Thread: sander for sanding small boards for framing art work

Ideally, something like this...
http://www.carbatec.com.au/jet-drum-sander-10-20_c22245

If you want a fine finish, your options are: orbital, random orbital or hand sanding.

Sanding is painful, and there's no quick and easy solution short of a drum- or wide-belt-sander and even those should be followed with an orbital.

A drum sander doesnt have to be that expensive. I have a Hare And Forbes 400 wide using fine grit paper/cloth from the sandman and it gives a great fine finish. Blackwood is hard and finishes well with the fine grits on a drum sander. I have made such frames for my artist wife and they only need a little hand finishing to come up well.


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Originally Posted by Master Splinter

Ideally, something like this...
http://www.carbatec.com.au/jet-drum-sander-10-20_c22245

A Sand Flee.
www.woodcraftsupplies.com.au

Regards

Originally Posted by mick59wests

My first thought is a small benchtop belt / disc sander (like http://www.bunnings.com.au/ryobi-375...ander_p6210416) so instead of moving the tool over the wood I move the wood over the tool.

That will be difficult but not impossible.
What happens is with so many pieces is that you will tire and things will get a bit erratic and that's when mistakes happen.
A drum sander will make the task MUCH easier and be more foregiving when you are tired. Maybe you could look to hire one to see if it works for you?

However, what I have read of the belt sander it seems like it is designed to remove a lot of wood

Not necessarily.
If the grit is fine, and the pressure of the wood on the belt is low and constant, and kept moving you can take as little as you like off.
What finish do you plan of using? You may not need to go superfine prior to the first coat of finish as the finish may raise the grain and finer sanding might be best done after the first round of finish.
I rarely use more than a 220/240 belt prior to first coat of finish but I do make sure every mark of the 180 is removed - I use a head magnifier because my eyes are woeful.

and from the designs I am not sure if I can just move the whole piece (up to a metre in length) over the sander the entire way 'with the grain'. I am also not sure if I can get as good a finish as either hand or ROS sanding.

That depends on skill level, a skilled hand sander will do the best job but a skilled belt sander operator can do a better job than a crappy ROS/handsander .
Most newbies don't sand for long enough to remove the previous grits scratches so they end up with patchy work

Thanks very much for all of the above. The sandflea may be a cheap option but I'll look more closely at drum sanders. This is obviously not a cheap option so I will do some more investigation. I had never really looked at drum sanders probably due to their cost.

cheers

Mick

Have you thought about polishing the timber with a plane? Assuming of course the profile allows you do so, a well sharpened and set up plane will leave you with a silky smooth finish in no time at all, with no dust and you can have the radio on.

BobL,

as usual, thanks very much for your detailed reply (I was too rushed this morning to give it a good read). We have been using Danish oil as the finish. Next time (regardless of what I do) I'll check the marks from each lot of sanding. BTW I am still getting my CV dust extractor setup - not a trivial task for me

Chief Tiff - I often use a plane for the small side (17mm or so) but have never have good success planing anything wider than the width of the blade. Also, it tends to aggravate my tendonitis in the elbow and I have never been able to plane with my opposite hand.

cheers

Mick

Originally Posted by BobL

That will be difficult but not impossible.
What happens is with so many pieces is that you will tire and things will get a bit erratic and that's when mistakes happen.
A drum sander will make the task MUCH easier and be more foregiving when you are tired. Maybe you could look to hire one to see if it works for you?


Not necessarily.
If the grit is fine, and the pressure of the wood on the belt is low and constant, and kept moving you can take as little as you like off.
What finish do you plan of using? You may not need to go superfine prior to the first coat of finish as the finish may raise the grain and finer sanding might be best done after the first round of finish.
I rarely use more than a 220/240 belt prior to first coat of finish but I do make sure every mark of the 180 is removed - I use a head magnifier because my eyes are woeful.


That depends on skill level, a skilled hand sander will do the best job but a skilled belt sander operator can do a better job than a crappy ROS/handsander .
Most newbies don't sand for long enough to remove the previous grits scratches so they end up with patchy work

" I am still getting my CV dust extractor setup - not a trivial task for me"

It wasn't for me either Mick but the results were more than worth it.

Do you have a local Mens Shed with a drum sander, that you could get to use? I help out at the local day centre, that has one that we use for making cutting boards etc. and does a perfect job with 180 grit on a slow feed speed.
Kryn

Originally Posted by mick59wests

Chief Tiff - I often use a plane for the small side (17mm or so) but have never have good success planing anything wider than the width of the blade. Also, it tends to aggravate my tendonitis in the elbow and I have never been able to plane with my opposite hand.

cheers

Mick

Mick,

Tendonitis in the elbows is the very reason I got a drum sander, a decision I have never regretted. You are setting up a ClearVue, which indicates you will be doing a fair bit of woodworking in the future. So, it may be wise to think not only about these frames for your partner, but the 1,001 other jobs you will do that will need sanding.

I use both a linisher (a bigger version of the Ryobi you posted) and a drum sander, and would not be without them. Yesterday I made up the web frames for a cabinet and they were passed through the drum sander. In seconds I had smooth, flat and uniform frames, and my elbows don't hurt this morning. My cabinet panels are now all flat and smooth. Sanding veneers flat is a breeze. Even table tops up to 1.1 M wide can be sanded flat. When they are wider, I make the top in two halves, sand both flat and carefully join them together so there is only one seam to sand flat. I don't want to think about working in the shop without it any more.

The linisher's hood is modified so pieces longer than the belt can be moved backwards and forwards and sanded smooth. I can joint and edge glue pieces sanded in this way, so with a little practice, you can finish pieces longer than the belt so they are smooth and flat, especially if you are using a reasonably fine grit (> 120 grit).

Mick, for people like you and I this seems like a health and budget issue. I strongly recommend a drum sander for anyone doing much woodworking who has elbow issues like you and me. Your elbows will thank you, year after year. My elbows got to the stage where I could not work in the shop for days on end because of the pain in my elbows, but since the drum sander arrived, that is a thing of the past. In addition, if you make the decision to get a drum sander, go for bigger rather than smaller if you can. I got the 22/44 inch sander from Gregory's instead of the smaller, less expensive model. The small beast is fine, but every time I pass something wide through my machine I am grateful for the bigger machine, so too are my elbows.

After modifying the hoods/shrouds, dust collection on both my sanders is great. So, my health is looked after ... my elbows don't hurt so much I can't work in the shop ... big sanding jobs are done very quickly ... veneers are made perfectly flat and smooth in a flash ... every household in my circle of family and friends has a breadboard and/or chopping board made in my shop and sanded on my drum sander.

If you must, sell your partner ... or a child ... but do get a drum sander.

Cheerio!

John