My Version of a Performax

gr8mesquite · Post by **gr8mesquite** » Mon Jul 15, 2013 7:49 pm

Ten years ago when I moved into my new house in Tucson, there were lots of grande woodworking projects to tackle. Headboards, cabinets, chests-of-draws, etc. in southwest design were new and exciting to me. But alas, at some point you run out of room for new furniture, and carrying an armoire or other large pieces to someone's house as a hostess gift is tricky. So...I got into smaller things like cutting boards and segmented stuff, and I've coveted a Performax like thickness sander ever since my first segmented class at Woodcraft. Next problem--not enough floor space in my garage for lots of stand alone tools. The Shopsmith and a few other necessities are all I can manage. So...I became obsessed with creating yet another adaptation of my Shopsmith--a thickness sander.

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Above I show a 2.5" diameter piece of PVC which is 17" long. I cut some wooden disks for support, lathered them with glue and jammed them in, predrilled at 1/2" for the axelrod.

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I put stop collars on both sides, which I drilled, for screwing into the end disks.

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I got some 3" self stick Velco on Ebay (about $15), and wrapped the PVC. I also got a pillow bearing at the local bearing store ($12) where I got the axelrod ($5.)
A piece of MDF acts as the sanding table, and inset (underneath) into the MDF are a pair of Shopsmith table tubes for height adjustment. I got the tubes from a SS Forum member for about $30 delivered (thanks.)

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I made a dust cover and drilled a hole on top for my vacuum. It looks primative, but it's a protype and it works great.

I went online and bought 4" wide Velcro loop backed sandpaper @100 grit and 220 grit. The rolls were about $35 each, but I got enough to last me til I leave the planet.

When I cranked it up (at very low rpm's) I ran a piece of wood thru and immediately noticed a slight problem. The wood took off like a javelin and darn near skewered my Honda (seen in the background.

) The solution is, of course, to come in from the other side, against the rotation. Harder to push, and don't let go--use a wood block as a pusher and a stopper.

Anyway, that's it. Somewhat cumbersome to set up, but once there it works great.

I would greatly welcome any suggestions and constructive criticism. Oh yeah, and by the way--sanding is easier with paper on the roller. When my friend Farley (John) came over for a demo, I forgot to put paper on.

John tried to be polite and encouraging, despite the fact that no sanding was taking place. A small oversight. We had a great laugh.

Jerome

farley · Post by **farley** » Mon Jul 15, 2013 8:14 pm

yes did have a laugh about that. sometimes we get moving too fast.

his cutting boards are great. Jerry maybe another thread showing off them.

joshh · Post by **joshh** » Mon Jul 15, 2013 9:24 pm

I really like it! Makes me want to build a strip sander and belt sander!

peterm · Post by **peterm** » Tue Jul 16, 2013 10:19 am

Interesting drum sander design Jerome! I like your use of stop collars..ingenious.

WRT home made strip sanders, this post might give joshh some ideas:
https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=10157

I wrote it up and Machinist Workshop magazine say they intend to publish the article in October (but that timing is not "firm").

twoblocked · Post by **twoblocked** » Tue Jul 16, 2013 10:43 am

Instead of drilled stop collars you can get 5/8 inch x 3-3/4 inch hubs made by Chicago Die Cast. Robot Market Place carries them.

Ed in Tampa · Post by **Ed in Tampa** » Tue Jul 16, 2013 11:42 am

I wonder if a solid wood slug inserted in the pipe would be better than the two end caps?

I'm envisioning a block of wood 17" long drilled and then turned to fit inside the pipe. Or possibly just using the wood without the pipe.

I would be worried the pipe could give very sightly and cause some unusual results in the wood being sanded. Just thinking out loud.

Nice design, hope you show us more of it.

gr8mesquite · Post by **gr8mesquite** » Tue Jul 16, 2013 11:42 am

The hubs ( http://www.robotmarketplace.com/product ... 21225.html ) are a great idea. I wish I could find some to match my PVC diameter. I had to find aluminum stop collars so that I could drill them (Amazon.) If you're cost conscious, 4 collars cost only $5.
Thanks for the tip.

Jerome

heathicus · Post by **heathicus** » Tue Jul 16, 2013 12:10 pm

Interesting. I really like the idea of using table tubes with the carriage for the sanding table.

Also, check out the thickness sander that Shipwright made: https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?t=9382

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Tue Jul 16, 2013 12:17 pm

Interesting bench vise!

Is the entire length of the 'tube' plugged? What is the purpose of the screws along the length?

Velcro? Ok for 'finish' work, but thickness sanding?

Finally, why aluminum? Yer bits not work on steel parts?

Oh BTW, nice job!!!

gr8mesquite · Post by **gr8mesquite** » Tue Jul 16, 2013 6:16 pm

Thanks for your comments and questions. Let me try to address some of your observations.

In addition to the end caps, the tube has a series of plugs inserted. I cut them, drilled them, lathered them with glue, and inserted them. In addition to the glue, there is a series of screws running along the length of the tube as additional security (the belt and suspenders theory.) I did not opt to turn a solid plug as I would have had difficulty drilling a ½ bore thru 17” of solid wood. I could have cut a bunch more plugs and glued them all together to make a solid core, but I felt there was little need. The drum is very stable.

I used PVC to get a smooth surface for good adhesion of the Velcro. I used Velcro for quick and easy change of grits, lest I have to make 2 or 3 more drums. The sander is not meant to take off major amounts of wood—I have my planer for that. The sander is basically for leveling out (i.e., a segment ring) and for smoothing before a hand or finishing sander go over.

Finally, too much trouble to drill hardened steel stop collars. Given the narrow margin, I wanted my drill bit to cut in right away without effort. There is no benefit to steel collars over aluminum.

Ed, you asked for more pics, so here goes:

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This shows the tubes attached to the bottom of the table. This can easily be refined, but I did it quickly with stuff on hand.

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Parallel is achieved by adjusting the height of the floating end table. A trunnion table would be great, but alas...

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The dust cover is fixed into dowel holes in the gizmo attached to the way tubes, and into holes in the pillow bearing base.

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Attaching the Velcro backed sander strip.

Thanks again for looking.

Jerome