Whats the trick / drum sander

mrhart · Post by **mrhart** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 6:29 pm

OK whats the trick to get the sandpaper on the little drum sander?
Learning is sooo slow.

SDSSmith · Post by **SDSSmith** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 6:44 pm

mrhart wrote:OK whats the trick to get the sandpaper on the little drum sander?
Learning is sooo slow.

Forgive me if I state the obvious. The two metal ends of the drum sander are held together by the hex head bolt. Tightening the bolt pulls them together causing the rubber sleeve to bulge. So normally, you loosen the bolt and slide the sanding sleeve over the rubber sleeve and tighten. In extreme situations, you can remove the metal ends, work the sanding sleeve on/off the rubber sleeve and then re-assemble.

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 7:56 pm

I coat the rubber sleeve with talcum powder so the sand paper cylinder slides on/off easily.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 9:20 pm

Also - don't think "righty/tighty - lefty/loosey" The threads and bolts on the sanding drums are left handed. So--- it's "righty/ loosey" for these little buggers!

Underdog · Post by **Underdog** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 9:53 pm

That one killed me and broke one of my old drum sanders...

Righty/tighty did NOT apply. And what I assumed was frozen in place from years of neglect was actually me turning things the wrong direction. I realized it after it broke by looking CLOSELY at the direction of the threads on it. Should have looked at it BEFORE is started wrenching on it...

SDSSmith · Post by **SDSSmith** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 9:55 pm

charlese wrote:Also - don't think "righty/tighty - lefty/loosey" The threads and bolts on the sanding drums are left handed. So--- it's "righty/ loosey" for these little buggers!

I have three drum sanders and they are all 'righty tighty'.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 10:32 pm

SDSSmith wrote:I have three drum sanders and they are all 'righty tighty'.

Really!!!!?:eek: Are they from Shopsmith?

The reasoning from Shopsmith is so the nut will turn opposite from the spinning direction of the quill, when used in the vertical drum sanding position. Of course this does not hold true when attaching the drum to the aux spindle.

SDSSmith · Post by **SDSSmith** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 11:06 pm

charlese wrote:Really!!!!?:eek: Are they from Shopsmith?

The reasoning from Shopsmith is so the nut will turn opposite from the spinning direction of the quill, when used in the vertical drum sanding position. Of course this does not hold true when attaching the drum to the aux spindle.

Really! They are from Shopsmith and I think you are confusing the mechanics. The direction of rotation will not affect the drum sander's bolt unless you happen to run the bolt into the table.

May I suggest that you might take another look at your drum sander(s) and verify that they are 'righty/loosey'.]

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 5:22 am

charlese wrote:Really!!!!?:eek: Are they from Shopsmith?

The reasoning from Shopsmith is so the nut will turn opposite from the spinning direction of the quill, when used in the vertical drum sanding position. Of course this does not hold true when attaching the drum to the aux spindle.

Must be a different vintage sanding drum; mine do not have a nut. On my two you turn a bolt head "righty" to "tighty".

wa2crk · Post by **wa2crk** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 10:34 am

Drum sanders do vary. Also if the sander drum has been stored in the compressed manner (bolt tight with a drum installed) the drum will take a "set" and be slightly too large even when the bolt is loosened.
I have several drum sanders and one of them I have had to sand the rubber drum to get the sand paper drum to fit. I have sleeves from a non SS manufacturer that will not fit the SS sanding drum even though the manufacturer did call them 2 1/4" drums. The talcum powder is a good idea and it works well.
Bill V