Planing with a Router

Hi Bob,

I was thinking of the 18" drum also... primarily because I could get small box pieces, etc. over the slot & sand them where the larger slots would make it more difficult if even possible. (I even got to thinking about a jig placed over the drum for very small pieces! )

At one time, I was thinking of scrounging the parts, pillow blocks, shaft, pulleys, etc. & even making the drum out of individual cut circles, etc. ... BUT, recently, I figured it wasn't really worth the effort as well as taking a huge chance that it wouldn't work good (as good as with their parts). So, I've decided to just get The Works kit for the 18" unit.
That way, most of the critical stuff will be done for me!!

It has been a long time since seeing the Mop sanders... thank you for bringing those to my attention!! They're cool too!! Although I couldn't find the Dremel sized goodies on their site... guess I'll have to call them... The 6" combo of 120 / 220 looks good to me.

They used to have another video, that I thought was better than this one... showed the ease of changing drum grits, etc. and even setting up more than one grit on the same drum!! This is COOL stuff!!

Caution... the prices, shown at the bottom of the videos, are Canadian... US$ are LESS!! I'm glad I noticed that!! (cause I thought it was getting a little Pricey... More reasonable with the US$ price!)

Keep us up to date on your progress... OK? I will do the same.

Hi Bob,
Sounds good!! I had found the small mop sanders... thank you...

Glad to hear it's better than a planer!! I was hoping for that... except, you would have a harder time getting multiple pieces the same thickness... you would have to measure after each pass as it gets closer... yes?

I was going to experiment setting the Finest grit a little lower than they say to see if it would be easier to control the thickness, etc. Set the Finest and the others follow... right?

What is the smallest piece you can sand over the top? (without a jig)

Looking forward to seeing pictures of it...

I'm close to ordering... trying to decide on everything I want so I get FREE Shipping this time rather than building to another $100 order!

How do you like your Mop sander? They sound real cool too... I'm leaning toward 6" and 1" or 1.5" mops... and of course you must get more grits, etc. right?!

It snow-balls into more than you expected after you get the basics decided upon... more fun!

Thanks for the report... looking forward to the next one...

Have a nice Thanksgiving!

Bob & All,

I'm looking for a motor for the 18" drum sander... 1/2 HP.

I found this on Harbor Frt... do you think it's junk? Will it last awhile?
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=92105

There is a Baldor on eBay... nice... but $114 + frt which I know would be good... at about twice the cost.

Decisions... decisions...

Any other good motors out there?

How is your sander working so far... happy with it?

Gilbear said:

I've lost it - Having no planer, I'm tired of using the belt sander for thickness planing, not to mention the swirling dust - I know I saw a jig or setup for floating a router over material for thickness planing but now I can't put my finger on it - anybody got a link or plans for that?

Click to expand...

A few weeks ago, I had to flatten a board... I don't have a thickness planer, etc....

I thought of the Router method... I quickly made a jig to do it...
It was super simple and it worked great!!

Here is what I did:
=============

First of all, my board was about 3/4" thick and had a slight curve in it... it was about 24" long and 10" wide... looking at the board from the end, it had a slight bow over the 10" width.

I took four pieces of 1 x 2 (3/4") Ash. (anything that would not bend from the router weight)

2 of them (about 32" long) were left at that length; the length of the other 2 boards were trimmed as follows...

Lay the 2 long boards on the bench vertically (North/South) side by side.

Take the router you intend to use and place it on those 2 boards so it's supported by them... Have a 1/2" straight bit in it...

Now, move the router to the right until the bit stops it...
Move the board on the left so it supports the left side of the router by a safe 1/2". That is the Key distance that those 2 boards have to be so the router can be moved up / down and sideways without dropping through the boards.

Place one of the other 2 boards across the boards where you had the router... with about 2-3" hanging over each side of the N/S boards, Mark it and cut it.

Cut another piece the same length.

Place one of the short boards over the N/S boards, centered, and about 2-3" from the top (North) end. No glue required... just a couple of screws at each intersection.

Place the board you want to flatten, bow UP, on the bench oriented East/West... Hook the screwed short board over the board to be flattened... Fasten the other short board (with just screws) across the long boards so the Workpiece can slide between the 2 short boards the full length (24" in this case).

The short boards should be as thick to keep the long boards just above the workpiece... In my case, 1" or so...

The jig is done... now use it...

Turn it so the short boards are on the bench and the workpiece can slide through the opening.

MAKE SURE THE ROUTER CAN SLIDE FROM SIDE TO SIDE AND END TO END WITHOUT FALLING THROUGH THE LEFT/RIGHT SUPPORTING BOARDS.

Adjust your bit depth so it takes a small amount of wood... tighten it good.

It's a good idea to clamp things down a little... keeping them out of the way,

Now, you have the router in place, in the open area, turn it on, and slowly move the router forward / backward and then to the side for more... get it all cleaned out...

Move the workpiece over to expose more to be flattened, with some overlap... and continue til done...

Adjust the bit, as required, to get to the final depth... and do it again.
(it might be possible for you to do it all in one pass)

Now, turn it over, onto the flattened side, and do the same to that side!

Caution: When moving the router across the board, ALWAYS keep the router flat on the guide boards... if you make any tilting movements, YOU MAY GOUGE THE WORKPIECE... learned that the hard way.

=================================

That's it!!

It takes a little router movement, but it goes by fast, and you will like the results!

Good luck!!

Bob,

I received my order yesterday, Monday... Got around to watching DVD today...
The DVD version is sure a lot easier to build than the paper plan!! I might do it that way with a guard that goes around the belt & motor a little better.

I called them... talked to the guy in the DVD...

I asked if he ever modified the coarser grits spacing so as not to take as much off in a pass... He said "Yes, all the time... I did it today, just raised the screws a little to just remove some saw marks from a piece."

I asked about changing the outfeed height vs the infeed to be more like a jointer...
He said "Cannot do it... you will always get snipe & you cannot get rid of it. He also said that once you get the feel of it, you will know just how fast to feed it to get a full even cut... He said he sanded a door feom 3/4" down to 1/4" at a Show and it stayed at uniform width the whole way through."

So, I'm not going to change infeed / outfeed... will keep it all flat as recommended.

I think I will also make the simple version as noted above... maybe with something on the bottom to anchor it to a top... I think I will also have a flat bottom and vacuum the sawdust occasionaly... Don't know yet... maybe I'll slant the bottom like they did.

At any rate, I don't think I can mess things up too bad...

I have some scrap formica that would give it a nice smooth top...

I'm thinking of doubling the top with 2 pcs of 3/4" ply to get 1 1/2" thick top like theirs.
The top appears, to me, to be the most important piece of the project... must be FLAT and SMOOTH.

I was also thinking of making a fence, clampable across the top, so edges could be sanded at a positive 90 degrees... or 45 degrees.

I got the Grizzly 1/2 H motor you mentioned... it's a little wider than the paper plans would allow... will modify to good coverage.

So far, I'm happy...

I've been fighting computer problems for the last few days (main reason I have not been around so much)... have to get that stuff all done so I can give a borrowed notebook back...

How do you like yours... so far... I see you changing back to a flat top...

Hi Bob...

Drum sander...

I got the kit, etc.
Studied and modified plans for my motor as well as making it better.
I'm going to make the clean & simple one like in the DVD.
I'm all ready to start cutting, etc. EXCEPT that other things have been interrupting me like:
1. Making room to use tools.
2. Getting sick.
3. Making room to use tools.
(My garage is a real mess... my neighbor, good friend, passed away in November... a lot of his stuff came to me & my already stuffed garage... really bad)
4. I keep telling myself to get with it... but there is no place to put stuff.
5. I have to decide what must go (thrown away) so as to make room for new stuff.
6. I need more room to put stuff.
7. I want to do it asap.

How are you doing with yours?
Getting the 'feel' of it?
Working good?