18" Thickness sander build

nicky

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For many years I had wanted a thickness sander. So I started collecting material for it over the years. Last winter I set out to build one. I got a fine sanding belt 18" x 48" for the feed, I believe it was from Grizzly Tools. I had an 18" x 4" velcro drum made by Stockroom Supply. These form the heart of the machine. I first tried welding 4 nuts for the 3/4" screws to plates but it seemed to be impossible to get them to line up so you could get smooth elevation. So finally I went rooting through my workbench drawers and found a piece of UHMW about.1 1/2" x 1 1/4" and about 18" long. I cut it in half and clamped them on top of each other and drilled the holes for3/4" course thread in my small vertical mill/drill This way the holes were guaranteed to be parallel And that worked out perfect, besides UHMW is self lubricating. The motor is 1 1/2 HP running on 220 Volt which keeps it purring. The feed belt is powered by a 12 Volt DC geared motor 1/2HP and has a gear box output of 15 RPM. I found that motor on E-Bay at a very reasonable price and brand new. The 12V power pack was from an old tent trailer. Basically a transformer with a 4 diode bridge. The rest is all standard materials.
 

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is your sanding belt for just driving the product and you have rough sanding paper wrapped on the upper roller? if not then how do you change your sanding belt? :confused:confused---Dave
 
is your sanding belt for just driving the product and you have rough sanding paper wrapped on the upper roller? if not then how do you change your sanding belt? :confused:confused---Dave
Dave
The sanding belt is a very fine grit and is used as the feed just like in many of the commercial machines. The drum is wrapped with what ever grit you want to use. I keep 80 grit on it all the time. This gives me a suitable finish before final use of the wood. The drum being wrapped with Velcro makes it for quick changing of the paper.
 
nicky,
thanks, I understand now. your sanding belt must be a good quality cloth backed belt to hold up good. most of the timesaver drive belts I have used are a tough rubber enforced type material. I didn't know you could buy rolls of velcro to wrap on drums, and special hook and loop backed rolls of sandpaper. I just coated my 5" wide by 18" drum with adhesive and then rolled on the cloth backed sandpaper. I will have to order some velcro rolls to coat some extra drums I have.
Dave
 
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