Bobbin Sanders

[marcros]

I have been looking at bobbin sanders to fit into a pillar drill, that you can fit your own choice of abrasive to.

From reading various things online that the Carroll Drum Sanders are very highly rated- in fact they seem to be regarded as the best of the best. Does anybody know whether they are still available? Or are there any alternatives that are on par?

The Carroll website now links to a media company which doesnt look promising at all.

 

[shed9]

Do you mean the rubber holders that fit in the chuck that you wind abrasive around?

 

[marcros]

yes, i think so.

When I don't know which tool to select, i tend to heed the advice of the luthier forums, as I was once told, they are a fussy lot! The Carroll ones came up consistently, and are demonstrated here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1p_Cn9McIsc

I plan to put it in a pillar drill.

 

[harvestbarn]

Hi

I have been pleased with the screwfix set http://www.screwfix.com/p/rubber-drum-s ... 5pcs/19906
The set costs £9.99 and work fine in a pillar drill.

 

[marcros]

Thank you.

However it is they sleeve type that I don't want- I am really after something that I can fit my own abrasive to- that way I can put a finer or courser grit on as required rather than having to have numerous sleeves around.

 

[shed9]

Rutlands seem to have a version where you cut your own and push into a slot. Not as refined as the Carroll version but closer to what you want I think;

http://www.rutlands.co.uk/sp+woodworkin ... kota+dkdsk


Axminster have their versions as well;;

http://www.axminster.co.uk/axminster-sl ... ding-drums

 

[RobCee]

I looked for the Carroll ones a while ago, but dildn't find any suppliers anywhere.

 

[Brad Awl]

I recently got an Axminster one and it is very good - you can use cloth backed abrasive with it but it might be tricky with the heaviest grits as the slot for feeding the paper into could be a bit tight. I have 120 grit in at the moment and it's fine.
Cheers
Steve

 

[marcros]

I was lucky last night and got a couple of secondhand ones in the mini size. I might try the axi one for a larger size.

 

[Brad Awl]

I was lucky last night and got a couple of secondhand ones in the mini size. I might try the axi one for a larger size.

Well done, that was lucky. Mine is the bigger Axi 75mm x 75mm one for making a particular curve on a project.

 

[Alexam]

THis is the same type as ones sold by Axminster. I bought a set (Code 810477) in a box, tghere are 2 drums to go into your dril and the sleves can be changed for paper of your choice.. Only used then a few times and now got a Triton machine and I don't find it a problem, althouighn the papers are bought seperately in sets of different grits. Same as the Rutlands ones...... couple of pounds cheaper.

Alex

 

[marcros]

How do you find the triton machine Alex? It doesn't look bad value and although I am not looking for a machine at the moment, it is a consideration if I use the pillar drill sanders a lot.

 

[Alexam]

Far better than expected. Managed to pick up one second hand, but only a few months old. Far easier to manage compared to using the pillar drill and the drum sanders. It came with something like 80 grit and I just bought a set of 240 grit for finer work. Can't fault it other than having to use it on a lower surface as the workbench is a little too high.

 

[Mike.S]

I was (still am) looking for Carroll sanders and, in fact, just been outbid on a second hand one.

I did a bit of research a while ago (via Companies House) and it seems that the Carroll business in Croydon has shut down and the company wound up (voluntarily). I suspect another manufacturer bought the patent - those supplied by Axi/Rutlands et al appear to be, from the feedback read, inferior Asian manufactured copies.

Three Carroll drum sanders sold for £50 on ebay a few weeks ago.

 

[marcros]

I did some research last night too. I think that the patent is about to run out or may already have done so. The axminster reviews were not that positive but they were reasonably cheap to try. When I get my couple, I am going to have a look and see how easy they would be to manufacture a few (for my home use rather than commercial).

From what I have read, they are superior to everything else available.

 

[Mike.S]

When I get my couple, I am going to have a look and see how easy they would be to manufacture a few (for my home use rather than commercial).

Absolutely, this is also why I'm particularly interested in seeing an original Carroll. It seems that it is the flimsier nature of the non-Carroll sander clamps that is causing users concern.

 

[Brad Awl]

The clamp on the Axi drum is a pretty simple affair - there is a vertical slot in the drum leading to a parallel hole. A piece of oval aluminium tube sits in the hole and when it is turned traps the 2 ends of the paper that fold into it.
The drum is some kind of acrylic/polymer with a foam pad of a few mm thick on the outside and a boss fitted to the top for mounting in the chuck. There is a choice of 2 interchangeable shafts secured by a grubscrew.

 

[marcros]

When I get my couple, I am going to have a look and see how easy they would be to manufacture a few (for my home use rather than commercial).

Absolutely, this is also why I'm particularly interested in seeing an original Carroll. It seems that it is the flimsier nature of the non-Carroll sander clamps that is causing users concern.

Mike,

The couple that I bought have arrived this morning, well I picked them up from the post office.

They are really quite simple in construction. A mandrel is attached to a tube- I assume screwed, but I am at a desk, so havent got any tools to undo it. Into the tube is cut a slot, maybe a quarter of an inch wide, and the full length of the tube for the paper ends to fit in. Inside the tube there is a centre piece which is a fraction smaller than the centre of the tube- it easily comes out when the paper isnt in. This is filed flat on one side, and an allen key hole is in the centre of what remains of it. The whole tube is covered in a rubbery coating.

Shiny metal does not photograph very well, so I have made a sketch. You are going to struggle to believe this, but I didnt do technical drawing at school... (hammer)

If anybody has the means of making any of these, i would be interested. I have a 19mm and a 25mm, but would like some larger ones. I would think that the allen key could be a slot if necessary- it would be easier to make.

 

[Mike.S]

Thanks Marcros

I think I grasp how it's constructed - essentially the sandpaper is pinched between the flat sided tube (with allen key) and the larger diameter slotted tube. Does it rely on friction alone or is the mandrel off-centre so that there's a sort of cam action when the allen key is rotated?

I did take Technical Drawing - in a portakabin IIRC, which doubled as the music room. Unfortunately, I failed my 'O' level - was it it a D or an E :lol:

If anyone doe stake up the cudgels and makes these I'd be interested also.

Mike

 

[marcros]

it looks central, but the flat bit may take it off centre enough to act like a cam action.

Your grasp is correct. really simple but very clever.