Building a Drum Sander for the Shopsmith

[jprice]

Thanks, very much! The diagram is very helpful. My SS is even older than yours--c. 1981 Mark V--and you are absolutely right about the vertical clearance issue. There's also very little horizontal clearance, even when the headstock is at the full-left position. I'm making my own top, but the instructions provided by the vendor do not give the dimensions of the opening in the table top for the 4" drum. Can you tell me how wide the front-to-back opening is on the vendor table that you purchased? I know that the bottom of the opening will have to be beveled to accommodate the curvature of the drum.

[sehast]

Thanks, very much! The diagram is very helpful. My SS is even older than yours--c. 1981 Mark V--and you are absolutely right about the vertical clearance issue. There's also very little horizontal clearance, even when the headstock is at the full-left position. I'm making my own top, but the instructions provided by the vendor do not give the dimensions of the opening in the table top for the 4" drum. Can you tell me how wide the front-to-back opening is on the vendor table that you purchased? I know that the bottom of the opening will have to be beveled to accommodate the curvature of the drum.

If you mount the box on the way tubes, the dimensions given on my diagram are correct for the 1/8" steel top combined with the 3/4" MDF base. The steel top is 16" x 32 1/4" and the MDF base is slightly smaller. If you are making your own top that has a thickness different than 7/8" then the height dimensions of the box will have to be adjusted. There is no beveling of the MDF base, just a simple wide cutout because the thinner steel top has the rigidity to support a smaller opening. I strongly urge you to purchase the steel top and base. You will have a difficult time building a top that has the necessary rigidity and flatness, IMO. You will have to customize the opening on your top to how you plan to build it. The top of the drum needs to be at least 1/8" higher than the top of the table and the opening has to be wide enough to allow free rotation of the drum. To get the necessary rigidity you will probably have to bevel it. Also be advised that the drum is not exactly 4", its about 3 1/2".

[jprice]

Finally finished my sander, and am pleased with the result. Made my table out of 3/4" birch plywood, topped with some laminate that I rescued from the dumpster of a local cabinet maker. Thanks for your kind assistance!

[JPG]

Finally finished my sander, and am pleased with the result. Made my table out of 3/4" birch plywood, topped with some laminate that I rescued from the dumpster of a local cabinet maker. Thanks for your kind assistance!

No pix, it did not happen!

[Boots]

WOW what nice work and even better description. Very professional.

[oldiron]

Nicely done. Great job!!! Would love to see a short video of the sander in action!!!!!

All the best,
Mike

[crosscreekcraig]

Outstanding! I'm definitely saving this for future reference. Thanks for sharing.

Craig