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No, haven't finished my first guitar yet( barely started it), but i have finished quite a few jigs and machines, the latest my drum sander.

what started out as a simple plan for a drumsander made out of wood quickly changed as my career did. I am now a part owner of a full metal shop, so it only made sense to modify my drum sander plans to be made out of steel.
i just gave ot a test drive on some cedar and some cherry just before taking the pictures and the results were very pleasing.

pay no attention to the background clutter.(i've been meaning to take care of that)

so without further ado here are the pics.

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Frank

Wow!! Frank, awesome sander. You're brave for even tackling that. Looks like it turned out great!!! Do you have a pile of wood to send through it?

nice! just out of curiosity, how do you set the thickness? (I can't seem to see anything to either raise/lower the sander nor the table)

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Olivier Gauthier
Montreal, QC

olivier, if you look at the picture named height adjustement, you see 3 threaded rods connected with sprockets and roller chain, you also see that one of the threaded rods extend beyond the mounting point that's what i turn on to adjust the height i've been meaning to attach a wheel to the end of that rod for easy adjustment.

the 'legs' on the feed table is of such dimesion that it fits into the legs of the base, so they slide in the base, you can the same principle being used on the motor mounts for easy belt tightening.

And yes i've got a pile to push through it

edit: i also drilled and tapped the sprockets and fatsened them with a nut, so if in need of fine tuning on just one of the rods i just loosen the nut that locks the sprocket and turn just that one rod.

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Frank

Well done Frank. It looks great. Are you happy with it?

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Aoibeann

Frank,

That is one really nice looking shop-built sander. It looks really well engineered and built. Good job!

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

Ho Lee Kow.
What a tool....

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Frank, that looks great.

Now, don't change your mind on your body mold just because you own a steel fab shop. Stick with wood for that

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My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

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"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

That is one neato torpedo sanding device!!

I would hardly call that shop cluttered.

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http://www.booneguitars.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stephen-Boone-guitar-builder/488208541257210

Wow Frank, that looks like something you buy from a factory.

Great Job!

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins

Way to go Frank. How soon can you ship it to me ? That sure is a deluxe version of what I had in mind .Thanks for posting the pics.

Regards

Craig.

Frank...it looks great.

Steel is real...

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Rich S

"The inconvenience of poor quality will linger long after the thrill of a bargain has been forgotten"

Grattis Frank. underbart bygge !!

Great work !!

Sincerely Lars.

thanks for the kind words.

Rod, luckily i built the molds and forms while i was employed as a carpenter, so yes they are wood.
i have never used a thickness sander before so i wasn't quite sure what performance to expect, but i must say i was pleasantly surprised. i thicknessed those pieces of cedar you see in the pics from an uneven 10mm thickness down to 5mm in just a couple of minutes and they came out with a tolerance of +- 0.03mm. i'm sure it will take a lot more passes to get that tolerance with hardwood though.

well Craig if you pay for the shipping from norway to australia.....

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Frank

shipping from norway to australia.....

Might me enough to buy a small car.

Seriously, that is a very nice looking unit. One of the things that has held me back from making my own is the feed unit. What did you use for the feed belt, feed rollers, and what size/speed is you gear motor?

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Steve, i've been very lucky as far as parts for this sander goes, everything was found in our shop except for the feed belt.
the gear motor(0,25kw 1,32A) has got quite the powerful gear on it, a reduction from 1400 rpm to 12 rpm and with my rollers that works out to about 3m/min( around 9-10 feet pr min). the rollers were parts taken from an old conveyor system. the feed belt i got custom cut and joined from a local outfit that specialises in wheels and belts for most industry transport needs, was expensive but worth it i think. its thick enough to get good cushioning so that i can set quite a bit of pressure on the drum.

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Frank

Well Frank I did a few rough calcs. 1 set of back and sides hand sanded to final thickness from .130 . One top the same. Approx 20 Hrs at $50/Hr Package it up as soon as you can . Seriously though Frank that machine of yours has inspired me to have a go. Even if it turns out half as good I will be overjoyed.

Craig.

I'm green with envy well done I did a rough calc that the 1/3 hp motor with that ratio is 38 hp you could thickness whole trees with that if the main motor didn't stall

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Formerly JJH

I learn more from my mistakes than my successes