Strip Sander

billmayo · Post by **billmayo** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 9:17 pm

I modified a Strip Sander to always operate on the accessory drive side of the Shopsmith headstock. I forgot to take pictures. If anyone is interested, please let me know. I will take pictures of my next Strip Sander modification.

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 10:03 pm

billmayo wrote:I modified a Strip Sander to always operate on the accessory drive side of the Shopsmith headstock. I forgot to take pictures. If anyone is interested, please let me know. I will take pictures of my next Strip Sander modification.

Hi Bill,
I, for one, am always interested in your projects.

iclark · Post by **iclark** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 1:16 am

billmayo wrote:I modified a Strip Sander to always operate on the accessory drive side of the Shopsmith headstock.

Bill,

of course we are interested!

does this mod let one use the tool sharpener attachment for the strip sander while there is wood mounted in the lathe?

I should have packed more aspirin if you are going to make us think this hard http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/images/ ... iggrin.gif

I can not imagine how you got that strip to run in the "right" direction on the accessory side.

Ivan

RobertTaylor · Post by **RobertTaylor** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 8:19 am

billmayo wrote:I modified a Strip Sander to always operate on the accessory drive side of the Shopsmith headstock. I forgot to take pictures. If anyone is interested, please let me know. I will take pictures of my next Strip Sander modification.

i'm missing something as i thought the strip sander does run on the accessory side of the headstock. pics sure would help me.

billmayo · Post by **billmayo** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 9:16 am

It does for normal sanding. However to use the Strip Sander Chisel Sharpening Attachment, you have to move the strip sander to the quill side as the sandpaper has to rotate in the opposote direction, UP vs DOWN. MY story:

I was selling a strip sander to a customer who had a deal breaking question that I was able to solve. I was showing him the mounting of the strip sander on the quill side with the chisel sharpening attachment mounted. He was totally unhappy as he would have to undo all his lathe work just to sharpen his chisels. He wanted the strip sander only on the accessory end. I found I could add an accessory drive hub on the drive wheel shaft inside the cover and the cover would still close. I have different sizes of hole saws so I cut a hole in the cover just a little larger than the power coupler OD. I have a snap-in round metal insert the same size as the hole saw. He can pop out the metal insert and use the power coupler and when done, use the snap-in round metal insert to plug the hole. Boy, were we happy as he loved the strip sander then and brought it. Of course, I forgot to take pictures. The other option for knive sharpening is to leave the strip sander door open as I doubt if there is much material to vaccum anyway.

bettyt44720 wrote:i'm missing something as i thought the strip sander does run on the accessory side of the headstock. pics sure would help me.

RobertTaylor · Post by **RobertTaylor** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 1:42 pm

thanks for the explanation Bill. i got it now.

iclark · Post by **iclark** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 7:25 pm

Bill,

your solution is so simple and elegant that I had to read it 3 times before it sunk in that you said "cover".

wow!

do you have to realign the shafts when you change the belt direction?

the operator will still need to flip the belt around but that's a given.

thank you

Ivan

billmayo · Post by **billmayo** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 9:50 pm

When you turn the strip sander around, you should not have to realign the strip sander if your bench tubes to headrest alignment is square. With the eccentric tubes, you can align the strip sander or any SPT for the accessory end even with the headrest slightly out of alignment with the bench tubes.

I could not find the frame alignment of the bench and way tubes with the headrest and base in the Shopsmith manual. Somewhere in my collection of Shopsmith manuals/papers was a section called Installation which covered this alignment or my memory is really getting bad or both. It also covers the way tube bar to headstock adjustments. In the later Shopsmith manuals I checked, the bench tubes, headrest and base are already assemblied as I do not believe this was done in the 50s and 60s. It is often overlooked as movement/transportation of the Shopsmith can affect this this alignment and appears to be no longer a part of the normal assembly and alignment sections. A framing square is used to insure the bench tubes are aligned with the headrest and base. A simple check. Just lay the long side of framing square on top of the bench tube and check that the short side is square with the headrest and base after the tube lock bar bolts are tighten.

It appears that the shaft sticking out of the drive wheel may be too short on some strip sanders. I had to cut about 3/16" off a 5/8" accessory hub for my next conversion so the set screw had room to fully seat on the shaft. I filed a slight flat on the shaft for the set screw.

You will need the 1" Superfine kit of sanding belts for the chisel sharpening. The 1" strip sanding belts are 42" long and available at most big box, HF and woodworking stores. I am not sure what belt you are flipping but I am not aware of any direction on the sanding belts. You just turn the strip sander around on the headrest to reverse belt direction.

iclark wrote:Bill,

your solution is so simple and elegant that I had to read it 3 times before it sunk in that you said "cover".

wow!

do you have to realign the shafts when you change the belt direction?

the operator will still need to flip the belt around but that's a given.

thank you

Ivan

iclark · Post by **iclark** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 12:24 am

billmayo wrote:I am not sure what belt you are flipping but I am not aware of any direction on the sanding belts. You just turn the strip sander around on the headrest to reverse belt direction.

I was taught to mount the sanding belts so that whatever you were sanding did not have a chance to hook under the leading edge of the glue joint.

I had thought that at least some of my belts had the direction marked on them but I couldn't find any marked that way when I went to look this morning.

after your comment, I realize that not everyone does it this way, but I don't expect to break the habit.

the set of 600 grit 1" strip belts and 2 dust collector gate valves that I ordered from the email sale 8 days ago came in this morning. with those belts and the ones that came with the sharpening fixture, I hope that I am set for a while. now I just need to clean out the garage and pick a set of chisels to learn on.

a1gutterman · Post by **a1gutterman** » Tue Oct 28, 2008 12:58 am

iclark wrote:I was taught to mount the sanding belts so that whatever you were sanding did not have a chance to hook under the leading edge of the glue joint...

I was taught that too. Has any one who does knot "flip" their belts had them come apart at the glue joint when using them for sharpening?

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