[Hanman]

Hello all! I've been looking for good plans to make my own surface sander attachment for my shopsmith. Actually this is how I found this website. I've seen several pics and descriptions about how to build the drum and how to mount it, but still haven't figured out a good way to feed stock through it. Any tips or links to good plans would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tootles]

Have you been looking at this one? It's probably as good as you will get. Plus Paul did a blog on the process of making it. He'd probably also answer questions if you sent him a pm directly.

 

[Hanman]

checked it out. exactly what I was looking for. Thanks.

 

[SASmith]

If I were to make one for the shopsmith I think I would make it a v-drum style sander where you pass the wood over the top of the drum like a jointer instead of under it like a planer.
Like this


Here is another concept shipwright drew up:

And a hand crank conveyor model:

 

[Hanman]

@SASmith- this looks good too. How does it work for you? What is the black crank I'm seeing there? Is that how you feed the stock through? I guess I don't know a lot about these sanders, I always thought the stock was fed through mechanically similar to a planer. If that's not the case, how do you feed it through? Thanks again guys, appreciate the info.

 

[SASmith]

The above pic is not mine it came from the thread in this link.

The pic above uses the hand crank to move the belt/conveyor forward.

The link that tootles made above is a manual model that you just push though at a steady speed, no conveyor.

That is why I recommended a "v-drum" style sander that you use like a jointer. Below is an example:

You can search here on lumberjocks for "v-drum" or "v drum" to see more examples of what I am talking about. Most are not powered by a shopsmith, but you can get an idea of how they work.