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Thanks Doug! Open question: Am I right in thinking that the oil would seal it "better" than shellac? Assuming it sticks ok. Pretty humid here, every little helps(?).

And, for fellow Brits, am I right in thinking denatured alcohol is just meths? I bought the bits to french polish my last build but decided to oil it in the end, so I can get some meths and mix up some shellac if it is superior. Dunno why, but when I was reading "denatured alcohol" I wasn't imagining purple meths!

My understanding is that meths is the same thing, and that the colour should not effect things but I would definitely test it first

_________________
Nick

Follow my musings on getting started in luthiery http://www.tredwellinstruments.co.uk

Hey UK people. I hate the purple meths even tho is supposed to be fine (mostly).

However if you go to B&Q every now and again look right at the back of the shelf you can find clear ones where the dye has run out. The staff obviously shove the 'defected' bottles to the back.

PS wd 40 according to my knowledgeable machinest dries hard like a varnish

Don't forget to share pictures with the rest of us "wanna-build-their-own-thickness-sander" types.

Thanks Peter, thanks Ernie, and yes Eric, I'll be sharing photos and lots of notes! This is the first time I've made anything like this so I've had a lot of help along the way and can certainly share a newbie's perspective to anyone planning to put one together!

It was daunting but it has gone well. If I'd have had everything I needed when I started, it would have been done much more quickly! But then, if I'd have waited till I had absolutely everything, I may never have started!

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)

Got the drum trued up and sealed yesterday. Got the velcro on this afternoon. And I've already been doing some thicknessing! (It works even better than I expected - so far )

Thanks to Pat and everyone else here at the OLF who helped!

I'll write up my notes and post them to hopefully help someone else build theirs! I'm dead chuffed to finally have one.

Awesome!

Sweet! I hope mine turns out as good.

_________________
"I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it."
Pablo Picasso

https://www.facebook.com/FenskeGuitars

Happy sanding! Nice work.

_________________
Doug

Don't let fear or common sense stop you from trying to build something

Thanks Doug! I'm doing another practice side or two tomorrow morning, and then I'm on to some rosewood!
And I've no doubt yours will be better, Peter!

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 frame. 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. To cut the velcro/sandpaper, I; used a piece of string to measure the circumference of the drum, and marked a line of that length from one corner, forming a triangle to cut off.
18. I used some of the laminate flooring for the sides of the dust hood, and a chunk of 2x4 for the vacuum hose to plug into.

- 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. Band saw to cut stacks of three, stuck together with a strip of double sided sticky tape. Drilled out. Then prised apart and cleaned of tape.
- 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 {actually my shaft measured 19.17}] so don't try to save money there. Get one likely to be drilled out accurately.
- Runs with no 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.
- Used 1mm flex. 20 clips. Had to get sleeves and crimp connections.
- I put the switch on the opposite side of the motor so as to keep my hands away from the belt and for easy access to the emergency slap button, but the cable is kindof a trip hazard as I move around so maybe think that through a bit better.
- Used carriage bolts rather than screws for the pillow blocks.
- 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!

Looks good. I hope it works well for you.

Pat

_________________
There are three kinds of people:

Those that make things happen,
those that watch things happen,
and those that wondered what happened.

Not half, Pat! I feel like I've sold my soul at the crossroads! I can't believe how well it worked today. Thanks again!

Rosewood sides down from 5.5mm to 2.3mm in under an hour each [thought I was going slowly! I won't push my luck].
Accurate to 0.1mm. Quiet. No wobble. Dust hood is incredible. An absolute pleasure!

Makes it all the sweeter when I think of how long it took me and how much sweat it took to thickness stock for my last guitar!!!!

Can't sing its praises enough!

Man, Nick that's awesome. Thanks for sharing the great detail of the build process. I'm about to start one myself as soon as I can shed myself of this horrible cold my wife decided to share with me. I need one of these as my planer is about useless for most figured wood or small/thin pieces.

Kudos to you and happy sanding!!!

Thanks, Eric! Glad to be of some assistance.
Good luck with your sander and get well soon!!

(I prepared some roughly sawn spruce and rosewood today ready for joining, and once again it was an absolute pleasure to use!)

EDIT: Don't ask me why but I took 1mm off a maple headstock veneer in one pass today! And I thought 5.5-2.3mm in 45 minutes was impressive! Wouldn't recommend taking that much wood off in one go, of course! It was a moment of frustration followed by one of surprise!