Home Made Thickness Sander

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Dobroguy
Posts: 72
Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2018 8:11 pm
Location: Anola, MB

Home Made Thickness Sander

Post by Dobroguy »

When I decided to tackle my first scratch built acoustic guitar project I quickly realized I needed to add a thickness sander to my tool arsenal. After considerable research and being somewhat frugal in nature I decided to make one from Pat Hawley's design. The plans are available free on the Internet. This sander has truly exceeded my expectations. I managed to have or scrounge up most of the supplies I needed, except for the motor, and pillow block shaft bearings.

Here are a few details that may help others.

1) The drum is made from many sections of 5” diameter 3/4”plywood discs.
2) The overall drum width is 20”.
3) I used a 1” diameter solid steel shaft, which was given to me by a friend. It was just long enough.
4) I drilled two holes through the shaft with a cobalt drill bit to accommodate 3/16” diameter music wire pins, that lock the shaft to the plywood discs.
5) After I trued up the drum discs I sealed it with ZPOXY finishing resin, which should make for easier removal of the Velcro should I ever need to do that in the future.
6) I bought a used a 1&1/2 HP motor, which may seem like overkill but it sure has lots of power.
7) I run the drum at 1650 RPM IIRC.
8) I decided to go with the Velcro, hook & loop sandpaper option, which worked to perfection for me. The Velcro cushioning effect allows very light sanding pressure when only a small amount of material removal is needed. So far I have only used 120 grit sandpaper. After sanding two sets of tops, bottoms and sides for my current Dobro project I am very impressed with the accuracy of my sander.
9) I have a 1/2” piece of Melamine on top of the table.
10) The amount of sanding dust is practically nil using my Shop Vav.
Sander.JPG
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Morecowbell
Posts: 280
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2019 10:51 am
Location: Fishers, IN

Re: Home Made Thickness Sander

Post by Morecowbell »

My hat is off to you! I thought I could get by with a lunchbox planer on my first one. The sides were okay but the grain on the EIR back pieces was tearing out all over the place. I had to do it by hand and you only have to do that once to be convinced of the value of a thickness sander! So I looked at building one too but then an old Performax appeared at a price I couldn't refuse (with delivery) and the power feed lured me in. They are amazing machines.
"Facts seldom sway an opinion." - John Hall
"The difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference." - Van de Snepscheut
Dobroguy
Posts: 72
Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2018 8:11 pm
Location: Anola, MB

Re: Home Made Thickness Sander

Post by Dobroguy »

I originally tried using my Dewalt planer to surface the block of quilt maple I bought for the tops. Even with an very light pass there were too many small chunks taken out. That quickly convinced me to make the sander.

I expect to have the same problem routing out the binding / purf channels using a router bit. I've tested this on scrap pieces. I've been looking at getting a Gramil from LMI instead of routing. Anyone have any comments about solving that problem?
Morecowbell
Posts: 280
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2019 10:51 am
Location: Fishers, IN

Re: Home Made Thickness Sander

Post by Morecowbell »

So re the binding channels: you're having issues with chipping the quilted maple using a router? I looked at a gramil but watched enough videos to become convinced that the router was the route for me. I was worried that a gramil would wander and create other issues, but I never tried it so don't know.

I can report that the router approach I used (cradle and tower) worked like a charm, but that was on east Indian rosewood. Hopefully someone with figured wood experience will chime in.
Last edited by Morecowbell on Tue Jan 31, 2023 3:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Facts seldom sway an opinion." - John Hall
"The difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference." - Van de Snepscheut
MaineGeezer
Posts: 1711
Joined: Wed Aug 13, 2014 12:14 pm

Re: Home Made Thickness Sander

Post by MaineGeezer »

A gramil in hard wood (like maple) would be a slow proposition. I did a couple of guitars using a gamil, and it takes a while. I think the only way to do it is to get into a meditative state and not care how long it's taking.
Don't believe everything you know.
Anything is possible if you don't know what you are talking about.
When things are bad, try not to make them any worse, because it is quite likely they are bad enough already. - French Foreign Legion
carld05
Posts: 170
Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2012 4:19 pm
Location: Forest Ranch, CA

Re: Home Made Thickness Sander

Post by carld05 »

Nice sander. I recently upgraded from an old Performax 16-32 to a Jet 22-44OSC (an incredibly cheap Craigslist score). If you ever get the chance, go for it. The oscillating action and the automatic conveyor belt speed are wonderful.
As to cutting the binding, since you nailed the sander, it looks like you could make a router based binding cutting machine too. Several approaches out there. Here's an old thread where it was discussed. viewtopic.php?f=47&t=9604. I'm still happy with the one I built. You can get a donut and bit and bearings from John.
Dobroguy
Posts: 72
Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2018 8:11 pm
Location: Anola, MB

Re: Home Made Thickness Sander

Post by Dobroguy »

carld05 wrote: Tue Jan 31, 2023 3:31 pm As to cutting the binding, since you nailed the sander, it looks like you could make a router based binding cutting machine too. Several approaches out there. Here's an old thread where it was discussed. viewtopic.php?f=47&t=9604. I'm still happy with the one I built. You can get a donut and bit and bearings from John.
I do have a routing tool from KMG that I am very comfortable using. I've used it on several acoustic an electric projects over the years. I also have access to a buddy's tower & cradle system if I ever get the urge. I'm concerned about the potential chip out or worse (tear out) that high figured wood is potentially prone to when using a router bit. Here's a shot of a cut off strip from a block of Q. Maple that I used for my dobro tops. If you look close in the top left area you can see the chip out that occurred on the face surfacing from a light pass through a thickness planer.
QuiltMaple.JPG
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Morecowbell
Posts: 280
Joined: Thu Feb 21, 2019 10:51 am
Location: Fishers, IN

Re: Home Made Thickness Sander

Post by Morecowbell »

Rig something up so you can test it in the tower and cradle system. My planer tore up my EIR but I had no issues with routing the binding channels. From what I gather routers are running a lot faster than planers.
back cut 1.jpg
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"Facts seldom sway an opinion." - John Hall
"The difference between theory and practice is that in theory there is no difference." - Van de Snepscheut
carld05
Posts: 170
Joined: Mon Mar 19, 2012 4:19 pm
Location: Forest Ranch, CA

Re: Home Made Thickness Sander

Post by carld05 »

I've routed the binding channels into a quilted maple body with a tower rig - no chipping.
Dobroguy
Posts: 72
Joined: Tue Jan 30, 2018 8:11 pm
Location: Anola, MB

Re: Home Made Thickness Sander

Post by Dobroguy »

Thanks guys. Last night the light bulb came on and I realized that I had previously used a router with an up cut spiral bit to cut the resonator cone circles in my tops. the tops are .2" thick and there was zero chip out. So, I'm no longer concerned about the binding cuts.
Tops.JPG
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