Shopsmith Forums

This might be a completely bad idea for some reason I'm not seeing right now but I'll ask anyway: Would it be possible to replace the planer cutter head with a sanding drum of the same diameter? There are lots of threads about making your own drum sander but it seems like the planer *is* exactly that but with a cutter head.

It does seem like swapping heads to go between planer and sander would be a little slow, but other than that are there serious obstacles here? Maybe I could get an extra set of couplers and an old cutter head (https://www.ebay.com/itm/255304067199?h ... Sw6oVhzMuI, for example) to use as a foundation and for making switching easier.

Thoughts?

Thanks for any comments!

I would think it would work. You might want to take smaller bites when sanding than you do when planing,

That’s a very interesting idea. I have the little Jet 1020 sander, and the mechanics are indeed very similar. But I suspect that this is one of those “Devil’s in the details” kind of things. Here are a few of those details that might pose problems.

The steel infeed roller (assuming that’s what you have) on a SS planer generally marks the wood. That isn’t a problem with a planer, as enough material is removed on each pass to remove the marks. But a sanding pass might not. My little Jet sander uses a sandpaper “conveyor belt” to feed the workpiece, and the belt doesn’t mark the wood.

The sandpaper on sanding drums needs to be changed pretty often, either to change grits or to replace dull or clogged paper. That’s a PITA even on a machine that’s designed for it. I’m not sure how you’d do it on a SS planer conversion.

Heat buildup can be an issue with sanding drums. The one on my Jet is a much larger diameter, giving more surface area and better cooling.

A drum sander without good dust collection is like a nuclear fine-dust generator bomb. Trust me, you do NOT want to operate one in your shop without highly efficient dust collection. I have my doubts that the 2-1/2” dust-collection port on a SS planer would allow sufficient airflow.

So bottom line, I think that such a conversion could work, but wouldn’t be as satisfactory as a machine that was designed for the purpose. And that includes DIY Shopsmith attachments such as the one that Shipwright created.

Also, maybe NOT a cheap route to go unless you get a smoking deal on a used Shopsmith planer...might be better to consider building a drum sander that sits on the waytubes and is driven off of the main spindle as has been done by other Shopsmith owners (see link). Just an idea...

viewtopic.php?t=17209

If I build my own I think I'd modify these plans (https://stumpynubs.com/product/dual-stage-drum-sander/) to use the shopsmith headstock instead of its own internal motor. It's been on my wishlist for a while.

eagspoo wrote: ↑Tue Jul 19, 2022 12:13 pm If I build my own I think I'd modify these plans (https://stumpynubs.com/product/dual-stage-drum-sander/) to use the shopsmith headstock instead of its own internal motor. It's been on my wishlist for a while.

No offense to Stumpy Nubs, but there have been at least a half dozen (or more) different Shopsmith forum members that have created drum sanders that straddle the waytubes on a Mark V and posted about it. I highly suggest you search and peruse the forum first before buying the Stumpy plans, i.e. it might be a lot more trouble making Stumpy's plans fit a Shopsmith than just copying another forum member's hard work that they shared. Keep in mind that Stumpy's is a "2 stage" drum sander which causes added height so you may not have enough clearance about the waytubes to the spinde drive.
JMO.

Here's a link to a thread about ShipWright's version. Once there, you'll find other links that will take you to pages with a lot more detail.

viewtopic.php?t=9382

And here's a link to a Youtube video that ShipWright did showing the sander in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lf2qfOm6bDg

If you search "Shopsmith drum sander" on YouTube, you'll find several more DIY designs.

I built a drum sander for my SS using the design from Keith's Shop (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHbhHCmVTIg). I mostly followed his idea, but did add a plexiglass window so I can see inside the sander when sanding. I also have two 4" dust ports on top and no dust escapes the sander. As for the drum, I worried about the flex of PVC and so purchased two, 24" long 3" diameter aluminum drums. I have 80-grit mounted on one and 150-grit on the other. The drums mount to the SS via 4" faceplates which makes them easy to take on and off.

The sander can handle a width of about 21" (I glued bumpers to the table to prevent workpieces contacting where I secure the sandpaper to the drums with hose clamps) and thicknesses from 1/4" to 2" (change thickness via a hand crank). Works great for both end-grain cutting boards and rings!

Regards,

-Erik

I'm not actually that excited about the "2 stage" aspect of the stumpy numbs design so yeah I might follow the lead others have taken here. The one thing I might still go for is making a conveyor belt. Also, I've got my planer completely torn apart right now for restoration, and really the mechanism for raising/lowering it while keeping it dead flat is quite simple. That would take care of the two things I've felt some hesitation about in many other designs I've seen and would be a fun and challenging project to get it right. Even stumpy's mechanism for setting the table height isn't great so I think using 4 long screws, kept in sync with a chain that runs around them all, would be interesting to try.

Sometimes the conveyor belt turns out to be the most difficult part to implement on home grown sanders. Just guessing at this, but I think the investment of time and money pays off better with the simple gravity fed sanders. Or look at a V-Drum type surface sanders. An overhead drum sander can be a hybrid with a V-Drum type under table drum sander. Even a motor feed could be simpler with these requiring something much simpler like a stock feeder since board is driven from overhead.

Still, I love a great project like that. Hope it turns out well for you.