Tumble Sander...?

[Slow6]

saw this tonight while wandering around epay.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/TUMBLE-SANDER_W0QQitemZ250032689841QQihZ015QQcategoryZ11810QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I've had similar ideas in the past but never thought it would work.. I'd always hoped to build a machine to take some of the load off my poor right arm when it comes time to sand all the fiddly bit I tend to deal with.

a quick google turned up squat.. any forumites ever seen something like this in operation, seems a piece of to put together.

[Bleedin Thumb]

Slow6,
I think you may find that that there tumble sander is for polishing gemstones and it may be a bit harsh on your timber.

[Slow6]

yeh that was my initial thought.. but I did find mention (cand find the link now) of a guitar maker using something similar.. bear in mind I'm not planning to dump a beautifully squared box in to a drum and have it pop out in one piece. I use a lot of scrolled shapes from hard woods like bluegum, ironbark bla bla.. routed edges with round off bit. sanding is really just a clean up b4 dumping the pieces into oil, fiddly bloody clean up tho.

I'm thinking with the drum half filled with small (maybe 1/2inch) sqaures of sandpaper and maybe a bit of sand to fill it out and add a bit of weight??

I dunno.. might just have to slink back into the shed and post the results when I make a mess.

[oldbob13]

Bleedin Thumb,
I think that you will find that this for finish sanding toy parts and the like.
Very slow speed so that the parts don't crash about , just tumble over each other.
BobT

[Andy Mac]

I have heard of woodworkers tumbling small parts (yes, like toys) and I think there is one featured in a FWW mag or book. By memory the guy put sawdust in as an abrasive.
As an aside, a while back when sourcing stainless steel fittings for suspended artwork, I came across a specialist marine manufacturer, who finished many small metal parts with a shop-built tumbler. Different speeds and abrasives for different finishes, but he also had a side-to-side action, not a complete 360* rotation. He reckoned the tumbling not only gave a good even finish with little handwork, it also took off sharp edges and thereby reduced stress raisers.

Cheers,

[Bleedin Thumb]

Bleedin Thumb,
I think that you will find that this for finish sanding toy parts and the like.
Very slow speed so that the parts don't crash about , just tumble over each other.
BobT

Your right BobT,
My apologies Slow6:o

I must admit I had never heard of such a thing, and even now find it hard to grasp the concept of it working on anything other than crude ball(ish) type shapes.
Thanks for the education.:)

[Slow6]

thanks for the replys ;)

dont apologise BT I too find the concept dodgy.. hence never trying it.

Andy.. I would never have thought to use sawdust as an abrasive, food for thaught. the only idea I had last night was that the inside of the drum itself might benefit from a bit of padding (maybe rubber) to stop the wooden parts knocking around on the sides. but that was also the thinking behind adding some sand... hoping that it would help buffer the pieces and provide a bit of grab to avoid flatter pieces just slidding around the bottom of the drum.

I'm thinking with a few smaller drums on a knocked up rig I might have a go at a few ideas at once.

cheers guys.. will post results if I get to anything decent.

[Andy Mac]

Yep, found it in the FWW book "Workshop Specialities" and the guy was using a tumbler for sanding dowels used as legs of furniture. Wooden drum, octangular, and was lined with carpet. He used sandpaper cut into strips as abrasive, I guess freely circulating. The 2 ends of the drum were pivoting on an off-centre axis, 180* apart, so the action of the drum flipped and each end alternated as 'up'. In simpler words, it didn't have a plain rolling action, like I think gem tumblers have.

Cheers,

[Clinton1]

Tumble sanders are/were used in metal work a fair bit. The boss had his filled with small bits of scrap and offcuts, old nuts, and machine filings/swarf.
Mostly used to clean up rusted items and for parts that had a complex shape and were a nightmare to grind. Also used to create a texture on certain items. We had different drums with different 'fillings'.... cast iron and steel for cast iron and steel, aluminium and steel swarf for aluminium, and so on. Also had a carborundum filled drum for 'polishing' items.

We used to load the parts and let it run for a few hours or overnight, which I thought was better than making me do all the work.

[Slow6]

\I'd noticed a few references to metal work while seaching "tumble sander" Clinton.. along with a couple of photo's of some pretty knarly home made beasts.


Yep, found it in the FWW book "Workshop Specialities" and the guy was using a tumbler for sanding dowels used as legs of furniture. Wooden drum, octangular, and was lined with carpet. He used sandpaper cut into strips as abrasive, I guess freely circulating. The 2 ends of the drum were pivoting on an off-centre axis, 180* apart, so the action of the drum flipped and each end alternated as 'up'. In simpler words, it didn't have a plain rolling action, like I think gem tumblers have.

Cheers,

yep sounds good Andy :) the off centre axis and the carpet answer the major questions I had, in place of carpet I reckon thick rubber would be better.. but either way it sounds like a winner.. I'll have to start scrounging the tip again:o I think I still have a little solar set up that might even run it if I'm lucky.

whehey... a new project :D

I had swmbo on sanding duty today.. so now I think of it she should be in just the right mood to agree to me spending some $$ on the machine... I couldn't have timed it better if I'd tried.

[Ramps]

Hmmm ... gets me thinking
I might use the one I made up for polishing rocks for tumbling some sraps of wood as the women in this household would love some wooden beads for their "jewellery" making. Could possibly use the same silicon carbide grit as you do for rocks ... hmmm ... thanks for the fast idea slow

[mag]

I ahve a tumbler that is used for cleaning cartidges before reloading. You pust the shells in a contianer that is filled with rice husk and it vibrates and moves the shells around within the husks.

Works a treat and nothing knocks about as it the shells are suspended int he husk. May work with small wooden items as well.