New Drum Sander

[Chad Easterling]

Well, I decided to make some end-grain cutting boards this year for Christmas gifts. After reading and watching a lot of videos on them, I got the impression that sanding them is the worst part. So, I'm building a drum sander for the shop. It is getting close. I'm just waiting on the sandpaper and velcro backing from Woodmaster Tools. Here are some pictures-

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The base, 1/2 HP motor and pulleys are off an old Sears jointer that never worked right and was donated by my father. Most of the wood and all of the remaining hardware excluding the pillow case bearings is leftover from other projects. The drum is 4 1/2" in diameter. The steel rod I used in the drum was not perfectly straight, so I've had to try and even out the drum using a piece of plywood with sandpaper on it. I've got a piece of axle steel (guaranteed straight) on its way for another drum that will turn true. I'm also adding a dust collection cover over the drum.

Once it is complete and I've used it some I will post up some before and after shots.

Thanks!

[Bruce Page]

Pretty slick build Chad. What keeps the bed from pivoting to one side?

[Chad Easterling]

The bed is attached with a piano hinge on the back side of the stand. It will raise up and down using the handle/rod shown in the picture, but won't move side-to-side.

[Jim Finn]

Do you plan to manually move the wood through the sander? I do not see a conveyor system. I wonder if your single point to raise the bed will keep the bed level. This build will be interesting to watch.

[Chad Easterling]

Do you plan to manually move the wood through the sander? I do not see a conveyor system. I wonder if your single point to raise the bed will keep the bed level. This build will be interesting to watch.

Yes, I'm going to manually run the material through. I plan on building a push block that is about 1/8" thick with a handle and the width of the table. I couldn't find any formica drops large enough to cover the bed, so I will probably use vinyl flooring to provide a nice smooth surface.

The bed is two 3/4" pieces of plywood laminated together. The back side is attached to the frame of the stand all the way across with a piano hinge. It doesn't have any play in it. The raising mechanism has a "lock-down" mechanism to prevent the table from moving once it is at the desired elevation.

[johnny means]

Do you own an electric hoist or winch? Maybe you could make a sled that you pull through. An electric hoist would give you a nice stay feed rate.

[Chad Easterling]

Most of the videos or other information I could find where people had tried to make feed tables ended up in failure. Most of the time the issue was they could never get it to track straight. The one I saw that worked was a guy that was a machinist and had a full machine shop to make a very accurate bed.

I had not thought about pulling the material through with a winch..... now new ideas are brewing :)

[Kurt Cady]

I have a Ryobi that had its conveyor removed. Picked it up for under $100. I tried the push stick. Many variations actually. Ended up building a sled out of 1/2" MDF and haven't looked back.

[Paul Johnstone]

Man, what a great build.. thanks for sharing. Sounds like you have everything worked out great!