Lathe mounted drum sander

[Haggy]

Appologies if this is old hat to some, but I've been meaning to post this gadget I made a few years back for my lathe.  At the time I wanted to flatten several rings for segmental turning but couldn't justify buying a drum sander.  Every so often this gadget becomes invaluable and takes minutes to set up.  The drum is made from plywood (stability) with  cloth backed abrasive paper glued helically around.
The rise and fall table is hinged at one end and has a sliding table attached to it.  I was able to datum the table to the drum by simply raising the height of the table until it touched the drum as it passed underneath.  This drum sander has proven to be  extremely accurate as it is mounted between centres and driven by two dogs attached to a faceplate (as on an engineering lathe).  It is cheap and easy to replace the abrasive  cloth.  Dust extraction is essential, but most will have this for their lathe.  The drum is exposed so care is needed, but you can imagine how useful it is for sanding radii and sculptural forms, as well as for thicknessing.  Not sure if the BHT would approve on safety grounds.
          Regards.  Haggy
     

[malcy]

I built a similar sander a year or so ago, and found it extremely useful. I used it mainly for sanding segmented rings. I recently bought a jet drun sander, but still have the one I built. The Jet is so much better, but a lot more expensive outlay. Malcolm.

[Graham]

An interesting idea, I will bear it in mind for if the need arises.

[Bryan Milham]

I agree but any chance of a look at the Rise & Fall mechanism please.

[Haggy]

I remember admiring your segmented work Malcy - you have good justification for a jet drum sander!
Another advantage of the gadget posted is storage, it hangs by the side of my lathe and takes up only dead space.  I will post some images of the rise and fall mechanism for you Brian tonight (thanks for the help you have given to me in the past).  It is a screw thread mounted centrally to the table, it can be locked into position from the side.  It was spring loaded but gravity is all that is required.  Part of the design that works well is the sliding table, it gives good control- I'll post some pics if interested.
   Regards. Haggy

[Les Symonds]

I will post some images of the rise and fall mechanism  Part of the design that works well is the sliding table, it gives good control- I'll post some pics if interested.
 

Hi Haggy....That looks really interesting and I wouldn't mind having a go at making one of those....any pics that you can post of further aspects of the mechanism will be appreciated.

Les

[Haggy]

I've taken 10 pics, but just discovered I can only post you a maximum of four.  I hope these help a little.
The roller measures 80 mm in diam. and is mounted between centres. It is driven by the steel pins set into the faceplate.  Aluminium tube runs through the middle of numerous plywood discs glued together and turned.
Spray contact adhesive is used to attach the abrasive cloth.
The table is bolted to the lathe bed in the same manner as the tool rest. It consists of two parts, the rise and fall bit, that works like a hinged door and a table that slides on top of this.  It is hinged with a piano hinge at the far end, and works like you would open and close a book.  The rise and fall mechanism works on a simple screw thread - mounted centrally, it originally worked against a spring, but I found this unnecessary.  The table is locked into position by a clamping mechanism on the side.  The mechanism clamps both sides of the table with a slight twist- I need to show you a pic of this if I haven't caused you to nod off.  The rise and fall mechanism is simple, you  turn it about a quater turn, lock it off and pass your work  under the roller by pulling the sliding table towards you.  Make sure you feed the work against the rotation of the roller and your work is supported on the backstop of the sliding table.  Dust extraction is needed.
The clever bit is the sliding table, again I need to post some pictures.  The sliding table sits on steel guides with plastic  runners.  it is used to pull your work under the roller.  Mine is spring loaded and slotted to the rise and fall platform so that it won't fall off when fully extended.
The sliding table is easily datumed to the roller by passing the table under it and taking off a tiny amount of material fro the table
With a bit of thought and care I am sure you will find many uses for this gadget, that is if you haven't made one already.
        Regards.    Haggy

[malcy]

There a couple of these posted on the web. I made one similar to the one on woodturningonline.com. If you google 'drum sander on lathe' you should get to it. The one posted here looks more robust and with better control, I think. Hope this helps. Malcolm.