Drum Sander (small!) ideas, recommendations, experiences?

Hi Henry,

This reply is more about laminating than about drum sanders. I couldn't give you reliable reviews of small drum sanders available on the market these days. The only small (open-sided) drum sander I ever owned was a Delta 16" and I didn't care much for it, mostly because it didn't produce uniform thicknesses.

This said, it sounds like you are planning to do some lamination with your new bandsaw. In my opinion, a thicknessing sander is not the machine for preparing laminates. What I use is a regular lunchbox planer. It produces uniform thickness across the laminate and doesn't roll or soften the edges, so your glue lines will be less visible. I've had excellent results planing pieces down to 1/8" with various planers. It's important to take thin passes and plane downhill on the grain, especially if there's any sloped or unusual grain that might want to explode in the planer. You may well experience a blow-up once in a while, but in my experience it is rare and it's related to the species and grain orientation of your laminates.

A little drum sander may be a good investment for other things. Let us know if you find a good one.

Ellis

I'm inclined to agree with Ellis on this. But the first place to start is with the bandsaw itself. There are a lot of good videos out there, but I found this one to be quick, informative and no nonsense. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNdrkmx6ehI&t=304s

For what this is worth, you can make a drum sander for your lathe pretty easily, even out of scrap materials.

And even provide semi-effective dust control.

The thing that I would have done with this, is make the platform much more rigid to prevent any possibility of flex. I haven't had time to revisit this project yet unfortunately.

You can make drum sanders of any size though, for different purposes. The duct tape (Gorilla Brand) really does work though I now use a dab of hot melt glue instead of hose clamps.
Hope this helps.

Thanks Ellis & Leo

Agreed that my 'plans' include needing to understand the fundamentals of resawing.  I have read/watch some info and am at the point that I need to try it to get a 'feel' for what I am doing.  But I also know that surfacing, at least for bent laminations, is an important aspect.  Ellis' comment about pa planer vs a drum sander sounds like the voice of experience; thought provoking as I never considered the aspect of edges rolling or softening.  My inexperience shows through brightly.

Leo - Thanks for the lathe sander pics and ideas.  The more I think about it the more I suspect this lathe add-on is the route I should go if I decide I do want/need a drum sander.  I don't use my lathe much at all (for other reasons) and I don't expect to do bent laminations much either - so having another dedicated tool in a cramped shop seems shortsighted.  But I do want to try my hand at all of this.  I doubt I will ever make a guitar - mostly because I can't play that or any other musical instrument.

Love to hear any other experiences - good or bad with drum sanders (or alternative).  

Henry

Just a picture of the one I built. I have added dust collection to it.

Ray Mtn. Home Ar. wrote:

Just a picture of the one I built. I have added dust collection to it.

Thanks Ray.
Any hindsight wisdom on the sander you built?  Happy with the performance?  Get consistently even pieces? Any regrets building one vs buying?  Was it purchased plan, free plan, or your own design?  What do you use it for?

Henry

I built this out of a piece of 6" tube and a couple of flanged bearings. The left side is adjustable up and down. It works well. I do a lot of segmented turning and I use it for flattening segmented rings.
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