Building a Drum Sander for the Shopsmith
Posted: Mon Jul 11, 2016 12:10 pm
I became very enamored with the Sand Flee type sander after watching Nick demonstrate it in one of the sawdust sessions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIfnM9irWko
I checked the Sand Flee website to see if I could purchase one. The Shopsmith version was listed for $795.95
http://www.rjrstudios.com/store/p15/18% ... th%29.html
which I felt was pretty pricy so I continued my search by looking at the Flatmaster offered by Stockroom Supply. Here is good video explaining the FLatmaster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj9CkBLHuG4
The Flatmaster appeared to have much better features such as longer and larger diameter drums and a much more affordable price. However, the Flatmaster is a standalone with no straightforward way to connect it to the Shopsmith.
http://stockroomsupply.ca/shop/drum-sanders.html
They do have a kit form referred to as a V-Drum that can be used to build a shopsmith drum sander for a very reasonable price. I choose the 24” x 4” drum kit and the 1/8” steel top with a MDF base to start my build. Their website lists everything in Canadian dollars and leads you to believe that you will also be charged a Canadian tax but when you pay for it with PayPal, no tax is charged and the US dollar conversion is automatically done. My total bill was $342.07 in US dollars which included shipping. The instructions that came with the kit had to be modified for attachment to the Shopsmith. I choose to mount the sander box on top of the way tubes to the right of the headstock. That gave me the most room and allows me to use the extension and floating tables for additional support for large items. The sander drum is driven by a 5/8” shaft. I might have been able to use the power coupler but I choose a flexible coupler offered by McMaster Carr 6183K54 for $26.36. I also used the Shopsmith Carriage Clamp Assembly 516146 to clamp the sander to the way tubes. You will need at least two clamps which are $16.83 each. If you have a Speed Increaser or a Oscillating Sander attachment you will be able to use the clamps that are included with them. The box for the drum sander is constructed from two 30” x 20” x ¾” sheets of Baltic birch plywood. Finally, a 24” piano hinge is required to attach the top to the box. The box drawing is show below.
Below is an exploded drawing with the necessary dimensions for use on the Shopsmith.
Key dimensions are the height of the sides (7 5/8”), height of the ends (5 15/16”) and the length of the dust ramp (25 3/8”). The three tube rests lie on top of the way tubes and the tube guides ride between the way tube and each are made from the same ¾” Baltic Birch. The width of the tube guides is critical, you want them tight enough so there is no play side to side but loose enough so they slide up and down the way tubes. I started at 5 3/8” and through trial and error ended at 5 ¼”. I didn’t cut the tube rests to final length until I mounted the box on top with the drum perfectly aligned to the Shopsmith spindle. I then attached the tube rests to the sides and cut them to length. The tube guides have a 3/8" hole with an epoxied nut to allow mounting of the Carriage Clamps. The cut out for the left side of the top MDF base will have to be extended to allow the flexible coupler to turn freely. The base is also connected to the box using the 24” piano hinge. The sanding drum is mounted on the sides using the bearing mounts that come with the kit. A picture showing the inside of the box is shown below. The drum has two different grits of sandpaper mounted.
I decided to add two ¾”x ¾” x 24” steel angle stock to beef up the MDF top base, one on each side of the drum opening. Even though the 1/8” steel top is pretty strong I didn’t want to chance any sag across the top. You can also see the three adjustment screws on the near side that are used to adjust the height of the top. The dimensions for the height of the sides should make the drum about 1/8” proud of the top. These screws are used to make a onetime critical adjustment for the top. I added brackets to screw the top down to the near side so I could more easily move the entire unit by just grasping the top. I decided to paint the Baltic Birch Shopsmith grey because this is a serious tool. The unit is show below ready for sanding.
The steel top mounts to the MDF base with six recessed screws. I used metal polish to get the steel surface looking pretty good. Leveling the top was an exercise in patience and perseverance. I used a 24” straight edge and a .001” feeler gauge to find the low spots and then used masking tape on the MDF base to compensate. I started on the infeed side to get the top level across the full 24” span. Then I did the same with the outfeed side and then finally across the drum opening front to back which is the most critical. After doing all I could with the straight edge I switched to a 6” x 8” highly polished granite plate which is perfectly flat, at least to within .0001”. After I was done I am convinced the steel top is flat to within .001” to .002”. I did not rush the process so it took a couple of days with lots of breaks to do other things to keep me fresh and not too frustrated. The reward was after I got the height of the top set, I ran a piece of maple over the drum using 180 grit paper about four or five times. When I laid the straight edge across the length of the maple surface I was not able to get a .001” feeler gauge anywhere under it. That is what I call flat, but I am sure most of you would say overkill.
So far I have used 40, 100, 180 and 320 grit sandpaper. The 40 grit takes off about a 1/64” per pass which is great for rough sawed stock. I follow that with a couple of passes with 100 grit which takes off about .005” per pass and then the 180 grit at about .003” per pass. Then finally the 320 grit at .001” per pass puts a glass like finish on it. During the whole process if a shop vac is connected to the dust port no dust is put into the air. It has the most efficient dust collection of any tool I have used.
The total cost of materials to build this great tool was about $450. This has been one of my most satisfying projects. I intend to make follow up posts on making fences for the sander and how it can be used not only as a great finish sander but as a jointer and even as a thickness planer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIfnM9irWko
I checked the Sand Flee website to see if I could purchase one. The Shopsmith version was listed for $795.95
http://www.rjrstudios.com/store/p15/18% ... th%29.html
which I felt was pretty pricy so I continued my search by looking at the Flatmaster offered by Stockroom Supply. Here is good video explaining the FLatmaster.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj9CkBLHuG4
The Flatmaster appeared to have much better features such as longer and larger diameter drums and a much more affordable price. However, the Flatmaster is a standalone with no straightforward way to connect it to the Shopsmith.
http://stockroomsupply.ca/shop/drum-sanders.html
They do have a kit form referred to as a V-Drum that can be used to build a shopsmith drum sander for a very reasonable price. I choose the 24” x 4” drum kit and the 1/8” steel top with a MDF base to start my build. Their website lists everything in Canadian dollars and leads you to believe that you will also be charged a Canadian tax but when you pay for it with PayPal, no tax is charged and the US dollar conversion is automatically done. My total bill was $342.07 in US dollars which included shipping. The instructions that came with the kit had to be modified for attachment to the Shopsmith. I choose to mount the sander box on top of the way tubes to the right of the headstock. That gave me the most room and allows me to use the extension and floating tables for additional support for large items. The sander drum is driven by a 5/8” shaft. I might have been able to use the power coupler but I choose a flexible coupler offered by McMaster Carr 6183K54 for $26.36. I also used the Shopsmith Carriage Clamp Assembly 516146 to clamp the sander to the way tubes. You will need at least two clamps which are $16.83 each. If you have a Speed Increaser or a Oscillating Sander attachment you will be able to use the clamps that are included with them. The box for the drum sander is constructed from two 30” x 20” x ¾” sheets of Baltic birch plywood. Finally, a 24” piano hinge is required to attach the top to the box. The box drawing is show below.
- FinalSander.jpg (130.4 KiB) Viewed 17505 times
- DimensionedFinal.jpg (138.34 KiB) Viewed 17505 times
- IMG_0682cr.JPG (162.22 KiB) Viewed 17505 times
- IMG_0679_crr.jpg (151.19 KiB) Viewed 17505 times
So far I have used 40, 100, 180 and 320 grit sandpaper. The 40 grit takes off about a 1/64” per pass which is great for rough sawed stock. I follow that with a couple of passes with 100 grit which takes off about .005” per pass and then the 180 grit at about .003” per pass. Then finally the 320 grit at .001” per pass puts a glass like finish on it. During the whole process if a shop vac is connected to the dust port no dust is put into the air. It has the most efficient dust collection of any tool I have used.
The total cost of materials to build this great tool was about $450. This has been one of my most satisfying projects. I intend to make follow up posts on making fences for the sander and how it can be used not only as a great finish sander but as a jointer and even as a thickness planer.
mine.