Lathe based drum sander

Talk about musical instrument construction, setup and repair.

Moderators: kiwigeo, Jeremy D

Post Reply
User avatar
joel
Blackwood
Posts: 280
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:55 pm
Location: Brisbane, Australia

Lathe based drum sander

Post by joel » Fri Nov 12, 2021 7:58 pm

Rather than contaminate the other drum sander topic, I thought I'd start a new thread for this off-shoot.

I don't have a drum sander. I've been thinking of making a lathe based sander for a while now. I was gifted an old belt driven long bed lathe a while ago. I'm not into turning, and I was going to get rid of it, but the other thread made me start thinking (that and the price of drum sanders at the moment!).

Has anyone made a lathe based drum sander? Anyone have any hints and tips? I've seen a few pics and videos online, but some advice from you fine people would be helpful.
- If God had intended us to drink beer, He would have given us stomachs. - David Daye.

- The mouth of a happy man is filled with beer. -

User avatar
kiwigeo
Admin
Posts: 10583
Joined: Sat Sep 29, 2007 5:57 pm
Location: Adelaide, Sth Australia

Re: Lathe based drum sander

Post by kiwigeo » Fri Nov 12, 2021 8:16 pm

They seem to work ok...but make sure you're wearing some serious PPE and be prepared to spend the best part of a day cleaning up all the dust afterwards :mrgreen:
Martin

Dave M
Blackwood
Posts: 595
Joined: Tue Jul 15, 2014 6:44 am
Location: Somerset UK

Re: Lathe based drum sander

Post by Dave M » Sat Nov 13, 2021 3:24 am

I do have a full size sanding thicknesser but still like to use this lathe based one for three jobs: thicknessing bone for nuts and saddles, scalloping the end of braces, and scalloping the ends of bridges.

Couple of things. The drum should be reasonably large diameter to give plenty of abrasive surface. To deal with the dust I suspend the hose from my shop vac to be very close to the drum - not shown in the pic. If you get it real close it picks up most of the dust. Given the direction of rotation you have to feed rom the back which can be a bit dodgy safety wise. Much better if you have the situation to have it mounted backwards.

The mdf table is hinged at the back and raised and lowered with a couple of bolts. One could do something a bit more sophisticated but this works fine.

You could do a velcro attachment of the abrasive but I just glue it on and replace when too worn. It doesn't do that much work.

So all in all a useful tool to have.

PS looking at the image it looks terribly messy. That is because I sometimes do some green turning which throws sap everywhere!

Cheers Dave
Attachments
drum sander small.jpg
------------------
Dave

Pat.Hawkins
Myrtle
Posts: 76
Joined: Thu Mar 13, 2014 1:30 pm
Location: Lower Barrington

Re: Lathe based drum sander

Post by Pat.Hawkins » Sat Nov 13, 2021 8:19 am

Hi Dave,
that's really clever.
Do you mind if I share your image in our guild newsletter?
Cheers - Pat

User avatar
joel
Blackwood
Posts: 280
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:55 pm
Location: Brisbane, Australia

Re: Lathe based drum sander

Post by joel » Sat Nov 13, 2021 9:28 am

Thanks for the pic and description Dave.

Would you mind running through how you made the drum itself? How do you have the drum securely connected to the lathe? How do you secure the table assembly to the bed?

I plan on building a larger table so I can run tops, backs, neck blanks, etc through it. The tip to use it for bone parts and scalloping is a good one, thanks!

I also plan on making the drum quite large, but thanks for the tip. I plan on using a section of 6 inch PVC pip as a dust hood and connecting it up to my 2HP 4" extraction system. Dust-B-Gone!
- If God had intended us to drink beer, He would have given us stomachs. - David Daye.

- The mouth of a happy man is filled with beer. -

Dave M
Blackwood
Posts: 595
Joined: Tue Jul 15, 2014 6:44 am
Location: Somerset UK

Re: Lathe based drum sander

Post by Dave M » Sat Nov 13, 2021 11:49 am

Pat feel free. I don't think it is anything special, but if it helps others to improve their techniques then fine.

Joel the drum is made from a bunch of layers of stuff that I had around in the shop. Mahogany or it's subsitutes. And of course with the lathe you have the tool to make the cylinder. It does need to be fairly stable timber - changes.of humidity will cause problems with roundness.

The drum is screwed to a face plate and supported by a free running centre at the tail.

I did use it to thickness sides in the early days but the lack of a steady feed made it a bit hit and miss.

I also built a full scale thickness sander - which was a fun exercise - but the lack of a motorised feed really meant it didn't work that well.

So in the end I cringed and forked out for a Jet thickness sander. And really am pleased I did. It does all sorts of jobs apart from tops and backs. However that is not what you asked!

Cheers Dave LP us mo
------------------
Dave

User avatar
joel
Blackwood
Posts: 280
Joined: Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:55 pm
Location: Brisbane, Australia

Re: Lathe based drum sander

Post by joel » Sat Nov 13, 2021 2:43 pm

Thanks Dave.

I just found this Instructables page; https://www.instructables.com/Lathe-Drum-Sander/ Uses thick wall PVC pipe for the drum. I wonder how this would work out over time? The table system looks pretty good though. I'm considering MDF or plywood for the drum. But the PVC idea has some appeal.
- If God had intended us to drink beer, He would have given us stomachs. - David Daye.

- The mouth of a happy man is filled with beer. -

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Google and 133 guests