Homemade thickness drum sander

[lowatter]

I was asked to start a new thread for building a DIY thickness drum sander so...this is it.
I read a few other sander build sites before starting and decided this was the one best suited/sized for what I would use it for. It was built to sand 8/4 guitar bodies etc. I basically let it build itself with what parts and material I had available to me in the shop. It's pretty easy to do for the average Joe like myself. This thing works surprisingly well for what I have into it.

Here's some info on what I did for mine:

-I made the drum by taking a 24" long piece of schedule 40 4" PVC pipe and made a 3/4" plywood cap for both ends that inserts into the inside diameter of the pipe. A 1" hole is bored in the exact center of the caps.
-buy 2 galvanized 1" threaded pipe flange mounting brackets(Home Depot) and ream out the threads to allow a 1" barstock axle to go through them. Put the flanges and the caps on the axle and position them into the PVC pipe where they should go after dry-fitting the assembly to your sander base. After dry-fitting, pre-drill holes through the mounting flange through the plywood caps and screw in (8) 3" long stout screws(4 for each flange) that will prevent the assembly from spinning within the drum after the concrete has set. Drilling a hole through the treaded part of the flange and running a bolt through it and the axle will secure it enough for the pulley/belt torque.
-place one flange and one cap on one end of the PVC and fill the PVC pipe with concrete and cap the other end. After it sets, the long screws used to secure the flange to the caps through the mounting holes on the flange base will secure the caps to each end of the drum.
-once the assembly is mounted on the sander and it's finished and operational, make a sanding sled that has sand paper mounted perpendicular to the drum to true-up the PVC drum so that it is uniform and square to the feed board surface. This sanding sled is used periodically to remove grooves and to re-true the drum.

The pics should be enough to answer how the rest of it is done. I would use a 1 HP motor if you do this as my 3/4 HP one tends to bog a little and this little guy can only take off about 1/64" per pass. I made up a dust collecting cover for it but I could never get it to work correctly so I use a mounted air nozzle to continuously blow the dust during operation. This makes one heck of a mess so wear a mask! Greg's idea of using a variac speed control is perfect for this.
Go to any cabinet shop that uses a Timesaver overhead sander and they will usually have ripped sanding belts that they discard often with different grits and are perfect for wrapping your drum and securing with large hose clamps. I happened to be working at a cabinet shop when I built mine and I have a lifetime of sanding belts for mine.
I hope this helps anyone making one and if you have any questions, I'll try to monitor this thread for awhile. Best wishes-Dan(AKA Lowatter)






I also wanted to show the truss rod channel routing jig I made. You can remove the top and place a gasketed vacuum top on it for securing a guitar body etc. while you route it. Any shopvac will work for this.

[SG Marc]

I made one also, (I posted it here somewhere), I finally got around to making a dust hood and I need to pick up a vacuum attatchment for it. It works perfect for making fretboards!!!!!!
There is more info about it on the website mentioned in the video ( I wont post it because it would probably get deleted) (found it: Great homemade tool for small parts)

YouTube - drum sander

YouTube - drum sander

[DMichel123]

Not very safe at all! I don't wanna think about what would've happened if you lost your grip. I know you know what you're doing, but it's called an accident for a reason!!

[73Custom]

very cool lowatter... thanks for the thread...

thanks for the clip and your link SG Marc...

[lowatter]

It's actual pretty safe. If you make a hold-down feed sled where the piece is held down with 2 sided tape or sandpaper securing the wood your sanding. Then the sled can be passed through safer. Like any tool in the shop, caution should be taken. I've used mine many times without much ado. Definately don't wear loose clothing.

[Ole'Lefty]

I have a couple of different plans for these;kingsley_sander.gif

kingsley_sander1.jpg

kingsley_sander2.jpg

It is a very small one<G>

[Ole'Lefty]

Another versionfleck_thickness_sander1.jpg

fleck_thickness_sander2.jpg

fleck_thickness_sander3.jpg