Feed rollers for drum sander

[murphy]

I made a drum sander/thicknesser about 3-4 years ago very similar to this http://woodgears.ca/sander/plans/index.html and it has worked great, I use it for thicknessing the rings for segmented bowls and the only problem is pushing the stock through by hand on a tray, it is a bit tedious after a while, trying to keep a steady feed rate, so I was wondering if anyone who has built one of these has added feed rollers like on a planer thicknesser or a feed belt of some sort like on the Jet machines, I think feed rollers would be best as tracking belts is a problem, also getting the belt on there as it is closed in would be a problem, anyone got any views on this, or should I just go and buy a Jet 16-32

 

[rafezetter]

I've looked at homemade drum sanders for some time now and googling "homemade drum sander" will bring up a plethora of variations including ones with feed rollers, as you say being the easiest of the two options, both sprung and un-sprung. I would imagine a separate smaller motor would be better than trying to fiddle with the gearing to the main motor, then add pully's to suit.

If yours is similar to the one in the plans it looks like you'll have plenty of space for this retrofit.

I'll be following this with interest.

 

[Wildman]

need to be spring loaded and geared down quite a bit from the main motor to provide a slowish feed in the opposite direction to the sanding roller. have looked into it a bit but not followed up or even built the drum sander yet.
Of course there is a really easy alternative. Sand on a sled pulled through by a weight on the output side, just thinking sideways.

 

[rafezetter]

Of course there is a really easy alternative. Sand on a sled pulled through by a weight on the output side, just thinking sideways.

you know.... that isn't the craziest idea - gravity is constant (well most places except near tool shops) and to get more travel you could loop the line over a pulley in the ceiling.

It would even give you the ability to vary the thickness of the cut by weight, taking more off with a coarse paper and a heavy weight with fewer passes, then less cut and lighter weight.

Should be enough old barbell weight sets kicking around ebay.

All you'd need to ensure is a locking pin on the sled you can remove once you've released the weight - or position the sled then put the weight on with slack line and let go.

 

[Wildman]

a friction brake on the cord would control speed of travel. Several turns around an output roller would take car of distance travelled and a large dia return would speed that up there we go almost designed you just need to build it. As the table swings through an arc to adjust the thickness then the roller has to be sprung if you go that route. but a sled/weight would cost nowt but some scrap to try out.

 

[murphy]

I have been looking on youtube for ideas and think using this guy's plan might be the best way, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggyOKU02SdM and use spring loaded rollers covered with rubber maybe wood covered with a bicycle wheel tube or something similar, as for the motor to drive this I have no idea at the moment, this guy had run his with a drill in another video, I have an old belt sander so could take the motor from that, but the speed control is another issue, it would need to be a variable speed motor, maybe I will have a look on Ebay for the motor, anyone got ideas for the motor

 

[bernienufc]

I made one of these from the motor/belts/bearings from an old paint shaker, it is by far my most used and favourite power tool
I use a piece of worktop polished and cut down on hinges for the platform but it is a manual feed, i can go from 50mm thick down to touching the roller with the platform.

I am thinking maybe a stepper motor for a belt drive as it can be speed controlled and geared to a large variety of speeds, but that for me would be a lot of work so i'll enjoy it as it is for now

 

[murphy]

That is a good idea about using a stepper motor I will look into that, I have an X Carve CNC machine so know what the motors are like, but the problem with variable speed is still there, reducing the speed with pulleys is ok but still not as good as variable speed, which is what I would really like

 

[Wildman]

there are lots of speed controllers out there try ebay.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4000W-220V-AC ... SwxehXPEKe

 

[murphy]

Thank's Wildman, that looks great, I know very little about motors and speed controllers, could you give me some idea of which motor to go with that controller

 

[Wildman]

anything up to 4kw should be fine, I've ordered one myself it looked so good. Be grand to slow a bandsaw right down for cutting metal (with the correct blade of course).

 

[murphy]

I just found a motor on an old scroll saw, it is 90watt I think, just wondering would that do for the feed rollers, or would I need more power

 

[murphy]

I have tried that speed controller that you said Wildman and it does not work on the 90w motor it slows down a little and then the motor cuts off, I don't think it will be any good for slowing down your bandsaw, it is more like a dimmer switch, I have been Googling and think what I need is a geared motor like the motor they use on the Jet machines but they are way to expensive like £200, the stepper motor idea is fine but I would need a controller to run it and a computer, anyone got any ideas that are not too complicated

 

[Walney Col]

Run one of these towards it's upper voltage rating and I'm pretty sure it'll have all the torque you need.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/555-Metal-Gea ... SwZVlXiM2Y

I use this speed controller with it and get bags of power at 18v.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162220699648? ... EBIDX%3AIT

Col.

 

[murphy]

Thank's Col
as I said in my earlier post I know very little about motors, this looks great but it's 6-24v DC where do I get the power to run it, do I use a transformer, or is it run off a battery, maybe the speed controller that I just got would do with this motor, what do you use your's for, can you explain a bit more please

 

[Walney Col]

Mine is geared down to half speed through a toothed belt onto a 20mm dia 4mm pitch acme thread lead screw. The lead screw sends a 600W carriage mounted trimmer router along a track while the other end of the lead screw turns a series of large wooden reduction gears to give an overall reduction in speed of 200:1 which turns the table leg which the router is milling.

The image ought to give you a good idea of the machine mine's mounted on. The machine isn't finished yet though I have had the router running along the track and as I say it seems to have plenty of torque and I'm only running it at 18V.

Most generic speed controllers would run the motor I've got but at maximum load on 24volts I believe it can draw around 6A. I'm running mine off a surplus 10A 18V Hobbyking lipo battery charger. At 12V you WOULD have reduced speed and power but if that happened to be enough for your purposes a half decent car battery charger would run it nicely. One extra load you'd have (that I don't have to cater for) would be the sheer weight (and friction) of whatever sized piece of wood you're pushing.

Col.

 

[murphy]

Thank's Col
you have been a great help, the router lathe/ milling machine looks very impressive, I have had a look at battery chargers and they are quite cheap £25-£30 I dont know if 12v is enough or not , it would have to be trial and error, I also had a look at AC motors but don't know if they will work with the speed controller, does it have to be a DC motor, it is important to be able to control the speed, I am only sanding rings for segmented bowls so there will be no strain on the motor and only taking light passes, http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291503286740? ... EBIDX%3AIT,

 

[Walney Col]

The AC motor in the link looks distinctly under-powered to me at only 14W, and would in any case need a different type of speed controller that (unfortunately) I've no experience with so couldn't offer advise on.

For only a handful of bowl segments at a time (I'm assuming you'll be sanding 1 ring at a time?) I'm pretty sure you'll be fine with a car charger. Incidentally, for your use this speed controller would work just as welll as the one I've got and it's only £4 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UK-New-12V-36 ... SwXSJXPFcN

Col.

 

[Claymore]

Clever stuff Colin!

Brian

 

[murphy]

Thank's Col
I will forget about AC for now and go with the battery charger, I was thinking of this http://www.screwfix.com/p/ring-rcb206-6 ... -12v/69046 is that good enough, and I will order the motor and speed controller today, what do you think,
Pat