wanting to preserve my manhood, am thinking of building diy drum sander, primarily for flattening segmented rings and sanding thin stock for laminating boards for other segmented work.

On all the builds I've seen, drums are always on top. Is there a reason for this?
As to conserve space I was thinking of making an inverted version, ie, motor and pulleys mounted below the drum with dust collection too. Withe the drum just proud of the table surface. Above I would use adjustable guide plate or and pinch rollers for automatic feed of wood?

Think jointer/planer blade setup, ie wood goes over tool not under it!

So do you think its an idea worth pursuing, or am I missing something in the normal designs?

Ideas, comments and inputs please. If you think its just dumb and im trying to reinvent a square wheel please say so, thanks.

Look on instuctables and utube seen some good jigs to fit to lathe.

 

[Sachakins]

How would you keep the workpiece in contact with the top plate? Or is that what the rollers would do?. In which case the rollers would be in the bottom plate and would need to be spring loaded, and powered if they're feeders as well. It's beginning to sound like an upside down conventional drum sander.

Yes, being upside down saves space i reckon.