home made shear sander?

[pipp]

Hello all
First could I just say hello as this is my first post.
I was wondering if anyone had made themselves a shearsander or has seen any plans anywhere for one ,I have been reading some of the posts regarding shearsanders and they seem to get mixed reviews for the price they cost so I wondered if it would be better to try and D I Y one.
many thanks for any help or replies .

 

[paulm]

Hi Pipp and welcome to the forum

I use a combination of power sanding with a pad mounted in a cordless or electric drill for the coarser grits (if needed :lol: ) and hand sanding with the finer grits, most of the time anyway.

Not sure what advantage there is in the hand held versions, and I agree they seem expensive. If you already have a drill then try that perhaps, or if you don't have one you could pick up a cheap one perhaps for not much more money and be able to drill holes and drive screws as well as sanding !

Will be interested to hear if others like the handheld shear sanders though in case I'm missing out :lol:

Cheers, Paul

 

[CHJ]

If you make one you need to go with small ball bearing races, plain brass/bronze versions are a waste of space as the grit debris soon wrecks the bearing and shaft.

I now use a friction driven shear sander less and less, reason being that a shear sander can result in very high speed rotation which I find can over overheat the abrasive and also result in poor cutting performance.
I prefer to use a small cordless drill with its slower speed, abrasives last longer and I feel I get a better cutting action.

 

[woodyturner]

I made one many years ago and it took longer to make than it did to discard in the dustbin a complete waste of time don't get me wrong it did work but power sanding is far better well that's my opinion for what its worth

 

[pipp]

Thanks for the replies ,I have a few drills so I`ll go with one of them .
Chas it was your experiences with the shear sanders I read about could you tell me do you run the lathe while power sanding or just use the power from the drill sorry if its a daft question I`m pretty new to it all just yet.
thanks mick

 

[CHJ]

Thanks for the replies ,I have a few drills so I`ll go with one of them .
Chas it was your experiences with the shear sanders I read about could you tell me do you run the lathe while power sanding or just use the power from the drill sorry if its a daft question I`m pretty new to it all just yet.
thanks mick

Mick, I run the lathe at about 6-700 rpm for most sanding on Bowls and Boxes, occasionally I dress a spot of rogue grain with the lathe stationary, there again on some pieces stationary hand sanding with the grain is 80% of the task.

In all honesty, sanding is one of those arts that has no definitive answer and a dozen turners will more than likely give you a dozen different recipes. My methods and preferred abrasives have changed or more correctly evolved over time to suit what I'm doing now, I would not say that I never use a friction driven shear sander but like the rest of the selection of abrasives and tools I have to hand with some jobs it just seems right at the time.

 

[chipmunk]

Hi Pipp,
I think that a shear sander can be quite easy to make.

Here's mine...

It's based on a pair of in-line skate (skateboard) bearings (608 type) held in an end-feed straight 22mm Yorkshire pipe fitting which is what I use for ferrules.

The common metric bearing races have an 8mm hole and 22mm bearing outer (608 type) which fit snugly into the pipe fitting. The skate wheels come with a central arbor with a 6mm hole through the centre and 8mm spigots on each end that fit into the bearings. Cut the fitting slightly over-size and pein over the ends to hold everything in place. To hold the Yorkshire pipe fitting I soldered a short rectangular section of brass onto the side, drilled and tapped it with M6 and then held the head assembly to a handle with a short steel section on a tang and a short hex head machine screw.

I find that the shear sander does work and, although it's not as quick as power sanding, there is less heat build-up on the pads and the abrasive. This is in contrast to what Chas says but you can adjust the speed of rotation by shifting the drive point on the pads circumference.

I also make my own abrasive pads. These in this picture were based around plywood disks, coach bolts and pipe insulation with a self-adhesive velcro disk. I have since changed from the pipe insulation to these hand sanding blocks which can form the basis of two disks.

http://www.diy.com/nav/decor/decora...cks___brushes/Oakey-Sanding-Block-Kit-9254918

HTH
Jon

 

[pipp]

Thanks for that Jon
I`ve got some skateboard parts which I stripped down to make a steadyrest so I`ll accumulate the rest of the bits and give it a go , I found a site where a gentleman was making some sanding pads in the shape of a ball and he said they were great for the inside of vessels and round bottom bowls.