Drum Sander Motor?

dpm99 · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 9:27 pm

Is a 1/3HP running at 1625 rpm sufficient for powering a homemade drum sander? It could actually be as low as 1/4HP, based on my research. But it's about 70% off and brand new.

Thanks in advance!

John Arnold · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 9:36 pm

Not unless you are only sanding narrow strips like binding.
My 16" wide Ryobi drum sander has 1 HP, and IMHO it is underpowered.

WudWerkr · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 9:53 pm

I have a 1/2 hp motor on ebay for sale .. item # 190555241043 for 19.99 if you wanna look at it . idunno

dpm99 · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 10:05 pm

Thanks. That's what I needed to know. Jim, I'd bid on the thing, but the shipping would kill me!

Howard Klepper · **Joined:** Tue Jan 25, 2005 6:16 am **Posts:** 2692

A drum thicknessing sander? Not even close. As John said, 1hp is underpowered.

dpm99 · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 10:46 pm

What should I look for then? A used lawnmower, perhaps?

Howard Klepper · **Joined:** Tue Jan 25, 2005 6:16 am **Posts:** 2692

have you built the sander? Do you have 3 phase power?

You might be best off renting time on a good sander.

dpm99 · **Posted:** Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:05 am

I appreciate your input, Howard. I hope you understood I was just joking around about the lawnmower. I didn't realize I'd need three-phase power to run a thicknessing sander. I haven't built anything yet, because the motor is a big question. I'm just trying to equip my shop with a couple tools I don't yet have.

Thanks again.

Dave Livermore · **Posted:** Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:10 am

David,
I built mine with a 1/3 hp 1725rpm fan motor and it works just fine. 6" drum. Granted, it takes several passes to get a top or back thinned down to final thickness, but it sure beat buying a Time Saver. I think I have about $16 with the pillow blocks in materials into this thing and it works just fine.
Very similar to those home built thickness sanders seen here or in 'free plans' on the net.

I may trade out the motor for a 3/4hp, but only because I think the bigger one is overkill to turn my radius dish and I want to motorize that.

Good luck. Let me know if you need pictures or anything of the setup.

Dave

dpm99 · **Posted:** Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:52 am

Dave Livermore wrote:

David,
I built mine with a 1/3 hp 1725rpm fan motor and it works just fine. 6" drum. Granted, it takes several passes to get a top or back thinned down to final thickness, but it sure beat buying a Time Saver. I think I have about $16 with the pillow blocks in materials into this thing and it works just fine.
Very similar to those home built thickness sanders seen here or in 'free plans' on the net.

I may trade out the motor for a 3/4hp, but only because I think the bigger one is overkill to turn my radius dish and I want to motorize that.

Good luck. Let me know if you need pictures or anything of the setup.

Dave

Yeah, that's what I'm looking to do. Nothing fancy. Just something that does the job if you take your time.

EDIT: Y'know, my apologies to everyone. Dave's comment prompted me to do a search, and I found the information I needed had already been posted. I just got caught up in the moment of a quick sale. And it's funny, because just earlier today, I was thinking about how necessary patience is in building a guitar. :oops:

JasonMoe · **Posted:** Sat Jul 16, 2011 2:18 am

I just built a 24" (20" sanding area). I have a 1HP dual capacitor GE motor that is plenty of power.

Tom West · **Posted:** Sat Jul 16, 2011 4:24 am

I have a home built with a 7" drum that has a 1 hp and I thought that would be sufficent. It gets the job done but it is slow and underpowered.
Tom

John Hale · **Posted:** Sat Jul 16, 2011 4:33 am

On my home built drum sander I used a 2hp ex lawnmower motor and that seems just right, I've put a link to the build photos below

http://www.luthiercom.org/phpBB3/viewto ... 115&t=1290

dpm99 · **Posted:** Sat Jul 16, 2011 10:37 am

John, thanks for that link. Of all the homemade drum sanders I've seen, I think I like yours the best. Seems sturdy and practical. Was that an electric lawnmower??

TonyKarol · **Posted:** Sat Jul 16, 2011 10:56 am

my shopbuilt sander is a 17 inch wide 6 inch drum that runs on a 3/4 HP .... it works pretty well, but doesnt hog off a lot of material in comparison to a large commercial one .. but I bet its better than a 10-20, and its definitely better than a buddys delta 16 inch

Steve Davis · **Joined:** Tue Oct 14, 2008 11:06 am **Posts:** 372

Couldnt resist posting pics of mine as i just finished it
no idea about HP as its so rusty but its pretty strong and with that iron pulley wheel it is a bit of beast!
It is the power unit from a kitchen extractor fan

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Scott A · **Posted:** Sat Jul 16, 2011 12:13 pm

I just finished rebuilding my shop built sander, it has a 4"x24" Aluminum drum and a 1hp motor.
Runs strong enough to bend the under sized 5/8 shaft I tried to use...
I just installed a 1" shaft and it's working fine.

Howard Klepper · **Joined:** Tue Jan 25, 2005 6:16 am **Posts:** 2692

dpm99 wrote:

I appreciate your input, Howard. I hope you understood I was just joking around about the lawnmower. I didn't realize I'd need three-phase power to run a thicknessing sander. I haven't built anything yet, because the motor is a big question. I'm just trying to equip my shop with a couple tools I don't yet have.

Thanks again.

I didn't say you need 3 phase power to run a thicknessing sander.

KHageman · **Posted:** Sat Jul 16, 2011 1:01 pm

I have a Kuster home built drum sander. It is approximately 24 inches wide. It has a 5hp motor that runs the sanding drum. Nice to have that much power. I believe the feed motor of the rollers is a 1/2 hp motor.

Bryan Bear · **Posted:** Sat Jul 16, 2011 8:56 pm

I built mine mostly from scrap and what I had around. It has a 24 inch MDF drum. At the time, all I had was a 1/3 up motor (at least 30 years old). It works okay when you take small bites (as you should anyway). It can get bogged down a bit with wide hardwood (over 16 inches), so I take even less off per pass with backs. One day, I will upgrade the motor like I always intended, but I'm in no hurry. I don't build a lot so it works for me.

dpm99 · **Posted:** Sat Jul 16, 2011 10:46 pm

Ok, I'm thinking I might actually try to build the whole thing (or most of it) from reclaimed materials. John used a lawnmower engine. Anybody else have creative ideas?

Rod True · **Posted:** Sat Jul 16, 2011 11:58 pm

I built my sander 8 years ago. It runs off a 1hp motor. The drum is 5" dia and 24" long. I've always got 80 grit on it and I've never once stalled it. It runs 1:1 meaning the drum spins at the same rpm as the motor (at the shaft that is). I can easily take of 0.015 in a pass on EIR and much more on softwoods if I wanted. I'm sure I'd blow the breaker before I stalled the motor on it.

Actually, it's going to be for sale very soon as I just got a 16/32 performex. My sander is self feed, a heavy steel frame and works very well. No issues ever with only 1hp...

york · **Posted:** Sun Jul 17, 2011 5:01 pm

I built one once and used an old washing machine motor -- 1725 rpm, 1/3HP, I think. Used a 6" diameter, 24" long well casing for the drum. Had it "lathed" in a vocational school machine shop - they sometimes are looking for things to practice on. Was definitely underpowered but could sand slowly taking tiny cuts each pass. I then put it right behind my table saw and got a pulley and belt long enough to share the motor with the sander -- 3450rpm, 1HP. Much better. Sharing the motor was a little less convenient, but not too bad at all. May work for you. Be sure your drum is well balanced and, of course, be very careful, especially if hand feeding!

dpm99 · **Posted:** Sun Jul 17, 2011 7:34 pm

Going down to the family farm tomorrow. There's a bunch of "junk" in storage there. I feel confident I'll find something to use as a motor, and who knows what else? I know there's a working evaporative cooler there. That's probably a good place to start.

Chas Freeborn · **Posted:** Wed Jul 20, 2011 12:25 pm

My 24" Woodmaster has a 5 hp main motor and separate adjustable speed feed motor.
I have stalled it before, but mostly belt slip, not the motor stopping.

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