Surface Drum Sander Build

[rdean]

Feed pressure rollers next.
Some mystery steel and a piece of chain link fence rail.



I made two rollers by pressing in the slugs and then turning them down for the axles. They turned out well and I was feeling perty good about them until I tried to locate them between the outer support rods and the drum. There just wasn't enough room.

Engineering change number 2.
I moved the lower support rods inboard and slotted their old holes for the pressure rollers.





Problem solved.

Next the pressure roller spring mounts.

Thanks for looking
Ray

 

[rwm]

How in the world do you get that thin walled tubing straight and true. It seems like if you take off much material you might go right through!
Robert

 

[rdean]

Robert you are right if you are trying to make the tube true along its entire length it would be hard to do. In this case the tube doesn't have to be a consistent diameter or even perfectly round. It just holds downward pressure on the work piece with spring pressure.

I did get the spring holders made and installed yesterday. On the motor end of the housing they had to be about 2" wide in order for the mounting bolts to clear the linear rail so I just made them all the same size. I don't know how much pressure is needed so I just installed some springs I already had to see how it works out.





Thanks
Ray

 

[rwm]

I see your point. I guess just the sanding drum needs to be true. This thing is looking great. Is your plan to use it on wood? Could it be used on aluminum to achieve a brushed finish?
Robert

 

[brino]

Two more questions:
Where can we submit our orders and what's the lead-time?


-brino

 

[rdean]

I have been planning to use it on wood but...

Two more questions:
Where can we submit our orders and what's the lead-time?

I have to make one first and another engineering mistake today.
I now have four holes I won't be using.

I cut the linear rails to the required length today and had a surprise. The rails were hardened all the way through. For the low price I paid I expected them to be only surface hardened so I had to get out the chop saw.





More tomorrow maybe.

Ray

 

[rdean]

About 10 years back I was working on a project that didn't work out and when I went looking for something to make the base out of I ran across it again. It looks like it will work fine so I cleaned and painted it up.





I made the upper and lower rail brackets and installed the unit on the base.





That's all for today

Ray

 

[rdean]

The triangular shaped supports are bolted directly to the frame for rigidity. They are used to accurately adjust the sanding drum horizontally to the conveyor. The adjusting bolt in the center of the rail is locked in place after the adjustment.





The drum height adjustment is by a 1/2" X 20 threaded shaft which results in a 0.050 per revolution movement.
This showes how I cut the threads on the lathe.



When I motorized my home made winch last month I had this six spoked handle left over so I will see how it works here. The maximum thickness of the sanded piece of wood will be somewhere around 4".



The project is getting close to making the conveyor system and the conveyor belt is something I have been thinking about. I have some treadmill conveyor belt material that may work but how to do I attach the ends together?

Please reply if you have any ideas on the belt.

Thanks for looking
Ray

 

[f350ca]

Great progress Ray. I'd sure like to have a drum sander. I seam to work in fractions in the cabinet shop, a 16 tpi jack screw would be easier for me to deal with.

Greg

 

[7milesup]

If you plan on wrapping that drum with sandpaper, you will need x-weight sandpaper which will stretch. Maybe your sander is short enough that it will not be an issue, but on mine that I designed I ended up designing and fabricating a take-up mechanism on the right side of the drum. If you don't do that, the sand paper will eventually bunch up and self destruct.