instructables

Drill Press Drum Sander

by mikeasaurus

Turn your drill press into a drum sander by makingyour own spindles to hold sandpaper. This easyafternoon workshop project is great for sanding insidea concave curve, a difficult task for belt or randomorbital sanders.

I challenged myself to build this using modest toolsthat most would have in their garage, thinking "if youhave a drill press already, then you've probably gotthe tools on hand to make this".

The best part about this drum sander design is thatthe sandpaper is interchangeable, held in place by aremovable pin so you can change sandpaper gritseasily.

I made this spindle in about an hour. Making a fewdifferent diameter drums allows all kinds of curves tobe easily sanded.

Ready to convert your drill press into a sandingstation? Let's make!

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Drill Press Drum Sander: Page 1

Step 1: Supplies

Depending on your workshop setup, you might have most of these items already on hand. If not, I've supplied linkson where to get them inexpensively.

Hole sawsThreaded rod (¼" - 20 is a very common thread)2x nuts matching threaded rodLarge washersSteel rod (any small diameter size)Scrap plywood (any thickness)

These drums can be any side based on whatever your need / hole saw you might have on hand. The one I showhere is 2 ½"

Step 2: Cut Drum Discs

Clamp your scrap plywood to the drill press and insert the hole saw into the chuck. Drill out a few discs from theplywood with the hole saw. The height of the drum will be the total height of the plywood discs when stacked ontop of each other.

The height of your drum spindle can be whatever suits your needs. Mine was about 2" tall when all the discs werestacked, which was plenty for my needs.

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Step 3: Sand Disc Edges

Hole saws can leave ragged edges on the discs frombeing cut out. I used a 120 grit sandpaper to clean upthe faces on each disc to create a smooth surface forgluing them together.

The rough perimeter will be cleaned up a little later.For now, a smooth face is all that's needed to make agood bond between each disc.

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Step 4: Glue Discs

To help keep the discs aligned when being gluedtogether we'll use the threaded rod through the centeropening of each disc. Load the threaded rod into apower drill chuck and hand tighten. With the drill inthe clockwise (forward) direction press the trigger andinsert a wood disc.

Add a dab of glue to another disc and feed it onto thethread rod until it is snugged up against the first disc.

Repeat this process of gluing and feeding onto thethreaded rod until all discs are on the rod and snuglytogether. This will be the drum of the sander.

Step 5: Remove Drum Glue-Up

Clamp the glued discs together. Switch the power drill to counterclockwise (reverse), hold onto the glued discs andpull the trigger to unthread the entire drum from the threaded rod.

Leave the drum glue to dry completely so the center opening stays registered.

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Step 6: Cut Rods

While the glue is drying, cut the threaded and steelrod to length. The threaded rod will be the shaft thedrum rides on when inserted into the drill press. You'llneed a length long enough for whatever the drumheight is, plus a ½" on the bottom of the drum for aretaining nut and about 2-3" above the drum for thesecond retaining nut and enough shaft to be insertedinto the press chuck.

Since this pin will be removed from time to time, theedges were given a chamfer to allow the pin to beeasily inserted back into the opening without gettingcaught on any edges.

The steel rod will be the pin that holds the sandpaperinside the drum, and will need to be about ¼" longerthan the height of the drum. This additional height willleave a portion of the pin proud of the drum top andallow the pin to be grabbed and easily removed whenchanging out sandpaper.

Use a cutting wheel on a rotary tool to cut both thethreaded and steel rod to the appropriate length.

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Step 7: Drill Pin Opening

When the glue-up of the drum is complete the pinopening can be drilled. Chose a drill bit that is slightlylarger in diameter from the steel pin. This will allow forthe thickness of the sandpaper inside the openingand still allow the pin to be easily inserted.

I made a mark on the face of the drum about halfwayfrom the center opening to the outer perimeter. Anapproximate distance is fine here.

Step 8: Drill Pin Opening

Clamp the drum securely in the drill press and drill themarked opening through the entire drum.

Test the pin in the drilled opening. The pin shouldeasily slide into the opening and have a fair bit of playwhen inserted. This play is to accommodate thethickness of two sheets of sandpaper, which will be

smushed into this opening later.

To prevent over-sizing the opening stop when theopening is just larger than the pin, you can alwayscome back later and enlarge the opening.

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Step 9: Saw Sandpaper Slot

Once the pin opening is drilled make a line down theside of the drum that will connect the two ends of theopening. This will be the slot that the sandpaper willbe held in once it's wrapped around the drum.

Securely clamp the drum with the drawn line facingupwards. Use a handsaw to cut through the side ofthe drum until connected to the drilled pin opening.

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Step 10: Square Drum

Load the drum back onto the threaded rod and insertthe threaded rod into the chuck of the drill press.

To square up the rough edge of the drum we'll usethe drill press to spin the drum while we smooth outthe edge surface with a rasp and sandpaper.

Spin the drum on a low speed and gently push therasp against the drum edge edge to smooth out anyhigh spots and create a uniform surface. Turn off thedrill press and place a speed square on the drill presstable and move it against the side of the drum tocheck for squareness, rotating the drill chuck by handto inspect the entire drum circumference.

Once squared smooth the rough surface withsandpaper, moving from rough to fine grits. Here's alesson all about sanding, if you want to know more.

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Step 11: Assemble Drum

To assemble the drum sander insert the threaded rodinto the chuck of a hand drill and hand tighten. Pressthe drill trigger to thread on a nut to about halfway upthe rod. Add a washer then thread on the wood drum.Finish by adding another washer and then a nut tocomplete the drum assembly. Use a wrench to keepthe nuts snug and secure the drum in place. Removedrum assembly from hand drill.

This style of drum sander can accept any grit ofsandpaper, you just need to cut the paper to fit. Thefirst time you install sandpaper will take a little trailand error to get the fit just right, but once you have ityou can use that fitted piece as a template for allfuture sandpaper inserts.

Measure the height of the drum and transfer thatmeasurement onto the back of the sandpaper, thencut along the back of the sandpaper at this line tomake a sandpaper strip. Insert one end of the

sandpaper strip into the slit and then wrap thesandpaper around the drum, rough side outwards.

Insert the other end of the sandpaper strip into thesame slot until both ends are fully inside the drilledopening. Smooth out the sandpaper strip against thedrum and feed any slack into the drilled opening. Thesandpaper strip should be taught.

Insert pin into the drilled opening to trap thesandpaper strip ends and lock them in place. Thisopening is deliberately drilled oversize toaccommodate the addition of the sandpaper strip. Ifyou can't force the pin through the opening you mayneed to drill the opening slightly larger.

With the pin fully seated in the opening the sandpaperis locked in place.

Step 12: Insert Drum Into Drill Press

Insert the drum into your drill press and use the chuck key to tighten the chuck onto the spindle of the drum. If yourspindle is too long the drum can start spinning asymmetrically, which is dangerous. I wouldn't advise any morethan 1" in length between the chuck and the top of the drum, less if the drum is longer.

Raise the drill press table up so the bottom of the sanding drum is close (but not touching) the drill press bed.

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Step 13: Start Sanding

Start sanding! Since there is a small gap between thebottom of the drum and the drill press table, makesure to place a small piece of plywood under thepiece you are sanding to raise it up off the drill presstable and fully engage with the sanding drum.

Drum sanders are great for getting into tight spaces tosand where a belt or random orbital sander can't.With this method to make your own sanding drumsthere's all kinds of specific diameters to make, and allcan fit whatever sandpaper you need.

Happy making :)

Did you make your own drill press drum sander?Iwant to see it!

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