Thread: Method for blade sanding with a drill press

Somewhere in the deepest darkest pits of SRP is a thread about using these

12 Piece Long Drum Sander Kit and Replacement Sleeves - Rockler Woodworking Tools

Combined with a simple variable speed/reversible drill in a stand, for those of you that don't own a drill press... This system does work and it works really well for removing pits on 1/2 hollows and heavier, be very careful on hollows and full hollows they are pretty thin

I love reading about work arounds for expensive power tools, great idea Goggles

nice improv ... kudos!!

How about using a mini lathe instead of a drill press. Mine is variable speed, and you would be holding the blade horizontal instead of vertical. Just a thought.

Originally Posted by skipnord

How about using a mini lathe instead of a drill press. Mine is variable speed, and you would be holding the blade horizontal instead of vertical. Just a thought.

I remember Dan aka Floppyshoes used a lathe for most everything so I see no reason it wouldn't work

Originally Posted by mainaman

Could the spine grabbing part be due to too much pressure when sanding? It can happen easy when using a buffer too.

Yeah, it usually happens when I press harder, but the main reason is that I haven't perfected a way to attach the sandpaper, so it's always a bit lumpy.

Originally Posted by gssixgun

Somewhere in the deepest darkest pits of SRP is a thread about using these

12 Piece Long Drum Sander Kit and Replacement Sleeves - Rockler Woodworking Tools

Combined with a simple variable speed/reversible drill in a stand, for those of you that don't own a drill press... This system does work and it works really well for removing pits on 1/2 hollows and heavier, be very careful on hollows and full hollows they are pretty thin

I love reading about work arounds for expensive power tools, great idea Goggles

Thanks for the compliment. I was definitely nervous on the first, full-hollow test blade, even though it was already damaged. Just like hand sanding I think it comes down to guessing how deep the pits are, since it still takes a while to work them out. Luckily there doesn't seem to be any issue with heat build-up because of the speed, unless you press really hard. The squishyness of the drum really helps to avoid too much harshness.

On other topics, I've also used the drill press in place of a lathe to make stainless steel washers (well, technically only 1 so far) out of a 3/16" piece of 18-8 rod I had lying around. I pulled the chuck off my cheap hand drill to hold a bit for center-drilling, and used a cut-off wheel in the dremel to part them off. The accuracy with which you can turn things using a cut-off wheel by hand is surprising. Not great, just surprising.

Oh, and I've also got a way of keeping blades from bumping into each other in a tumbler that seems to be working brilliantly so far, even though it was just a pocket knife & cardboard solution. Think I'll share that in another thread.

I am going to speak out against the practice mentioned in the first post (sorry, I'm a former Health & Safety officer).

The practice you are employing is placing side forces on the chuck and motor housing of the drill as you move the blade under the drill - side forces that the drill was not designed to take (there WILL be forces, as you have to apply a pressure to do the sanding)

There is also the question of what happens if the long shaft you are employing snaps - there you will have a length of broken metal flying off in whatever direction at a hell of a speed.

Why not splash out $20 or so for a flexi drive shaft and attach that to your drill - it will reduce the side forces on the chuck/motor, and allow a hell of a lot more manouvereability.

Oh, I take it that you have the blade firmly clamped in some sort of jig too, and not just sitting on the baseplate of the drill press?? (Just knocked up a jig at home for less than £2, and that cost was for the magnets!!)


I've seen too many bad accidents caused by people thinking they can adapt power tools for purposes that they were not originally designed for, where there is a perfectly good alternative available for less than the cost of a stay in hospital!!!


Please, heed this warning

Mark

@wmsheep, get over your bad self, it's our fingers we will lose them if....... Oh wait. Perhaps your right

Truthfully I liked the op's design but safety was the first thing I thought of and planned to build something safer and horizontal.

Thanks for the heed of warning..

Originally Posted by WMSheep

....SNIP...
Please, heed this warning
Mark

I'm a little confused. I definitely think there are safety issues with what I posted (see my disclaimer at the top), but not the ones you've mentioned. I think you might be misinterpreting the setup.

Originally Posted by WMSheep

The practice you are employing is placing side forces on the chuck

That's true, but mitigated somewhat because the shaft is supported at the bottom where it runs through the hole in the drill table, so there's no real torque being put on the bearings. There IS a straight sideways force, but a hell of a lot less than the thickness-sander conversions (for scale-making) I saw elsewhere. Also the sanding seems to work best with minimal pressure. I could fix it entirely by raising the table to maximum height (providing support at the top of the shaft just below the chuck) and supporting the shaft bottom at the drill base.

Originally Posted by WMSheep

There is also the question of what happens if the long shaft you are employing snaps - there you will have a length of broken metal flying off in whatever direction at a hell of a speed.

Do you mean the shaft itself? The shaft is wooden. The only metal in this setup is the blade itself but I can't really picture a way the shaft could break that would throw the blade. Even if the shaft broke, one half would still be in the chuck and the other half running through the table.

Originally Posted by WMSheep

Oh, I take it that you have the blade firmly clamped in some sort of jig too, and not just sitting on the baseplate of the drill press?? (Just knocked up a jig at home for less than £2, and that cost was for the magnets!!)

I'm not sure what you mean here. The blade never touches the baseplate or any part of the drill. I hold the blade by hand against the sandpaper drum which is spinning in the drill. That's actually the dangerous part, IMO, because my fingers are so close to the spindle and holding the blade. I've had the blade lurch in my grip LOTS of times so far without any damage, but from a safety point of view cuts are inevitable and protective gloves are out of the question so close to the spindle.

I made a magnetic jig, too, for using with a dremel, but I found five seconds with the dremel more worrying than 5 hours with the drill press rig. I may try using that jig to hold the blade against the drum to get my fingers out of harm's way, but I'll probably add another magnet, first, for extra holding strength.

Thanks for your criticism, although it's not just a case of being too cheap to buy a flex-shaft because that's not how the setup works. If anything it's more like avoiding a buffer/grinder.

Aah, I see the setup now.

Sorry, I misinterpreted the way things were running a little.

Think the only thing I would really add is the use of safety guards & gloves.

Mark

Once again, Many apologies

Originally Posted by WMSheep

Aah, I see the setup now.

Sorry, I misinterpreted the way things were running a little.

Think the only thing I would really add is the use of safety guards & gloves.

Mark

Once again, Many apologies

gloves will get you hurt..... i use this same method from time to time..... gloves will snag and pull your hand into the machine....... it really isn't as dangerous as most people think it would be..... the dowel really isn't spinning that fast....... and by him using wooden dowel the odds are if it did snag him it would break the dowel before injuring him.....

is it the safest way to do it?? NO...

is it dangerous?? a bit...

is it extremely dangerous?? also no.....