Grizzly / Shop Fox benchtop thickness sander

[Roy from Pa]

https://www.grizzly.com/products/grizzly-12-1-1-2-hp-baby-drum-sander/g0459

I have that model and it works great and has a rubber feed belt.

It has hook and loop and I'm ok with that because I only make all wood bows so it does a good enough job for me.

Glass bow guys need a closer tolerance than I do so they don't like the hook and loop paper.

A few guys did away with the hook and loop paper on this model and glue regular sanding belts to the metal drum and that works fine.

[Jeff Freeman]

I see. I build glass backed longbows. Just wasn't found about gluing the paper run I know they make a glue for the sandpaper. Cuz we used to always glue our DA sanding onto our DA foam pad. 10 years ago they came up with self-adhesive DA sandpaper. A lot of guys went to the hook and loop I was never fond of it cuz it was too spongy and soft for my liking. JF

[Buemaker]

Flem, that thickness adjusting thing on your sander, is it a jack used when changing car tires? I like it

[Flem]

It is a car jack   It actually works real smoothly because of the acme threads. Most of the home build sander adjusters I saw were bolts under the table that would screw up and down. I did not like the idea of a single contact point, too much potential deflection from side to side. That and bolt threads are not designed for the purpose, they creep. Acme threads don't.

Jeff, I duct tape the ends of the sandpaper onto my drum, no glue, no velcro. The only time I had a problem was when I forgot to clean off all the dust before wrapping and taping.

[Mad Max]

I was never fond of it cuz it was too spongy and soft for my liking. JF

Same reason for me
I have the same machine as roy, the sand paper goes on the same way, just with spray glue.

[Flem]

Curious why you don't modify and use your big belt sander as a grinder like these guy's have?
That $1100. plus freight buys a lot of bow making materials.

https://www.tradgang.com/tgsmf/index.php?topic=177226.0

[Jeff Freeman]

Oh I already have modified my belt sander started out on a little 6x48 craftsman that I turned on its side. I wore that one out and I bought me the big grizzly one. I got it modified. It works fine just looking at other options. You know curiosity killed that cat. JF

[Shredd]

Curious why you don't modify and use your big belt sander as a grinder like these guy's have?
That $1100. plus freight buys a lot of bow making materials.

https://www.tradgang.com/tgsmf/index.php?topic=177226.0

  Because Guys like Toys...  The more toys the better...   

[Jeff Freeman]

Damn it turn your head to the left and look at the picture. I feed from the far side right to the near side left. Using a sled. Everything squared up everything comes out great. Even made up a little dust collector gets about 90%. Face mask and the floor get the rest. JF

[Jeff Freeman]

Guys like toys, you bet. Plus I'm semi retired. 38 years of doing all that body and frame repair. Now I'm doing maintenance at orthopedic surgery center clinic. Four buildings. Keeps me busy. Something different everyday. I go in early I get off early. JF

[Flem]

$1100. plus freight buys a lot of toys

Jeff, I was referring to the O.P., you are already dialed in

[Jeff Freeman]

Ooh my bad. Lol but it's still like more toys especially ones that tear up wood. JF

[wood carver 2]

This is the one I have.

I bought this model because I do a lot more than build bows. It will sand panels up to 20” wide in two passes. The sandpaper winds directly onto the cylinder. With the help of a sled, it will sand incredibly thin lams or accent pieces.
It was a heck of a lot cheaper when I bought it.
Dave.

[Jeff Freeman]

Dave, that's the one I was thinking about. JF

[Sologuy]

I thought you were going to build a better version? Sound like your expectations for that pinche' little one were overly optimistic. You should give it another shot and build a stout machine. It does not need to be expensive, but does require more effort. Here is one I built for under $100.

It does have a dust hood and the whole funky shebang works well.

Mine is stout, as it is much smaller than yours... I cant seem to get good lams from it

[Flem]

Lets troubleshoot it. You are using a sled, right? And does it slide smoothly? Do you have enough infeed/outfeed support? Are you able to feed it at a consistent rate past the drum? Do you have dust collection at the drum head, or are you getting dust buildup on the drum or table? Have you checked to make sure your table is not being deflected by the pressure? Are the lams coming out smooth or scalloped? Are they even thickness from side to side?
Are you taking light passes, or trying to hog off material? What grit and type of paper are you using and is it well adhered to the drum? Is your adjustment mechanism solid and have you checked to make sure it does not move during operation?

[Mad Max]

I have my Baby Drum sander from Grizzly but I like to use my little sander "The Hog thickness sander" to get more precise lams and veneers.
It finds the highs, lows and the snipe, and grinds them flat.
This is how I feel about my little sander
Flem You don't need a long in feed or out feed table.

[Jeff Freeman]

How about a few more detailed pictures Max. Just curious I always like to see somebody else's ingenuity. JF

[Mad Max]

https://www.vanda-layindustries.com/html/the_hog_sander.html

[Flem]

Actually, I do need long infeed/outfeed support. And I like it