Using a drumsander

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martin.pearson

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I have a drumsander that I purchased a while ago now but it never really got a lot of use before I had to move workshops. Now I am in the new workshop I am trying to use it a bit more but I find the sanding roll seems to clog really quickly. I have a thicknesser so I am not trying to dimension boards with the sander, doesn't seem to matter how lightly I load the machine.
Wondering if this was common or maybe something that I am doing wrong, think the machine is set up fairly well, it is generally Hardwoods that I work with so no softwood going through it.
 
does it/spindle go up n down....?
this spreads the load.....
I have a 16" disc sander (homemade) and it does seem to hold onto the resin etc.....
U can clean it with somespecial foam stuff but I've never used it.....
also come on the soles of trainers I believe....
someone els will know what it is.....
 
you need good extraction, how's yours?
I have a wide belt sander 1000mm wide and I still only take about 0.3mm per pass on hardwoods, with a 10kw extractor.

Quite new to woodworking tools so can't say for sure but I believe the extraction is OK, I don't have a built in system & move the dust extractor from machine to machine, if I watch I can see the sawdust being sucked out & there is never much sawdust on the feed belt or the inside of the actual machine. I have tried taking different sized cuts but I tend to be on the conservative side with most tools I use so don't think I am trying to take off to much per pass

Yes I have one of the cleaning sticks, it does an OK job but I wouldn't say it was great & might not buy a replacement when it runs out lol
 
I have heard, but never tried, a piece acrylic or poly sheet/block may be used to clean out the resin. The rubbery thing used to normally clean the sandpaper with sawdust is called a belt dresser. An old trainer can be used and so can the plastic type wine corks but the dresser in my opinion does have the edge on the others. I only drink wine that comes in corked bottle because I found the metal ring left behind on the screw top bottles can cut my lips.

Gary.
 
How used is the sanding belt, old and worn clog up really quick.

This is from putting a brand new belt on the machine, they just seem to clog up a lot quicker than I thought they should although I really have nothing to gauge it against lol

Along the same lines do those that use a drum sander buy the manufacturers belts or do they make up their own?
 
Hi Martin, What grit paper are you using? - Fine grits can 'clog up' very quickly - our best selling grit is 120G if that helps.

From quite a few people I've spoken to, they use 80G or 120G but then often give a very quick 220G / 300G+ finish via hand / random orbit sander after the material has been through the drum sander when they need a v fine finish - it makes sense not to take time to work up through changing belt grits on the sander, although that is an option, you will have to do it in stages & of course that takes time.

Cheers, Nick
 
Ah, funny you should answer because it is a Laguna sander lol, it may just be my expectations, I generally don't use to fine a paper with it, 80 grit would be about what I have been using most. From what you have just said it looks like I am doing the same sort of thing others have been doing & using a random orbit sander for fine abrasives. Mainly one off's so not gaining much if anything time wise changing belts all the time but if I had a batch of the same item to do then I would probably look at using the machine.
 
In the short time I owned my 16/32 JET drum sander I did not have any issues with belts clogging. I used Jepuflex antistatic cloth abrasive. Warning though, expect to pay about £80/90 fro a 100m roll of 75mm width.

Colin
 
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In the short time I owned my 16/32 JET drum sander I did not have any issues with belts clogging. I used Jepuflex antistatic cloth abrasive. Warning though, expect to pay about £80/90 fro a 100m roll of 75mm width.

Colin

Finding sanding rolls at 75mm has been a bit of a problem, any I have found have seemed to be at a premium price lol, I have bought the manufacturer supplied rolls & also made some of my own from 115mm rolls using one of the belts I had as a template so now I have some long thin sanding strips.I guess I could sit down & do the maths to use the 115mm rolls without having to cut them down to 75mm but where is the fun in that lol
 
I guess I could sit down & do the maths to use the 115mm rolls without having to cut them down to 75mm but where is the fun in that lol
If you attempt to use the whole 115mm width you'll find that the tail is not in the right place for the anchor. Some months ago one of our members overcame this by cutting a new slot in the cylinder and repositioning the gripper. I think I'd rather have a 40mm roll available! I'm fortunate in having rolls 150mm wide which I split down the middle.
Brian
 
Well if you're really put out by it and think that its just cluttering up the workshop, I'd like to jump in first for it with an offer of 3 packets of haribo, and im willing to make them the tangy variety if that will help seal the deal :D

I'd actually love one of them(The sander, not the haribo) I did a Scottish themed 3 leaf screen in tartan while at college. The cloth i pleated to simulate the kilt and along the bottom wove in a section in cherry. I needed to sand the cherry strips down to 2mm to get them to weave in and out without them breaking. Which is where the drum sander really came into its own.

I gifted the screen to someone(yeah,wishing now i hadn't :LOL: ) as its a pretty saleable piece. and I fancy doing a couple more for the market.
 
Could be…
Lack of cleaning of the abrasive (get a cleaning block)
Lack of extraction
Gummy wood (what are you sanding?)
Poor abrasive (I use abranet)
 
I have one of those big generic (mine is Axminster branded) 635mm dual drum things. 15amp of whatever.

I'm a heathen so use it for thicknessing!

(I have a thicknesser or two, but the sander gets around the tear out issues on figured wood)

I find the best way to scrap belts is by taking too much off in a pass. Second is probably too low a feed rate in conjunction with removal amount.

You would assume that if you're taking a heavy cut a slow feed would be good but this isn't always the case. Scorching and gumming can occur.

Like I say, I use mine heavily. It's got 80g avomax in it. Maybe even 60g.

If I take gentle cuts I can get a belt to last an hour or somthing. I can manage less than 10mins if I do it wrong.

Again, I'm not trying to finish on it, and u have the second drum lifted.

On the last passes I'll take a very fine cut (finally feeding the part through a number of times without changing roller height) and then use a da sander.

If I was doing stacks of parts, I'd set it up with fine paper for sanding, but I reckon it would take a while to learn not to wreck this.

I've had zero luck with cleaning paper. Generally gums up, then the gummed stuff scortches black. Then comes off taking the grit with it.

Once too much grit is gone, I change the paper.

I really like the machine. I had real issues before thicknessing parts after template routing. I'd try and flatten wood prior and then it would move again after cutting.

Now I route it first, and take to final size weeks later on the sander. I get way way less bother like this
 
does it/spindle go up n down....?
this spreads the load.....
I have a 16" disc sander (homemade) and it does seem to hold onto the resin etc.....
U can clean it with somespecial foam stuff but I've never used it.....
also come on the soles of trainers I believe....
someone els will know what it is.....
 

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