How would YOU sand a cylinder?

[sunnybob]

My latest box is a cylinder shape. Think round biscuit tin on its side.

Ive cut it from the block on the bandsaw, and now need to make it round, all along its length.

NO, I DONT have a lathe!

Any other options please?

 

[Myfordman]

You could use your nice new drill press!

Drive it from the chuck and mount some sort of dead centre on the table to support the other end.

 

[Fitzroy]

I would Mark ends with required shape. Plane to shape. Sand to line. Would have to jerry rig something to restrain the shape whilst planing.

F.

 

[sunnybob]

Ya know, as I pressed "post" on that question I realised I do have a vertical lathe.(lol)

I also have on a top shelf in the garage a home made wooden lathe bed that converts my old wolf drill press and ryobi power drill into a proper lathe. I made it about 3 years ago and havent looked at it since.

This is quote a lump of wood though for something that home made, got to be a couple kgs of wood
Time to go digging on the top shelf and live dangerously.

Neither my planes or my skills are up to that suggestion Fitzroy.

 

[marcros]

have you got a vertical belt sander?

 

[Neil S]

Do you have a router table?
If so this is how I'd probably try it.

Plane or saw the shape roughly down to octagonal or thereabouts.
Make two legs like a tombola frame and drill a say 5mm hole through the tombola frames for a pivot point.
Place a 5mm screw through the drilled hole in the tombola frame and into the dead centre of the box ends.
Secure above the router table and slowly turn the box by hand tombola style above a spinning 1/2" router bit. Slide the tombola box along a bit and repeat. Also raise the router in increments until you have a perfectly round cylinder.

Hope that makes sense.

Edit: added a better picture of a tombola

-Neil

 

[Alpha-Dave]

This video from Wood Worker's Guild of America shows a method that has the same principle as Neil S's idea, but with the router on top and would probably need some fettling to make true. To sand, I would swap the router for a power sander.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TUA3lryix64

 

[Neil S]

This video from Wood Worker's Guild of America shows a method that has the same principle as Neil S's idea, but with the router on top and would probably need some fettling to make true. To sand, I would swap the router for a power sander.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TUA3lryix64

I like that idea. The fact that you can keep everything the same and just switch from a router to a power sander for finishing is great.

-Neil

 

[sunnybob]

Well, the old home made lathe didnt live up to my memory of it. So thats now in the firewood pile.

I'm going to have to make a kebab style top and bottom pivot and I can use the new drill.

I like that leg turning box, but I dont expect to make another box like this so thats a hell of a lot of jig for a one off usage.

As usual I didnt think this through before i started shaping, so the ends arent square either. This is going to take more time and effort than the whole rest of the box.

 

[Beau]

I would Mark ends with required shape. Plane to shape. Sand to line. Would have to jerry rig something to restrain the shape whilst planing.

F.

As above. You can get so close to perfectly round like this. no need to mess around with lathes.