Drum Sander Vacuum
Mounting a drum sander on a drill
press is a great way to sand the edge of a curved workpiece. But it produces very
fine sawdust that’s unhealthy to breathe -- and a nuisance. So to cut down
on the sawdust, I built an auxiliary drum sander table that works with my shop
vacuum, see drawings below.
To make the table, I built an
H-shaped frame first. All the frame pieces should start out 3/4" thick and 3-1/2"
wide (high). The two cross members are cut to length so they’re 1-1/2" less
than the depth of the drill press table (front to back). But the front and back
pieces are cut to length so they’re about twice as long as the table.
After the frame
pieces are cut to size, cut a hole in one of the cross members, see drawing at
right. Size the hole to accept the hose from your shop vacuum or dust collector.
(It should be a friction fit.)
The last two pieces to make are
the top and bottom. These are cut from a piece of 3/4" plywood, and while they’re
both cut to match the depth of the drill press table (front to back), their lengths
are different. The bottom is the same length as the width of the drill press table.
The top is the same length as the long frame pieces.
Before assembling the
box, I cut a square hole right in the center of the top to accept sanding drum
inserts. Then, to keep the inserts from dropping through the hole, I screwed two
cleats under the hole at the sides.
Now assemble the box. First, screw
the front and back frame pieces to the bottom so the bottom is centered along
their length. (Note: There aren’t any screws in the art, but I used #8 x
1-1/2" Fh woodscrews.) Then to provide a lip so the box can be clamped to the
drill press, attach the cross members in about 2" from each end of the plywood
bottom. Finally, glue the top down to the frame.
 You can make any number of inserts
to fit the various drums you have. I cut mine from 3/4"-thick plywood to fit the
square hole in the top of the box. Then holes can be drilled in the center of
the inserts 1/4" larger than the sanding drums, see drawing at right. This will
leave extra area for the dust to be pulled through and will also allow space so
the drum doesn’t have to be perfectly centered in the hole.
Using the box is simple. Just
clamp it to your drill press and lower the sanding drum so it’s just inside
the hole. Then lock down the quill, and you’re ready to sand. |
