Follow me as I describe my homemade DIY woodworking drum sander which I just added to my guitar building workshop. Plans for this machine can be purchased at www.eguitarplans.com/
OK. Wow. Just... Wow. Just discovered your channel. Gotta say, this is one of the most creative, ingenious DIY designs I have ever seen. I wanted a drum sander but even a Jet or Grizzly is way out of my price range for the amount of use it would get. This changes that equation dramatically. I'm an engineer myself with years of cabinet making experience and it seems to me you've thought through all of the issues and came up with not just workable and effective solutions, but highly economical as well. Cheap, readily available materials and solid design to use them to their best advantage. I'm quite impressed - and I don't say that lightly. I'm definitely going to build one... great work here!!
@@kevinchang7497 Long time to finally reply, but basically the little bit of elasticity isn't a problem. The pressure applied throughout while sanding a piece will only increase if the piece is thicker, which needs more sanding anyways. As a drum sander as opposed to a planer, you don't set the height to the thickness you want; instead you make multiple passes until your stock first reaches an even thickness parallel to the opposite face and then you have the option to continue sanding down to a specific thickness. Finally, the set-up probably has more stiffness than you might think, because in order for the table to move without turning the handle the threaded rod has to bend which it will only do a bit before applying significant back pressure.
Thanks for sharing your design. I have been contemplating building one of these thickness drum sanders for quite some time. I have watched multiple ways to build and design one, and I have to say this is ideal for me. Well, at least I think so. I do CNC signs and a few other items. I really appreciate the support on the underside of the feed table because everything I had seen was exactly what you said, a very small contact area allowing too much wobble side to side. So, thanks for sharing. This will be my next soon to be project, ewwww, I'm excited! Not many people get excited about sanding, but this brings all the hard work to completion with great satisfaction. Andrew😂
Chris and his marvelous machines! It's great that you can speak from experience why you did or didn't make design choices. So thanks for sharing that wisdom.
Certainly glad i bought the plans, they are comprehensive and clear. And yes, the use of hinges is ingenious and outstanding! I will note that only three countries in the world use the imperial system of measurement and youtube is a global market.......
I've seen a lot of home made disk sanders and most seem to be pretty crappy. This one looks great! Cant wait to purchase your plans and make one for myself. Thanks for sharing
Chris, Nice job indeed! The table adjustment mechanism is fantastic. You must have spent quite a bit of time in your research. No doubt one day I will build one. For now I'm quite happy the way my buffer turned out. Keep up the excellent videos!!
Great video, some great ideas! I recently bought a machine, somewhat similar to your buffing machine, at an auction (I got it for a dollar, what a deal!), and was looking into how I could add a drum sander to my machine. The structure (“table” doesn’t quite describe it,?as it is larger then what you built) is very robust, and it is made out of 2“ x 2“ square steel tubing. It also has retractable wheels. The motor is mounted on a shelf about 18” below the top structure and this machine has two of the smoothest running bearings I’ve ever come across and they are significantly larger than what I had planned on using had I needed to build my own machine. I was thinking of using a feed belt but not motorizing it, just have it crank by hand, this way I would have the added benefit of getting the feel of the workpiece going through the sander, similar to running a manual Bridgeport mill, Or a manual surface grinder.
Nicely done sir. I've been planning for awhile. Having built two previous drum sanders you "went to school!" and gained knowledge which is rationally applied here. As mentioned below great lift mechanism. Just acquired a treadmill as I felt the addition of a belt feed might be helpful if doing production? I also overbuild or complicate things. LOL! Your discussion of solutions is clear and concise and missing from other builds! That's how you pass it forward. A lot more posted builds is great to learn from . Thanks for making my next steps a little easier. LOL!
That is quite a machine! The fact that you can switch the motor out is a great feature. I think the shroud would be a very good addition. I must admit I was a little nervous as you switched sides passing the first example through.
I've also made my own drum sander five years ago, and the initial idea was to build a disk sander too, like yours. However, i don't know why, I never made it. Maybe now, after seeing your work, I will finalize it. My drum sander has the elevation system with a vertical threaded rod and the variation is real. Your system seems better. (Sorry for the bad english!)
Great idea using 1 motor for 2 machines. You could us a Lovejoy coupling and mount the motor on it's own stand. I also could see a flat bed sander attachment off the end of the center shaft. Great presentation.
I recently built a similar device and I can vouch for several of your points: 1. Surprisingly, the threat of kickback is almost nonexistent. When pushing a board through the sander, there is almost zero resistance or push back on the board. I think the only way to get a kickback would be if you completely let go of the board. 2. Adding a power feed will easily DOUBLE the complexity of the build, if not more. A smooth even feed by hand works just fine. I use a specially designed push stick so I don't have to walk around the machine and pull the piece out from the back, which helps me keep a consistent feed rate. I also sprayed a couple light coats of clear finish on my feed table, then lightly sanded with 220 and the feed is smooth as butter. I might add a light coat of paste wax in the future. 3. A single point depth adjustment mechanism allows too much play in the feed table. Even IF you get that adjustment screw EXACTLY in the center of the feed table, it WILL flex when you work anywhere on the drum besides the exact center. Further, if your feed table ends up not exactly parallel with the drum, you have no way of adjusting it. Beautiful build! Agree with other posters that your depth adjustment mechanism is ingenious!
I've just made one of these (minus the disc sander) / hybridized with Matthias Wandel's hosted thickness sander plans -- my notes: 1) Put the t nut (20:09) on the other end of that member, otherwise the threaded rod will pull it out under tension 2) make sure that your table-tilting hinges (24:38) are not proud of the table (note how in the video, the axis of the hinge is below the joint). 3) The table lift is a little cushiony -- I haven't used it enough to assess if this will be annoying. 4) It was surprisingly difficult to find a rubber v-belt -- I ended up getting a 5' link belt from harbor freight. 5) I think my total cost to build this was around $335 a) 1" steel rod ~$35 b) pillow block bearings ~$25 c) MDF for drum ~$10 d) 18mm baltic birch plywood for table and pulleys $40 (this was not a good deal) e) 2x6 estimated value of $35 f) 6mm baltic birch plywood for dust collector/belt guard ~$20 g) hinges $20 h) threaded rod & screws/hardware $20 i) electrical box and heavy-duty 20A light switch and cover $10 j) link belt $35 k) dust collection gate/nozzle $5 l) electric motor (ripped out of a cheap craftsman contractor saw, value estimate) $30 m) wood glue, super glue, finish for the table $15 n) abrasive $25 o) velcro for abrasive $10 Edit -- I've been using my thickness sander for a few weeks now and I honestly cannot endorse the height adjust mechanism -- there is too much flex, and heavier workpieces weight the table down too much and unevenly as the workpiece moves past the drum.
Hi Drummond. I also thought the adjustment mechanism may allow too much spring as I watched the video. Do you think it would work to put the same adjuster toward the front end of the table? that way it would be supported on both ends.
I've looked at a LOT of different builds, and there are aspects to multiple designs I'd like to incorporate. I really liked a feed roller system - hand powered, using an infeed and outfeed roller linked with small bicycle gears and chain. The belt roller had pillow block bearings mounted on a captured but sliding block of wood that you tension by turning either side to run true. I think if I set up an extension support on the outfeed side I can run it all the way past the sander when I have to sand longer boards...
Hi Chris. Purchased your buffing machine plan and I now have a really nice buffer. Thanks a million!! Now considering your drum sander. Any idea an approximate cost to build it?
Gday Chris I just purchased your plans for the drum sander and flip top table and was wondering what size 4L v belt you used for the sander as it didn’t specify a size on the plans ? I’m just ordering the parts in advance
Hi. I just started building your drum sander. My question is, do I have to worry about expansion.joimts on the drum. I live in Chicago and we get every kind of weather here. Sometimes all seasons in one day.
Hi Chris, again a great innovation.! I'm still using your fretboard routing jig and actually build two, so i can also put the whole neck on it, and i can use it also with a sanding dremel style sanding disc on it, simply put in my router instead of a router bit. I have a question related to replacement of the sandpaper. You mentioned, the drum itselves is made out of 24 discs of MDF. As we all know, the sides of MDF are crumbly. So, first you have to level it perfectly, BUT did you reinforced it with a coat off superglue or polyester resin, schellack, whatever ? Because you have to be able to replace the sandpaper without damaging the drum itselves. And do you use preglued sandpaper on it or are you using a spraycan with some adhesive stuff ? How do you go over all that, please ? Thanks in advance Chris ! You are a a real inspiration ! Greets from Belgium.
Anyone: does the drum itself have to be around 5 inches more or less wide? I have this idea of joining two (baking) rolling pins together to get the length I need, trued up in a similar fashion. Sizes vary but they around 2+ inches in diameter, often made of robust maple. I suppose at least the sandpaper would need to be changed more often. I am just trying to skip the step of all those circle cuts with deadly mdf or plywood.
@@embwee Larger diameter drums produce a flatter surface, but they require more power to spin. Smaller diameter drums require less power to spin, but they may yield a surface that's not as flat (cupping) if that makes sense.
Yeah I could see why you'd want to put a cover over the disk sander. I would be scraping my forearm all the time reaching over to pull the wood out of the drum sander.
