Thickness Sander

For discussions related to designing and making ski/snowboard-building equipment, such as presses, core profilers, edge benders, etc.

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Jibber
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Thickness Sander

Post by Jibber »

I stumbled across this homemade thickness sander today:

http://woodgears.ca/sander/thickness.html

Very well documented: http://woodgears.ca/sander/plans/index.html

What do you think, would this work for Ski-/Snowboard-/Kiteboard-Building?

Cheers, Christoph *whohatestherouterbridgemethod*
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chrismp
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Post by chrismp »

works! have a look here: http://www.skibuilders.com/phpBB2/viewt ... c&start=60

he uses it for profiling cores and sanding the bases with great success!
Richuk
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Post by Richuk »

Used here too http://www.swellpanik.com/uk/

If the information in this chapter is correct, you may need to adapt your process and hand finish with 300 grit

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgt ... ter_10.pdf
jvangelder
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Post by jvangelder »

Heres another http://www.rockslide.org/drum%20sander.html

Been planning on building one similar to the above myself
fa
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Post by fa »

Heres another http://www.rockslide.org/drum%20sander.html

Been planning on building one similar to the above myself
jvangelder,
nice design
for grindig bases too, a larger diameter drum may be preferable
on the other hand if you plan to use it only for woodwork you might want to keep it slim. a smaller drum will be cheaper to build and takes less sandpaper to be covered with (good cloth abrasives arent cheep at all)
plus, if you deside to add feed in&out rollers, the slimer drum will allow you to place them closer to each other
try to have the table stiff to resist torsion. if you work alone, a long table is very handy
good luck
Last edited by fa on Fri Apr 15, 2011 12:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.
DutchDesigns
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Location: Canmore AB

Post by DutchDesigns »

Im currently in the process of building a thickness sander! I used the above design as a base and am building something sturdy and adjustable! Ive decided to use as much alluminum and steel to ensure there is no flexing and to ensure accurate work! Ill take some photos of the progress so others may build one
Jibber
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Post by Jibber »

I am really interested to see more about your project!

I am just wondering how much core material can be taken away with one pass through the thic.kness sander.

Cheers, Christoph
DutchDesigns
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Post by DutchDesigns »

On my fathers thickness sander we were able to take off 1mm of maple per pass! And it was 8inche wide piece! We were using a 60 grit and had the self feed at its slowest and of course had a vac system to clear the dust to stop the paper from getting clogged! He also has this block (not sure what it was) that he ran over the sanding drum before we started to stop it from clogging! Im hoping that Ill be able to take atleast 1/2 mm off each pass
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Brazen
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Post by Brazen »

I'll bet that was an abrasive cleaner stick.
"86% of the time it works 100% of the time".
fa
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Post by fa »

I am using a 36 grit al ox 3M cloth. It turns popalr into hairs rather than into dust and it seems that it ll last for ever. i still like to preshape the cores with a hand planer before sanding to save time. I can get away with 4-5 drum passes after that.
I can't explain why, but i am sure i did notice that papers cut better than clothes. funny...
and am building something sturdy and adjustable!
looking forward to see it DD!
Jibber
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Post by Jibber »

Any idea how I can put the shaft in the pillow block bearing without violence? I bought a stainless chromium steel tube with the the same diameter as the bearings (30mm) but it looks like it does not fit :(

As you see I am currently collecting all the material for this project... good progress so far. "Endless" velcro sandpaper seems to be a problem in Europe but i will find a solution.

Regards, Christoph
mpm32
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Post by mpm32 »

heat bearing, cool shaft, should slide right on.
G-man
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Post by G-man »

Heating the bearing will damage the bearing seals and liquefy the grease, causing it to run out of the bearing. Virtually all pillow block type bearings are designed for a sliding fit over the shaft, and then use some sort of locking mechanism to tighten the bearing to the shaft. Most of the better pillow blocks use a non-concentric shaft collar that you rotate around on the bearing flange until it's tight on the shaft, then tighten the collar via a set screw. So, if your shaft doesn't relatively easily slip into the bearing bore, your shaft is just simply too large. Even if you could manage to force the shaft into the bearing, you'd likely never be able to get it back off, in the event to you needed to make a repair of some sort. It's best to build your machines so that they can be fine tuned or disassembled easily... because you'll likely be wanting to do that from time to time. Best of luck,

G-man
Jibber
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Post by Jibber »

@ G-man: Makes sense!

Should I try to sand the shaft evenly or give it in professional hands ($$$)...?

Cheers, Christoph
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Brazen
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Post by Brazen »

Cheap. Someone with a centering vise and a diamond wheel can whip a thousandth off that in about 2 minutes. Dont try to sand it...
"86% of the time it works 100% of the time".
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