Cliff Rohrabacher
04-17-2006, 10:42 AM
I have been considering the double drum sander. I want one. I want one that is somewhere between 26 – 36 inches wide.
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Yet I can not being myself to pay the insane money the manufacturers want for them. Two lousy drums wrapped in sand paper over a flat table which has (but does not need) a conveyor belt over a table that can raise up or down in small increments.
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Why is this worth thousands of dollars? Same questions apply to band saws. The lowest technology on the planet selling for boatloads of $$. Go figure.
Pedestle bearings and large 2" Dia., drill rod shafts ans wood circles stacked clamped and glued together along the shafts will do well for the drums and the feed rollers. They are shimmable and adjustable for angle pitch and yaw.
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I have considered the drum sander table as the largest challenge. Made from any wood it’ll change shape and be an issue. Cast iron will be expensive unless I find it in a field then, the only cost is a trip to the Blanchard grinder. But I haven’t stumbled across any free cast iron tables large enough to be worth the bother.
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So then what about Concrete? It’s stable and can be formed quite flat. It can be made in a form complete with inserts for screw points and bolsters, internal reinforcement can be added, and it can be made so thick as to be virtually indestructible. It is resistant to warping, temperature changes, and humidity. It’s weight will serve as a positive in the application as it’ll dampen vibration and provide mass to an otherwise light framework. Hells bells it’s even possible to further flatten it after the material is all cured by using a lapping material ( sand) and another flat troweld slab of concrete. It can be surfaced with Formica Laminate or epoxy. I am thinking that Concrete is the thing.
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I am considering that cast troweld concrete is the cat’s meow for a two drum sander table. Whether I add feed rollers or a conveyor belt is purely a consideration of conceit. How arrogant am I and how much do I think I’d like it? I think I’m arrogant to attempt roller feeders. And I think I’d like them rather well. A conveyor might interfere with the accuracy.
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Any one else consider building their own drum sander?
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Yet I can not being myself to pay the insane money the manufacturers want for them. Two lousy drums wrapped in sand paper over a flat table which has (but does not need) a conveyor belt over a table that can raise up or down in small increments.
<o =""></o>
Why is this worth thousands of dollars? Same questions apply to band saws. The lowest technology on the planet selling for boatloads of $$. Go figure.
Pedestle bearings and large 2" Dia., drill rod shafts ans wood circles stacked clamped and glued together along the shafts will do well for the drums and the feed rollers. They are shimmable and adjustable for angle pitch and yaw.
<o =""></o>
I have considered the drum sander table as the largest challenge. Made from any wood it’ll change shape and be an issue. Cast iron will be expensive unless I find it in a field then, the only cost is a trip to the Blanchard grinder. But I haven’t stumbled across any free cast iron tables large enough to be worth the bother.
<o =""></o>
So then what about Concrete? It’s stable and can be formed quite flat. It can be made in a form complete with inserts for screw points and bolsters, internal reinforcement can be added, and it can be made so thick as to be virtually indestructible. It is resistant to warping, temperature changes, and humidity. It’s weight will serve as a positive in the application as it’ll dampen vibration and provide mass to an otherwise light framework. Hells bells it’s even possible to further flatten it after the material is all cured by using a lapping material ( sand) and another flat troweld slab of concrete. It can be surfaced with Formica Laminate or epoxy. I am thinking that Concrete is the thing.
<o =""></o>
I am considering that cast troweld concrete is the cat’s meow for a two drum sander table. Whether I add feed rollers or a conveyor belt is purely a consideration of conceit. How arrogant am I and how much do I think I’d like it? I think I’m arrogant to attempt roller feeders. And I think I’d like them rather well. A conveyor might interfere with the accuracy.
<o =""></o>
Any one else consider building their own drum sander?