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This is a quick and cheap drum sander that I dreamed up to run on my ShopSmith in my Az shop. I have neither the budget nor the space here for the luxuries that my shop at home in B.C. has so I had to be a little creative.

The concept is to use as much of the existing machine as possible and duplicate as little as possible. The machine, in this case a ShopSmith Mark V 510, already has a variable speed motor and bearings and a solid chassis so I didn't duplicate them. I simply made a drum to fit in the existing lathe and an accurately adjustable table to mount under it.

The table mounts rigidly to the lathe chassis or way tubes on a SS and pivots at one end. The other end is raised and lowered by either one central or two side elevators, depending on the accuracy required. To assure that nothing moves due for instance to the piece being fed through off center, There are locks right and left of the body to lock the table when making really critical cuts.

The dust collection is made from PVC pipe fittings and 1/2 of a 24" piece of 4" pipe. I was going to install rare earth magnets to hold it in place but the suction from the DC makes it almost un-removable when it's turned on.
There is no dust escapement at all even when sanding MDF.

The fact that the drum and the body / table assembly are totally separate and independent means that if you have another surplus faceplate to dedicate, you can make a second drum for another grade of sandpaper. Changing grade then is as easy as switching drums.

The photos show:
1) The setup on my SS with the headstock helping support the DC hose.
2) The bare ABS pipe drum fitted with end plugs and mounted for trial spin up.
3) The locking bolt shown from under the reinforced table.
4) An opened up view.The extra drum is shown behind the sander.
5) Some quick marquetry I did to test the accuracy. These are before sanding and are commercial 1/32" veneer.
6) The same pieces after sanding with the 220 grit drum. They were put through five incremental cuts to completely level and clean them and they are not sanded through or even close anywhere.
(Please don't critique the marquetry, It is just some quick pieces that I made up to test the sander and to practice my sand shading. I know they are rough.)

This is a very easy sander to build and it costs only about $100, give or take, depending on what usable bits and pieces you have around the shop.

The building blog is here: http://lumberjocks.com/shipwright/blog/26701

Grizzly Hook and Loop Conversion Kit: http://www.grizzly.com/products/Hook-Loop-Conversion-Kit-for-Model-G1066/H5037
Thanks for looking. Questions, comments and critiques are always welcome.

Gallery

Comments

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19,720 Posts
You did a fantastic job on this sander Paul .This is a great design with a lot of super engineering.
 

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5,738 Posts
Nice!
 

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2,097 Posts
Aye 'tis a thing of beauty. Definitely looks the part as well as doing the job.
 

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2,185 Posts
Yea Paul.
One of the cleanest home builds I have seen. Congrats.

Nice sand shading too.
Steve
 

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681 Posts
Great looking sander. It looks very functional and not too hard to build. Thanks for sharing.
 

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67 Posts
Neat idea. Nicely Done.
-Richard
 

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2,212 Posts
With such a small shop you may want to consider building a Puddle Duck Racer to fulfill your sailing needs!

Great project…its going in my favorites since I own a shopsmith…would love a sander…and I know your blog/project descriptions are so detailed…one of these I will have to consider building this…

matt
 

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3,089 Posts
Good to see it is already being put to use! Nice project - and a very informative blog as well.
 

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878 Posts
Way cool and creative! I'm also a big fan of updating existing tools to enhance their possibilities.
 

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2,583 Posts
>"some quick pieces that I made up to test the sander "

Quick? Yeah right, maybe for you. :) Paul, you're killing me. Nice build.
 

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1 Posts
The best one I have seen yet. Great idea to use the lathe, now I need to start planning my own….
 

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2 Posts
Jeez, I would never have thought about this! :))) Very creative thinking, and nicely executed, too!
 

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68 Posts
incrazylutelycredible cool idea. As you promised in your profile: Thinking outside the box …

Having bought a small lathe only recently this has given me more than just one idea.

Thanks for sharing!
 

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EDIT

Nevermind. The question I hd was answered when I went back and read the blog on the building of the sander. Thank you.
VERY nice work. I hope to build one similar in the next year.
 

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499 Posts
Great addition to your Shop…. Enjoy!!

Thanks for Sharing
 

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Thanks everyone. I didn't expect this to create much of a splash.
I'm glad I've been able to give some of you an idea that you can use.

Sodabowski you might like this one too: http://lumberjocks.com/projects/49400
 
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