I've never made anything like this before and I'd like to ask a few questions of someone who has already made one if I could. I've got most of the parts but I wonder if anyone can recommend a good place to get the shaft? I see mentions of turned, ground and polished shafts; is that just an American term? Because I don't see any English sites mentioning it. Can I just use one of these http://www.metals4u.co.uk/Stainless-Steel-Round-Bar/34-Diametre-316/83/2938/detail.asp] ?
Everything I have (pillow blocks, pulleys) is to fit a 3/4" shaft... I know the plans call for a 1" shaft but I was hoping, seeing as Pat's worked with a hollow 5/8" one, that I could get away with it? I'd prefer not to have to buy parts when I have these ones already.
Thanks in advance for any help!
Nick
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EDIT: Updating OP having now finished sander....
Yeehaw! I am the newest member of the "Pat Hawley Thickness Sander" Club! And if I can do it, anyone can!
(With a little help)Thanks to Pat and everyone else here at the OLF who helped!
Here are some notes I just tapped out. Apart from the guitars I've built, I have very little woodworking experience, so hopefully others in my position will find these useful in some way.
1. I got the 2x4 and ply [for the table] cut at the shop in 5 minutes by a guy who looks just like Super Mario (cap n'all!)
2. Screwed table plys together - Removed screws, applied glue, rescrewed, weights on top.
3. Clamped together short sides of table, used square and a hammer to align everything perfectly. One corner screw at a time, kept checking, adjust, etc, all screws in.
4. Leaned both sides over against wall. Slotted in lower connector rails, leaned upright, clamped lower rails in place. Got square as poss. Measured.
5. Clamped top tails roughly in place. Squared everywhere, measured everywhere. Hammer to bang into place.
6. Screwed bottom rails first, left others clamped with f clamps.
7. Installed pillow blocks and shaft.
8. Installed piano hinge to clamped rail. Screwed table to hinge.
9. Used hammer to line up rail [and hence table] perfectly with shaft. Checked all square. Screwed in place
10. Got other side lined up. square, Square square. Screwed in place... Cut and fitted diagonal braces for strength.
11. Drilled hole for adjuster bolt (then used stewmac dremel base and dremel to rout out hex cavity. no glue). Installed wheels.
12. Used band saw and pillar drill at local school to cut discs and drill them out. (In return, I'm going to give talk a basic talk about guitarmaking to some of their "gifted pupils". Will have to ask for advice from experienced teachers here in a couple of weeks!
) 13. Glued four groups of 5 discs and one group of 6 discs - 5,5,6,5,5. Measured shaft [and marked in situ], used dumbbell clamp to mark end, forced discs on, lots of polyurethane glue. Used 1.6mm[ish] corrugated cardboard shims to get the gaps, which, under the pressure of the two big f clamps I borrowed, actually compressed down to less than 1mm.
14. An electrician friend of mine wired it up for me, he had to work out how to wire up the Axminster switch as it doesn't come with instructions, so if anyone needs any help with that, I'll ask him for a run through.
15. Trued up drum with 60 and then 80 grit stuck to 6mm mdf.
16. Sealed drum with 4 coats of mdf primer. Probably not the best thing but psa velcro stuck to it well.
16. A patient friend helped me, holding the psa velcro taught as I wrapped it around the drum.
17. I cut templates to the right size before cutting the psa velcro or sandpaper.
- Get a quick square if you don't have one.
- I bought a 3/4 hp 1400 rpm motor. I think the drum goes at 550 rpm or so. 700 feet per minute.
- I used 3/4 inch shaft assembly rather than 1 inch. Bright mild steel shaft.
- I used a 62 inch belt, but I screwed the lower rails down flat rather than upright so you'll need a smaller belt if you follow the plan.
- I built the frame in situ, where it will mostly be used.
- US and UK 2x4 is different. Check dimensions of yours and modify plan accordingly
- There is a good reason no one uses a hole saw to cut the discs! I only did one that way. It was slow and got wedged in hard. Luckily, the teacher at my local school was very accommodating and had no problem waiting around.
- I got laminate flooring for free from round the back of my local flooring centre.
- I glued laminate flooring on in situ but best to do first I suppose
- Truing up the drum was a little worrying, but only because I cut the discs a bit smaller than I should've. Final diameter of the drum including sandpaper and velcro is 4.95" rather than 5. Doesn't make much difference over the circumference.
- I was a bit worried about the shaft assembly but it all works well. The bore hole in the 5 inch pulley was a bit oversize [19.4ish rather than 19.05ish] so don't try to save money there. Get one likely to be drilled out accurately.
- Runs with minimal wobble and nice and quiet.
- Borrowed hole saw just the right size for vacuum hose. Perfect fit. Sealed hood with tape. I'm really surprised at how well the hood works.
- Came in under budget at about £250
This may be bad advice, but it's how I did it. Think everything through properly! And don't be daunted! If you can build a guitar, you can sure as heckfire build a thickness sander!
![[xx(]](./images/smilies/smiley11.gif "Dead")