Making a bobbin sander with drill and sanding drums.

[Eric The Viking]

So what you're saying, Erik the Viking, is that I got a bit shafted by Rutlands - that toolstation set appears to be identical, yet much cheaper than the 'half price' offer from Rutlands.

I fear so, yes.

I'm getting more suspicious/canny in my dotage. It often seems to be the case that one of the suppliers has a good price on something obvious, but is hopelessly uncompetitive on other stuff. Something that sticks in my mind was CAT5small patch panels (half-rack size): I think I got mine from Screwfix in the end, but would've paid more than double from any of the main mail-order electronics suppliers. I got caught the other way round though: bought a tester from Screwfix, to find it much cheaper in Toolstation.

It often happens, so much so that I rarely shop without checking at least two suppliers first.

At least it wasn't the Trend T11. I bought one recently at a very good price from D+M tools (around £225). On eBay there were several vendors offering it at £325+.

 

[trumpetmonkey]

I recently got a Trend T10ELK from screwfix at £215, cheaper than other places I checked at the time.

Any opinions on another 'deal' from Rutlands that I'm tempted to go for - need a workbench vice and they just sent an email out with this offer:
http://www.rutlands.co.uk/cgi-bin/psPromotions.cgi?promo=83
Seems good to me but what do you think?

 

[flanajb]

I'm increasingly yearning for a bobbin sander, eg for sanding curves on boards cut on the bandsaw. Money is tight and I figure I could knock together something good enough with my makita SDS drill, a cheap chuck, and some drum sanding attachments.

I guess I just need to make a jig to clamp my drill vertical, with drum poking through a hole in a flat surface, maybe MDF would do for now.

Any precedents and tips?

Axminster sell a drill mount for < £10 which you could use to mount your hand held drill which in turn could be mounted onto a piece of MDF with a central hole in it. Hey presto, you have a bobbin sander.

 

[trumpetmonkey]

Axminster sell a drill mount for < £10 which you could use to mount your hand held drill which in turn could be mounted onto a piece of MDF with a central hole in it. Hey presto, you have a bobbin sander.

Thanks, can you post a link so i can see it?

 

[Sportique]

Trumpet,

here's an example of one type:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=21094&name=drill+stand&user_search=1&sfile=1&jump=48

and here's an example of a vertical type:

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.asp?pf_id=21265&name=drill+stand&user_search=1&sfile=1&jump=44

Hope that helps

Dave

 

[trumpetmonkey]

Thanks Dave.

I'm thinking the vertical one may be a good substitute for a pillar drill at a price I can afford. Have you used one yourself? Just thinking, my Makita hammer drill (can't remember model number) is quite long and I wonder how well supported it will be just clamped at the end.

 

[Sportique]

Trumpet,

I am fortunate to have bought a second-hand pillar drill of good quality and low price.

But I also have a power drill mounted in a vertical stand as a portable version and one mounted in a horizontal stand (these are both old B&D style having a screw which tightens into a recess at the "back" of the drill, but modern drills do not have such a recess).

I do have one of the adjustable types (like the first link above) which I have found to be very flexible - horizontal, vertical and any angle in between - fits a standard collar size (43mm) drill and can be held in a vice or clamped to a bench etc.

As I have a number of old but working power drills I tend to keep them mounted in the various stands for convenience.

Don't overlook the Axminster lathe conversion kit - a bit off the wall, but IMHO could be used for all sorts of activities as well as offering turning facilities (of course it does not compare with a "real" lathe :roll: ).


Dave
(corrected the collar size!)

 

[tigerhellmaker]

Something really interesting
Drill press belt sander article from 1935 :shock:

 

[JohnBrown]

Further down (page 150) there's a prototype JointMaster!

 

[dh7892]

I too use the drill-press-as-a-sander technique and I have found these: http://www.rutlands.co.uk/hand-tools/planing/microplanes/30043/1"-rotary-drum-shaper to be very good.

You get much less dust (more like shavings than dust).

Just a thought.

 

[tekno.mage]

I bought one of those Microplane drums, a coupe of the mini hand files and a set of 3 microplane disks for my orbital sander at Yandles show - mainly because there was a stand which had them set up for people to try out then and there. They were also considerably cheaper at the show than they are from Rutland, plus there was a decent discount as I bought 3 different items.

I find them to be really excellent tools and very fast at wasting wood! The disks for the orbital sander take some getting used to - the coarse one in particular can be somewhat difficult to control and the surface it leaves on the wood is appalling but following up with the medium & fine disks soon sort that out and leave a surface that's ready for light finish sanding. I was particularly impressed with quickly they sorted out some very gnarly & wild-grained beech my belt sander was having trouble with!

They certainly cut down on time spent sanding and they produce little chippings rather than dust which is far more civilaised. You do need to be more careful of your fingers when using them as they are very sharp.

I've not yet tried setting the drill mounted one up in a pillar drill (which is good idea!) but have already found it very usable when mounted in a hand held electric drill for wasting wood from a piece of oak I was carving.

The thing to remember when using any of them is not to press hard - just let the tool do the work - I was warned at the show that pressing too hard risks closing up the little cutting edges and make the cutter seem blunt before it's time.

tekno.mage

 

[trumpetmonkey]

Those microplane things sound great, I'll make sure to get them sometime.

 

[Dalboy]

I use a drill press with a modified table with a hole in it so that when a dust extractor or shop vac is fitted it takes a good proportion of the dust away
You can see where the vac fits in the side also different size inserts for the various size drums (I use the axminster ones)

As for the sideways presure not a lot is needed remember your sanding not trying to cut into the projest

 

[goldeneyedmonkey]

I use a drill press with a modified table with a hole in it so that when a dust extractor or shop vac is fitted it takes a good proportion of the dust away
You can see where the vac fits in the side also different size inserts for the various size drums (I use the axminster ones)

As for the sideways presure not a lot is needed remember your sanding not trying to cut into the projest

...nice work Dalboy, I've just acquired a set of 2nd hand Carroll Sanding Drums, and have got a pillar drill. I was going to make a table similar to yours with inserts for each sized drum but hadn't thought about extraction. Glad I stumbled across this post as I'll be fashioning something like yours a.s.a.p.

Cheers _Dan.

 

[Dalboy]

The advantage with this type of table is that the drum will slot right into the table enabling you to use the full hight of the sand paper on the drum. The only thing I would do different if I rebuilt it is to change the supports so it could take a home made fence

 

[trumpetmonkey]

That is really nice Dalboy, thanks for posting the picture. Despite starting this post many months ago, I still haven't even bought a pillar drill, money always has to go on other things. But one day I will and I'll rig up something like this.