Thickness sander in a pinch

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 8:01 am

I have to question the virtue of a steel roller for this application. It seems to me as though there needs to be just a slight bit of flexibility to the sanding surface of the roller.

I don't know why and I won't debate the issue. That is just the way it seems to me. Those who have and use them know much better than I.

For this particular application I would have used my 6" drum sander which I realize was not available to Heath at the time of need.

I also realize that the current price of the drum sander does not make it an immediate "must have" item. I was surprised when I saw this. I don't believe I paid near that much.

Just had to check on the price of the 6" drum sander back then:

In December of 2008 it (555948) cost me $29.25 with no sanding sleeves. The sanding sleeves were selling in sets of 6ea for $11.75. These are real life examples of inflation. Oh for the good ole days.

You did good Heath. Your solution was nearly free.

"Wild Bad Bob" · Post by **"Wild Bad Bob"** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 10:27 am

FWIW and IMHO, I do like self designing things, but over the years I have kinda figured out what works and dosnt and is just a waste of time, but had to try for my creative side, so I respect your efforts!!!
Silk purse from a sows ear. First my thickness planer will plane to 1/8" and 8" in length, if I want it thinner and it is shorter, I made up a 3/4" thick board 16" long with a 1/16 raised lip 6" from the rear of the board. You lay your thin, small piece on it and run it through the planer, made one for a guitar making friend for his 16/32" Grizzly drum sander for thinning his faces and backs to 2mm thickness. Coffee has not kicked in, there is a name for a board like that but cant think of it at the moment
Second, how are you going to control feed rate? On a drum sander there is a rolling base using an abrasive coated belt like on a belt sander, that you can control the feed rate of the piece into the sander.
I have controlled my snipe problem on my planer, with some up pressure on the end of the board when first inserting it at the contact of being planed, and the same up pressure on the front of the board as the tail end of the board is in its last few inches of being planed.

shipwright · Post by **shipwright** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 11:36 am

rbursek, If you look at the link that Heath posted in the original post on this thread you will find links to my project post and build blog on LJ. There are a couple of videos showing the sander being used to final sand some marquetry that is only 1/32" thick. It is extremely accurate but you have a valid point about the feed. It is tricky at first but with a little practice you can feed at a very even rate and avoid the dips that will occur if the feed is uneven.
The video link is a couple of segments into the blog and may be hard to find so here it is again. I apologize for the double take. There are three videos but somehow I got the second one uploaded twice. Oops!
http://youtu.be/Lf2qfOm6bDg

"Wild Bad Bob" · Post by **"Wild Bad Bob"** » Sun Apr 20, 2014 11:43 am

SW, I understand about trying to upload things and get them right, no apologies needed!!! I see by all your "work" you are a true artesian. I missed/did not look at your previous posting of your links, thanks for bringing them to my attention, I know I will enjoy them and hope to get something out of them for my use. I am getting a SS clone BS and 6" jointer, I have a 4" SS one now too and plan on making your tool storage/stand for them, why carry something when you can roll it over to where you need it, even better if it is at the same height!!!!