Drum Sander Comparison

[Albert]

Thinking I have wasted my money!

after many hours of adjustment i have got it accurate to 0.1 of a mm. Well so i think

According to the verniers it is accurate to 0.1 of a mm however when i run a 600mm board threw parralel to the drum it cuts a line at the 400mm mark (understanably). Turning the board around and sending it through again i get another line in the timber at 400mm. Rotate again and put through without adjusting the height, this time not quit using the full 400mm of the drum and i get another line. Rotate andrepeat and repeat and repeat and more and more lines. How is this possible? Additionally there is considerable snipe, almost as much as my thicknesser.

This is exactly what I was told by one of the cabinet maker, if you are not doing it for the money then you can always use a ROS to sand out those lines slowly, but you will get a slight unevenness. It is an additional process that I can not afford, hence the WBS.

[Ari2]

Thinking I have wasted my money!

after many hours of adjustment i have got it accurate to 0.1 of a mm. Well so i think

According to the verniers it is accurate to 0.1 of a mm however when i run a 600mm board threw parralel to the drum it cuts a line at the 400mm mark (understanably). Turning the board around and sending it through again i get another line in the timber at 400mm. Rotate again and put through without adjusting the height, this time not quit using the full 400mm of the drum and i get another line. Rotate andrepeat and repeat and repeat and more and more lines. How is this possible? Additionally there is considerable snipe, almost as much as my thicknesser.

Is the abrasive paper wound evenly on the drum? if not. there will be an obvious line left on the outside edge regardless of what you do to ensure ow true the drum is when no paper is wound on.

[Evanism]

As Ari2 says, it's the belt tension. When you're looking at it with the machine off, it may LOOK tight but you must ensure it must be tight, otherwise the centrifugal force makes it fly outwards... Plus as its wound on in one way and then spinning the same, the slackness bunches on the far side... Hence the gouge.

Also it pays to check to see how the little tag end of the belt is exiting the far ends catch. Make sure it's bent over well.

I've experienced absolutely PHENOMINAL performance with the 10 metre rolls of SIA cloth backed paper from the SandpaperMan. The stuff lasts forever, cleans brilliantly with a big rubber, or if it really clags - with CMT.

The 40 is too agro, and the 120 is a very nice compromise.

[Evanism]

Ive also found the alignment is dead easy.

Cut open a few coke cans. The aluminium is absolutely consistent thickness. Flatten them into sheets and cut them into strips with scissors for shims.

Run through an old sheet of mdf or chipboard, covering it with a lot of pencil lines. Measure the two edges, shim it up with the difference, tighten the bolts and retest.

Getting it dead acccurate using this proces may be fiddly and needing to be done 3 times, but it's pretty easy really.

[Damienol]

Ive also found the alignment is dead easy.

Cut open a few coke cans. The aluminium is absolutely consistent thickness. Flatten them into sheets and cut them into strips with scissors for shims.

Run through an old sheet of mdf or chipboard, covering it with a lot of pencil lines. Measure the two edges, shim it up with the difference, tighten the bolts and retest.

Getting it dead acccurate using this proces may be fiddly and needing to be done 3 times, but it's pretty easy really.

I hadn't thought of the coke cans. Will give this a crack when I get some time.

advice from Hare and Forbes was to re adjust the drum so that the outer end was slightly higher then the inside. This will remove the gouge. Makes sense. Haven't tried yet.

[legin]

Coke cans also make a fantastic shims for aligning the outfeed table on your jointer. Many uses for those suckers!

[Evanism]

I like the fact they are an ultra consistent 0.097mm - close enough to 0.1mm to make the maths easy!