Homemade Thickness Sander

[Inklings]

Took it out this weekend and got the sanding drum leveled to the deck. This took a lot longer than I was expecting. I glued sandpaper (100 grit) to a piece of plywood, and make some handles so I'd have good control of it. Then I turned the sander on, and let the drum work itself against the abrasive. I used a straightedge to check it every so often.




After a few hours in the pleasant warmth and sunshine (It was 70º in Northern MA this weekend), the drum was dialed in enough. I brought it back in and put the velcro and hook and loop sandpaper on it. This was not easy - despite being pre-cut at an angle, it was no joke to get the hook side to feed onto the drum in a consistent, even covering, without bulging and flexing it in some places. Same with the sandpaper itself - it was a constant battle the whole time to get it to adhere and lay flat. After several hours of painstaking work to level the drum, it was discouraging to realize that one bulge in one section of sandpaper would throw the whole width out of level.



I fired it up and tested it out with some pine yesterday, and some ash from the firewood pile that was quickly resawn on the band saw. The results are mixed. It is NOT level from side to side, so if you put an 18" wide piece through, it would come out uneven. That said, if you flip it around and run it through the opposite way, it would balance itself out. In other words, if you take your time running stock through, and turn it 180º each run, the machine is actually accurate within 1/64".

For now, I'm happy with that. I know what's throwing it out - it's the velcro. That's not an expensive component to redo down the road. In fact, the sandpaper is supposed to be changed between grits and when it's worn out.

As others have reported, the dust hood works a treat - the shop isn't full of particulate when I sand.

I am going to put another piece of flooring on the outfeed side of the deck, just to give an even height when the pieces come out.

So, I guess I will report this as a (mostly) complete project. I still have to make a guard for the belts and pulley, and I want to fuss with the sandpaper a bit to get it more even. But it works, works well, and should get me back on the road with some projects that have been waiting on having such a tool.

Thanks again to those who gave advice, encouragement, pictures, and ideas. Couldn't have done it without an online community of savvy folks.

[Oliver A.]

Congratulations Kirby. It's not perfect but I think it will be quite serviceable. It always takes a bit of time to tweak these things. The flipping side to side is bit of a PITA but it sounds like it will get you to within 1/128" which is not bad. You can leave it just oversize and adjust the final thickness by hand or use an orbital palm sander.

Have fun!

[Inklings]

Thanks, Oliver!

[fox]

Looks great, well done, I am sure it will work for you and maybe you can perfect the machine over time.

[Inklings]

A little update: I've been using the tool now for months, and I love it! So deeply appreciate the generosity of those who supplied the plans online, and the great advice here at the Café.

I have recently tried 80 grit paper on it. While it removed material in some kind of a hurry, it left gouges and scratches that took a lot of work to remove. In the future, I don't think I'm going to go below 120 on it - seems to be a good balance between taking material off, and leaving a surface that can be finished well with scrapers and sandpaper.

[fox]

Thanks for the update, sounds like you are getting familiar with the machines capabilities.

[Karl Hoyt]

On the subject of MDF dust...

I have seen the fog billow in from Grand Manaan Island in the Bay of Fundy, so thick you could bottle and carbonate it. And I thought, "This is a lot of particles of water".

I have stood on the verge of the great Sahara desert, peering South from the Atlas Mountains into an infinity of arid dust. And I thought, "This is a lot of particles of sand".

But I have never, ever.... on my life, fellas, and on my sacred honour... ever seen particulate like I saw last week when I cut through 3/4" MDF with a fine-tooth plywood blade on a Skil Saw.

There was dust on my books, on my benches, on my hair, on my kids, on the neighbour's pets, on the moon. They had to close Logan Airport and send flights to NJ because of giant plumes of particulate so thick you could walk to bleedin' Newfoundland and not get your feet wet.

I'm exaggerating. But not by much. MDF made a mess of my shop, with the air filter running, and the shop vac stationed behind the saw. You wanna believe I was grateful for my dust mask.

THAT’s what that was??????? I was sitting on my deck down on the Cape in Harwich.... suddenly a brown plume completely blocked out the sun for about 1/2 hour....Birds dropping from the sky, the kids in the daycare next door screaming...... and then a mat of dust all over the yard the likes of which hearken back to the ash from Pompeii.........I hate MDF... why is it so damned useful??? :-)

I have a Ryobi 1600 that runs as strongly as when it was new, but it jumps around and is inaccurate, so I’m planning my attack to somehow attach it to a fixed frame and making an adjustable bed as you folks have. But not before I get my kitchen remodel done... happy wife /happy life and all that.

I’m late to this party but I hope your wife is doing well...

Karl

[Steevarino]

Funny the stuff we discuss here on MC, and how appropriate it becomes at times, even if it's a bit off the "Mandolin Trial". As fate would have it, I have somehow become the owner of one of these hand-made thickness sanders. The thing is, I don't really need it, as I have a wide belt sander that does everything I need. It looks like it might need a bit of work to get it going again, but I have samples of a lot of guitar tops, backs, sides, and bracing stock that it sanded, and it seemed to do a good job. Looks like the main motor needs to have some wires routed back to it more properly. I powered it up and the infeed/outfeed rollers seem to be doing their job, just no action on the sanding drum.

If anyone here is interested in such a machine, without going though the hard work of actually making it, this might be an opportunity for you. It will probably cost you less, and save you hundreds of hours of precious instrument building time too!

Feel free to PM me here with your e-mail if you want some pictures. I'll be gone next week, but I've got the pics in my phone and I can send them to you. The location, by the way, is Hendersonville, TN. We're about 20 min. north of Nashville, on a good traffic day.

If this is inappropriate, please delete, but I will give the usual percentage to MC if it does sell.

Thanks,
Steve

[Inklings]

Karl - totally my fault! It was really quite a scene down the in the shop, and when I look in some of the milk crates I use to sort odds and ends, I'm still finding MDF dust in the corners! Sadly, MDF really is useful, and seems to be preferred by many when they're making molds for their instruments sides. Next time, however, it's getting cut outside...

Hope the birds have returned to the Cape by now! All the best on the kitchen remodel. I used this sander to thickness some stock to replace a tapered panel for my son's door that was damaged before we bought the place. Needless to say, I've been eyeing my kitchen cabinets now, thinking that the ability to fit frames through this machine and have them come out nicely even could take some of the curse off of building new doors and face frames for our very dated kitchen. Famous last words, I am sure.

And thanks for the kind wishes for my wife's recovery - she's in the kitchen as I type, making Concord grape Jelly, so we have a lot to be thankful for. Many who experience brain tumors don't get another crack at things after their surgeries, the Lord has been very gracious to us.

Steve - best of luck handing off that unit to someone who can give it a good home. As long as the table seems squared up well to the drum, it should serve nicely. Anyone with a spare drill press motor or old table saw motor should be able to give it some life again.

[Karl Hoyt]

Thanks for the kind words, Inkling..... We have some great wildlife rescue teams here... all is back to normal..... Top cabinets are gettin hung over the weekend.... but all I really want to do is make fancy boxes with strings on them... Happy wife etc.....

[Inklings]

Best of luck on the cabinets - I see many stories on here of the struggle to balance shop time with music projects, and "doing what must be done."