Drum sander, thickness sander DIY (with plans)

[Stevedownunder]

No sorry please. But yes I was shaping Tungsten carbite steel. Chinees Tungsten must I say, maybe that's why it works.
I use little shisels which are already sharpen and have a shisel form. Got a lot of them. They cut very wel in wood, sharp and stay sharp.

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The round ones are useless. They are just under an angles like a straight one.
So this one I hollowed out with the files, not easy and takes a while, it is hard steel. I also use the edge of a 1000 wetstone to shape it. After that sharpening on the wet stones 1000/6000/12000 and then polish on balsawood with polish paste.
The next one I gonna try is 3 mm. I doubt if I can use the files again. I also have diamond disks for the dremel. The MF70 could be a help with that one.

Hi Stephan,
That makes more sense, real tungsten carbide you cannot file with a normal file.
I had a look at the link and it is saying that the carving tools are high speed steel which is softer than tungsten carbide, I would guess it is being supplied in it's hardened form.

Cheers,
Stephen.

 

[Steef66]

Hi Stephan,
That makes more sense, real tungsten carbide you cannot file with a normal file.
I had a look at the link and it is saying that the carving tools are high speed steel which is softer than tungsten carbide, I would guess it is being supplied in it's hardened form.

Cheers,
Stephen.

I think your right, it's also very brittle. When you're careless, tiny bits break of. So I must make sure when using a diamond disk to form, not to heat the metal up. Then it will get soften and the hardness will be lost.

 

[Jimsky]

First one done, 1,5 mm tungsten (carbon) steel round hollow tip. It cuts like a knife in butter.

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The next one will be 3 mm tungsten, same cut. Really a nice job to do. The price for this one is about 1 euro on materials.
But first I gonna read my today arrived book.

Fantastic work, bro! (North American a male friend (often used as a form of address).
A while ago, I also made some of the small chisels and found it fun work. As well as you, I am enjoying making tools and various jigs. The idea is to use all available materials at your disposal. Lots of chisels I made from broken drill bits, broken needle files, and hacksaws. They are very good sources of material, but..., they all have one common problem, you need a grinder and a basket with water to cool down material to avoid overheating.
This inconvenience can be solved by using oil hardening steel. It comes in a variety of shapes (round, flat) and relatively inexpensive. This allows you to shape the tool of your choice with regular files\burs and once the tool is ready heat it and submerge it in oil. Then you will have a tool the grade of drill bits. All it will require is to hone to reestablish the edge.

Precision Marshall Steel in Pittsburgh, PA – The Deluxe Company

pmsteel.com

 

[Steef66]

Fantastic work, bro! (North American a male friend (often used as a form of address).
A while ago, I also made some of the small chisels and found it fun work. As well as you, I am enjoying making tools and various jigs. The idea is to use all available materials at your disposal. Lots of chisels I made from broken drill bits, broken needle files, and hacksaws. They are very good sources of material, but..., they all have one common problem, you need a grinder and a basket with water to cool down material to avoid overheating.
This inconvenience can be solved by using oil hardening steel. It comes in a variety of shapes (round, flat) and relatively inexpensive. This allows you to shape the tool of your choice with regular files\burs and once the tool is ready heat it and submerge it in oil. Then you will have a tool the grade of drill bits. All it will require is to hone to reestablish the edge.

Precision Marshall Steel in Pittsburgh, PA – The Deluxe Company

pmsteel.com

It's big fun to do. Making the tools you need. And yes I want to increase my carving box with micro shisels

Here it's show how to do, cooling in oil to harden and more stuff

 

[Don Case]

It just occurred to me that you could use old drill bits to make gouges. Use the groove from one of the flutes as the inside of the gouge and grind away what you don't need. The tip may be at a bit of an angle but that may be an advantage for left/right handed people. The steel should be good.

 

[Steef66]

It just occurred to me that you could use old drill bits to make gouges. Use the groove from one of the flutes as the inside of the gouge and grind away what you don't need. The tip may be at a bit of an angle but that may be an advantage for left/right handed people. The steel should be good.

There is so much possible to use, the first ones I made where from a precision screwdriver set. Only problem was that they wheren't harden. But steel nails/screws, old bits but indeed what you say a old drill in they way you discribe. Thanks.

 

[shota70]

Dear Friends
I'm Requesting help in locating a sanding sleeve with a diameter of 1 1/4 inches (32 millimeters) and a length of 3.5-4.5 inches (89-112 milli

Requesting help in locating a sanding sleeve with a diameter of 1 1/4 inches (32 millimeters) and a length of 3.5-4.5 inches (89-112 milli

Hello dear friends I am planning to build a homemade sanding machine similar to the machine the friends started building. I found that I have an express roll with a length of 88.9 millimeters and a diameter of 1 1/4 inches (32 millimeters). I'm looking for a sanding sleeve in matching sizes...

shipsofscale.com

 

[Lukawaz]

Beautiful work! Thank you!

 

[Rroe]

While sanding the drum, the motor got very hot and I realized that indeed it has to work harder now. I solved this problem by opening up the top of the housing and mounting a small computer fan on it that I had left in a box. Power supply of 12 Volts to it and the whole thing is cooled. (Suction effect)

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Then I placed the sanding cloth, which I wrapped diagonally around it and cut to size. By making a flat piece at the end of the drum and placing a screw socket in it, I can fix the sanding sheet there.

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The machine is ready after everything is assembled and a first test gives a perfect result.

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Thanks for reading this DIY

Attached are the pdf files needed.

If there are any questions I would love to hear about them.

Thank you very much for all your efforts in posting your drum sander. I have been looking for weeks and was ready to give up on finding a DIY sander that would suit my needs. Yours is perfect and I'm going to jump into this as it looks very worthwhile and do able. Thanks Again!!

 

[Steef66]

Thank you very much for all your efforts in posting your drum sander. I have been looking for weeks and was ready to give up on finding a DIY sander that would suit my needs. Yours is perfect and I'm going to jump into this as it looks very worthwhile and do able. Thanks Again!!

Succes with your build. If you have questions just ask here and try to be a big help to you.

 

[Rroe]

On the marketplace I bought an extra Proxxon DB250, many parts of which I used to expand my previously purchased Proxxon lathe. Replaced a few worn parts and I was left with a complete motor housing. I didn't have to think long what to do with that. I wanted to make a thickness sander. I will show here how I did it. But also good to see how to do it if you have another drive left over, like a table sander or a drill, for example. The principle is the same only you have to make a few adjustments.
First, I started with the sliding table and adjusting mechanism.

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I used for construction some parts I bought in China (see parts list in pdf) and plywood in thickness 12 and 22 mm.
In the construction drawing you can see that I used parts A through F for this and the parts from the order list 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8.
I use part 8 instead of the one that comes with the rod. because this one don't have backlash

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Part 5 I used to fix the bearing housing in B

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I used slats and a 123 block to ensure that part C runs parallel to B
Then I used super glue to put parts D against it. And afterwards secured it with screws. On the inside as support part E

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To fit the tabletop F, I use paper strips to adjust the tabletop. You see I use a glass to work on. This is more accurate when measuring things out.

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On the outside I attached a hardwood strip to make sure this will glide the table steady, when I adjust it.
Man, I wished I had a drum sander to make sure the hardwood strip is perfect in thickness. I did it with a piece of sandpaper and a lot of measurements to adjust it.

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In between, I made the drum that the sandpaper will go around. This I made from 200 thick cherry wood that I have lying around. With the hole drill I made 60 mm. round discs and fixed them on the rod (part 7) with glue that connects wood and metal.

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Then I started assembling the base where the adjustable table, drum and motor will be.
Again, used paper strips to get the parts G and H perpendicular to each other. Fastened everything from below with screws. And finally strip K mounted on top. The distance between the two plates G is determined by the width of the adjustable table.

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The drum on it after you have measured out where it should go. This is done by setting the table to its extreme position and then putting the drum on it, making sure that there is no space between the table and the drum. If you turn the table back the distance between drum and table will increase. This is quite a bit of measuring and precision. Make sure the axis is perpendicular to the walls.

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The motor can be adjust

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How you do this depends on what motor you use. If you use the same like I did you can put pieces of wood under the housing which can be screwed to the screwholes under the housing. Than make a table to fit the motor to. Just by measurement. In the last picture you can see how I did this, but there are many ways to do so. Make sure you put a coupler between the axe to make sure that every dis-alignment is capture by the coupler. It is listed in the parts list.

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I made the dust cover from an old plastic pipe which I sawed in half and then fitted to the whole. At the end I put a vacuum cleaner nozzle which fits the vacuum cleaner. Make sure you can remove the hood.

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Now you can fit the drum and sand it smooth. I did this with a glass plate that I taped sandpaper to. By holding it under the spinning roller you make sure that the distance of the roller is the same in all places. The direction of rotation of the drum is always against the workpiece. Keep that in mind.

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Max of pictures, I will go further in the next post.

Hello Stephen, thought I'd tell you the Drum Sander project is finished and it came out spectaular. Made a few of my own little modifications to suit my needs on the use, but your plans worked out just great. I can now sand to within 0.02mm to any thickness. Attached a few pictures for you to see. Thanks once again for your original post. Hope it helped others as much as it did me.

 

[Steef66]

Hello Stephen, thought I'd tell you the Drum Sander project is finished and it came out spectaular. Made a few of my own little modifications to suit my needs on the use, but your plans worked out just great. I can now sand to within 0.02mm to any thickness. Attached a few pictures for you to see. Thanks once again for your original post. Hope it helped others as much as it did me.

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Good work, you gave me the biggest joy ever. Glad my plans helping others. And yours looks very firm, strong motor. The belt system helps to reduce noise. Great work