Looking for a hobby use/size drum sander

[nicguthrie]

Hey folks, I'm looking for general opinion here.

I've been toying with the idea of a small Planer/Thicknesser for a long while. I've come to terms with finding other ways than a full P/T for simply jointing/planing board sides. so I started thinking about a small Thicknesser, but thinking about what I'd actually use it for, and the size of most of my projects, I've come to the conclusion that a drum sander would probably be a better bet. Almost everything I do is pretty small, and cutting rough to within a mm or so even from fairly odd shaped stock is pretty easy with a quickly knocked up jig, since I have the excellent BS350 bandsaw.

The trouble is that they (small drum sanders) seem fairly uncommon. It looks from my searches, that the choices are largely down to what's in the Axminister range, that starts at £680 for the Jet 10-20.

I do like the idea, especially of being able to make precise panels and inlay strips for jewelry boxes and such, but that's a hefty outlay, and a fairly large machine for the sort of thing I have in mind.

My real question is two-fold.

1) Those that have a proper drum sander - is it worth it in your opinion? As against say knocking up a jig frame and using a broad, flat router bit for thinning down stock for example.

2) Is there any other options that are more hobby sized (and budget) without going second hand? (My wife has real hospital grade OCD, so I can't do second hand)

One last option may be to knock up a home made one, but does anyone know how easy/reliable this is, or have any good guides & plans? If I was going that route, I'd hesitate if it was a lot of man-hours to do, as I don't have much time in the workshop as it is, and spending the next year of workshop time, making a home-made sander, I'd be better served just cutting out some other expense for the year, and swallowing the cost of a light trade machine even if it's way more than I need supposing it's small enough to fit in my little workshop.

Thanks.

Nic.

 

[beech1948]

Thicknesser http://www.axminster.co.uk/jet-jwp-12-bench-top-thicknesser

Planer http://www.dm-tools.co.uk/product.php/section/4571/sn/SCHHMS2000#.U36UWPmIBcY

The planer could be replaced with a Stanley No 7 or 8 since you do not seem to need large volumes of planing.

Thicknesser which is cheaper is slightly more problematic but could consider http://www.screwfix.com/p/erbauer-e...8_1400804839_a72fa7b53067badbec9e7c91e5e14198

Al

 

[nicguthrie]

Appreciate the feedback, but it sort of misses the point. I'll try to explain better:-

As I don't have space for two machines in my workshop, after I gave the whole thing a lot of consideration and decided that since I'm likely to be making small sections and inlay strips etc. quite often, most probably too small to be safe or not shatter in a thicknesser, I'd settled on the idea of the drum sander. I reckon that for smallish jobs where I need more dynamic cutting power, a jig set up as sliding rails for my router will allow both edging of boards up to several inches thick (with a rail guide and a worktop cutting bit) and also with some patience, flattening of boards (there's a lot of videos on YouTube of people using this technique even for dinner table sized areas)

My original concept was almost exactly what you linked in your second link, I'd planned on the Woodstar pt85 http://www.screwfix.com/p/woodstar-pt85-200mm-planer-thicknesser-230v/89544but figure I'd still need a sander to stop thin inlay sections shattering on the blades or short sections not engaging the feed rollers, hence my rethink. I also realise that I should get in practice and do some planing by hand, but that's extremely difficult for me, as my disability severely affects my joints, and a manual plane requires a pretty good combination of strength and control.

Thanks again.

Nic.

 

[Spindle]

Hi

If you type 'DIY drum sander' into google images you are bombarded with examples to follow up on - or have you been there already?

Regards Mick

 

[marcros]

This is one that I plan to make later in the year http://woodgears.ca/sander/thickness.html

I have looked around at a number of different builds- as somebody said there are hundreds out there. I liked this one because it was straightforward to build, and the plans are free. The hardest part would be cutting nice round disks for the drum- so that it didnt take an age flattening them. I havent tried to do so, but if necessary, half a sheet on a cnc machine would produce enough.

 

[beech1948]

Appreciate the feedback, but it sort of misses the point. I'll try to explain better:-

I'm not sure that I have yet missed the point. The first machine will thickness down to about 8mm before you need to begin to worry about the wood shattering. Others may have a different view but I frequently go down to this thickness.

If I worry about the wood shattering then I use a sled to support the wood and occassionally use double sided tape to hold in position. This works for light cuts.

i always ensure my blades are sharp...it's a bit of an OCD thing.

The edges could be done easily with a Stanley No 7. To ensure 90 degree angles you could attach a wooden fence with 2 rare earth magnets as a guide.

I don't know how these ideas would work with your disability so may still be off track for you.

Al

 

[RogerS]

I'd be cautious about expecting a drum sander to handle very very thin stock or short stock which is what your main goal is, if I understand you correctly. You can stick the stock down on a thicker board to go through the sander using, for example, double sided tape but then you have all the faff of trying to remove the tape without wrecking your wood.

Having said that I wouldn't be without either my drum sander or linisher but then the sort of stuff I pass through it are more in the 18-20mm region. The drum sander is brilliant for thicknessing down tricky wood....albeit it takes a while. But no tear-out!

 

[nicguthrie]

Thanks for all the feedback folks.

I must admit I was hoping that the drum sander would be able to handle stock thicknesses of down to a couple of mm with very light passes, that's why I thought it'd be more suitable than a thicknesser for the purpose. A particular woodworker that I subscribe to on YouTube uses his to do this for inlay sections and the like, so I can't claim the idea was of my own originality. I've been poorly for a bit, so I'll reply to everyone here

Spindle: Thanks, my google-fu is pretty good, been there, and yeah, there's quite a flood of ideas, varying wildly in effectiveness, safety and quality. It was part of why I was asking here if anyone knew of any exceptionally good ones.

Thanks Al for the idea of the sled - I'm pretty comfortable knocking up jigs and the like of all sorts for particular jobs, and I'm sure you've hit the nail on the head with that, an MDF sheet with a couple of thin blocks to avoid slippage, and a spray of my trusty 3M repositionable adhesive should make the perfect sled for the purpose I think, unless your experience has any further refinements to suggest? I like the 3M stuff, as it grips, but not hard enough to damage even paper when you lift it straight up, and can be cleaned off jigs with solvent. I do find using a hand plane very hard on my joints. I recently had a possible diagnosis suggested for the first time in 30 yrs of knowing something was wrong, of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and it affects everything, but for woodworking the most problematic thing is that my joints separate - like miniature dislocations - under pressure and stress, so even picking up and manipulating a really solid chunk of cast iron like a No.7 plane can be pretty tough.

Oh, and I totally agree with sharp edges fixation... I almost enjoy maintaining my blades as much as using them

Marcros, we seem to have a habit of seeing the same sites and having the same experiences with them, that woodgears site has been in my favourites for about 2 years, and his is the best design I've ever seen for a home-made thicknesser. The only thing I worry about with the design is finding and managing to use an appropriate motor, as well as the potential man-hour sink of the making of the thing.

RogerS - that's exactly what I'm hoping the machine will be capable of! You have me a bit worried now. Lack of tear-out is actually one of the best things about the concept, as I really love working with Burr and spalting on the lathe, and I'd love to use them in jewelry boxes etc too, but I know how hard they can be to get good results with on certain tools

I guess I'll just keep at it for a bit, and take the plunge either to making one, or buying one in the summer. I still worry that the home made route will take up most of my woodwork time for too long, so I may buy the Jet 10-20 eventually. Perhaps it'll come up on sale or something!

Nic.

 

[RogerS]

Nic

Perhaps you could find someone locally - trade or private - who has a drum sander and you can go out and see if it works for you?

 

[Tetsuaiga]

I've been looking into drum sanders lately, i've only really found three makes that are under the £1000 price range within the UK.

Other than the jet axminster ones, there are some sold by Sheppach and also a company is selling German made ones here, which are Holzman or Holzstar.

I haven't used any of them but i'd say Jet look best, followed by Holzman then Sheppach.

 

[nicguthrie]

Thanks for that tetsuiga, I'd never turned up the Holzman brand ones before, they're slightly different than the Jet style, but they do look good.

More choice is always a good thing! I'm pretty much set on trying to make the woodgears.ca version now. Still a bit doubtful as to what my best bet is for a motor and pulley system, without going to ebay and spending over £100 on parts, as I'm not good with electronics, but I'll make my mind up eventually. I may even end up waiting till Aldi/Lidl does another budget £20 drill, and just butcher one of those and turn a pair of pulleys for it.

Nic.

 

[marcros]

I would build the rest of it and keep looking for the motor. I would also go with the larger of the shafts suggested.

A cheap lathe is another source of motor- that may well have pulleys on too.

Could you cobble something together using your lathe- shaft in a chuck and live centre etc.