Drum Sander

[everettdavis]

Ok Lewis took us a bit off topic with his questions.

It is about a drum sander.

Everett

[jsburger]

I guess you have been to our naval base in Bahrain. I was there when I was TDY to Dhahran Saudi Arabia after the first gulf war. We used to drive from Daharan over the causeway to Bahrain. I bought a lot of gold in Bahrain and Saudi. The Navy also docks in Dubai UAE. Have you ever been there? I was at Al Minhad AB which is about 30 miles inland from Dubai. We had a bus that went into town all the time before the war started. The most famous gold Souk in the world. All the gold is 18K. I bought lots there also, very cheap at that time. Back then the tallest building was 4 stories. Look at it now, WOW.

I have been to Bahrain a few times over the years and to Port of Jebel Ali, UAE once for about 4 months when I was on a repair ship. There was a bus to take us into Dubai. I think in the 4 months we were there I had enough time off to get there 3 or 4 times as we typically worked 12 hour days 7 days a week in port.

And you didn't buy gold in Dubai?

12/7 is very tough. Thank you for supporting all of us other guys that are and have been there. We did that in the UAE for 7 moths so I understand.

[Hobbyman2]

Thank you all for your service to this wonderful country

Handyman2

[dusty]

It doesn't seem to me that there are many restrictions placed upon this editing tool. See title and it is not a quoted response.

However if a post is quoted, the new post acquires the title of the quoted post.

Maybe yes, but you said you did not believe the title could be changed -- it was.

Let us not go any further without switching the topic back to the original "Drum Sander".

[dusty]

It doesn't seem to me that there are many restrictions placed upon this editing tool. See title and it is not a quoted response.

[JPG]

It doesn't seem to me that there are many restrictions placed upon this editing tool. See title and it is not a quoted response.

However if a post is quoted, the new post acquires the title of the quoted post.

Maybe yes, but you said you did not believe the title could be changed -- it was.

Let us not go any further without switching the topic back to the original "Drum Sander".

Yep I learned something tonight! Yep I was wrong. Yep it happens!!!

[dusty]

Being wrong does not hurt!

UNLESS

You allow that to adversely effect your self esteem.

You can "rest assured"; that is not likely.

[everettdavis]

Hobbyman2

You may also enjoy this video on building them. You indicated you wanted to avoid pitfalls and learn from others attempts. This may be of help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUJiOBUiWVE

Here is one using a Shopsmith.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY-VIhigeBg

Best of luck, and my apologies again for the rabbit holes we have gone down as we digressed into other topics in the thread.

Everett

[everettdavis]

One consideration I had envisioned when I thought of building one myself dealt with a method to strengthen and even further stabilize the thick walls of the PVC used as the drum itself.

I thought of building temporary end caps during the build that would allow me to include a small diameter, centered, inner-sleeve that the eventual shaft would pass through.

During the fabrication phase, ends of the temporary cap would have a few holes drilled in each end allowing me to fill the cavity between with expanding foam sealant such as Great Stuff to provide a light weight filler to the cavity.

It would strengthen the body as it hardened in place helping the finished drum maintain uniform rigidity across the length.

Then I considered the treadmill I had seen at the surplus center and thought, "Wow, that could become the base of my drum sander, providing significant infeed and outfeed support." It was gone when I went back, and I never revisited the project.

Thinking of it now, why not use a treadmill roller drive assemby as the basis of the sanding drum itself .... metal.. replaceable bearings..... strong....

Everett

[masonsailor2]

In one of my early attempts I used 4" pvc drums but had problems with rigidity and also longevity. My machine has 30" drums which is as long as I can fit on the SS. The pvc would give me less sanding at the center of the drum which resulted in a surface not as flat as I like. Eventually in would sand flat but it took forever. The aluminum drums are 5" diameter with 3/8 walls which gives me very good rigidity and allows for much more rapid removal of material. It will give me panels that are within .01" from corner to corner. It also has excellent heat conduction so burning is practically non existent. The 5" diameter also helps on that a point. One added benefit that I wasn't expecting was that because of the increased mass the drum does not bog down so easily. The aluminum was not that expensive and really performs well. Combined with the variable speed of the SS and the ability to have multiple drums that can be changed very rapidly it outperforms any single drum commercial unit I have used. I don't have a power feed on mine which would be one addition I would like to add.
Paul