jet drum sander....

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robinashby

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just thought I d share this : my jet drum sander really blocks up with hard wood dust I think melts onto the surface making it smooth and more likely to burn rather than to sand. I have an extractor on on it and do take it easy not putting much depth each time.

May I ask what grit others use to taking down the hard woods? I dont cut much off the depth each time maybe less than a quarter on the handle up top. Speed wise i assume best to go slow around 20 on the speed dial for the motion belt thing? Or should I be letting the sanding belt cool.

Or does it just block anyway and expect it to?

thanks,

r
 
The finer the grit, the more likely you are to clog and burn. Take most of your meat off with the heaviest grit you can. If I have boards that are 3 - 4 mm thick I'll thickness sand with 60 grit. It makes it go pretty quickly. The heavier grits will almost never clog. Then I move to 80 for a couple of passes then finish up with 120. I always run my feed at full speed until I get down to the final few passes when I back of to 20%. If you're burning, your belt is either dull, too clogged to work efficiently or you're being to aggressive. Oily woods like cocobolo will clog belts regardless of what you do.
 
I use 80 grit most of the time on my 10-20, I run the feed very slow to take a big cut and speed it up to take off the last smidgen then finish sanding by hand..Mahogany Maple Pine and Koa are ok but Rosewood and Ebony tend to clog ..So I try and shift the position of the workpiece across the drum for each pass to avoid a build up in one area.
 
i am using 80 grit..... but maybe I ll try the 60 then.

i do shift it around a bit on the drum..... i think also the cut is not so level so need to address that also ! will have to get the manual out for that though!

thanks,

r
 
Removing the bulk by running the boards through at an angle to the grain helps immensely. Just the last couple of passes with the grain.

I have a twin drum sander with 80 on the front and 100 on the back. I never bother with putting finer paper on. I finish sand with a Festo random orbit sander with 180 grit after the parts come from the drum sander.
 
I definitely use 60 on hardwood and then work up to 120 taking finer cuts. Once finished there I use a random orbital sander with about 240 and then use a scraper to finish.

If you inadvertently burn the wood and clog up the paper, throw the paper in a bucket of water for a week which softens the ingrained wood. When the wood can be removed by rubbing, clean the belt, hang out in the sun and reuse.
 
drum sanders are odd beasts. you can get a lot out of them with some sense and sensitivity.
they aren't a planer. always 'kiss pass' the work taking off the bare minimum. listen to the machine and lower the head until you can just hear engagement. besides the kiss pass run the board through twice at each setting, then take another sixty-fourth depending on the next pass.
i like 100 grit. it doesn't scratch and leaves a nice finish. it depends on the worker and the particular machine.
funky though they be i would still rather yankee my way through with the drum sander than have a legitimate wide belt sander.
 
I'm another 80 & 120 user. Something to try If your belt is clogging or gumming up and the cleaning stick won't shift it on the machine. Take the belt off, clip it to a flat surface with a spring clamp and wave a hot air gun or hairdryer at the offending areas for a few seconds. Then use the crepe cleaning stick to scrub the area before moving the belt along to the next section. The difference this makes to the cleaning process is amazing. I am using a hot air gun on maximum heat - it isn't hurting the belts at all, and belts covered in spots & lines of gummed on rosewood clean off really easily.
 
hey guys I soaked the belt in water and most of the clogged stuff came out!

nice tip thank you.... nearly like new again now!

r
 
To remove resin from a belt I've been told that oven cleaner works. Spray on, let it sit then was off. Haven't tried it myself. When time is a factor it's usually easier just to replace the belt.
 
I've pressure washed them and, while that does get the gunk off, it's way more trouble than it's worth. Like Chuck, my vote is that replacement makes more sense.
 
i soaked it for 30 mins then took it out and wire brushed the surface then back in the water for a few mins a rinse under the tap and and clean only about 5 mins work and the sun did the rest.

The only annoying thing is I ve already thrown several way!
 
I'm sick of sanding a set of cocobolo and having to spend 30mins re papering the drums.
For woods that clog up belts like cocobolo, african blackwood etc, best to hack off some wood with a plane and cut the wood as small as you can.

Here is a nice internal dust blower that helps with getting the dust off the wood so it can then be extracted. This is the same machine i have, but im yet to make this blower.
http://www.doolinguitars.com/articles/blower/
 
That's a good idea Beau ... You can blow dust from a long way off..but you have to be right up close to suck it...so it looks like this blows the dust right into The vacuum nozzle. :iwant:
 
Yep- my drum sander has really terrible dust extraction- Even with a 2hp dust extraction connected, most of my dust gets trampled by the tension rollers so the wood always comes out with a compacted thick layer of dust on it- they get sanded well enough but the dust is always there- i think this- blow the dust off the wood so it can get extracted is a really good idea- at least for my problem.
 
I don't own a wide drum sander, but I've got plenty of experience with my vertical oscillating spindle sander. I've looked at the newer wide bed drum sanders that oscillate and can't help but think that's got to be a HUGE improvement in keeping the belt from clogging. When I went to an oscillating spindle sander it completely eliminated clogging of the sanding drum.
 
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