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I had a couple questions ..
I made my own thickness sander and through the true-ing up process of the mdf {and bb ended} drum there were some minor inconsistancies... which led me to a diagnose a couple component problems in the machine that Im reworking now..
I was orginally going to leave the drum bare wood -
but Ive since decided to finish it as per the directions of the ShopNotes article seeing as I bought some polyurethane wood finish.
I looked through the multitude of finishes at the hardware store and settled on polyurethane because it said on the label
"bowling alley tough" &
"for gymmnasium floors" etc
things like that - you know > strong like bull.
The directions in the SN article just said put a couple coats of finish on it, without being too specific...
Ive never used polyurethane lacquer for anything other than sealing the ends and open faces of wood I was curing - can anyone see any problems using it for this drum application...????
It seemed proper for the application because of its stated "toughness"
now I always go by the maxim "its not what you dont know, that fouls you up - its what you dont know you dont know"
so Id thought I would ask, having very little experience finishing things...
I forget what my second question was - Il tack it on once I remember..
Cheers
Charliewood

I dunno if Ive posted any pics of it - this ones a month+ old during the truing up process - but anyhoo its a pic - Ill have to shoot some more once its painted and finished.



Cheers
Charliewood

I don't know much, but I know that on gym floors and bowling alleys it is usually applied with a lambswool mop instead of a brush.  I don't know how that would translate to a drum, maybe something like a small lambswool polishing mitt or pad.  Seems to me it should do pretty well.  My question would be whether it'll handle the heat produced by a top drum thickness sander.

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Waddy

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If I were you I would ditch the finish idea, and wrap the drum is a hard rubber of some sort - I used auto gasket material from princess auto here in Canada, and contact cemented it to the drum - it helps cushion the paper just enough to help prolong the paper's life. My .02$

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Waddy -
Thats exactly what I was worried about, although the SN article just slapped about the idea of applying finish pretty loosely... so perhaps its not too terribly much of a concern,??!!??
I dunno mabye someone who defiitely does will chime in

Tony - great idea!!! Unfortunately.... I live in a place where sourcing things like that is a bit complicated sometimes,{too say the least}
but I will definitely consider what you say... its definitely less complicated a method than applying finish and truing the drum again...
Cheers for the input guys.... anyone else?
Charliewood

try them on the web .. www.princessauto.com, or maybe a local auto supply .. at princess, it was like 12 bucks for a piece 2x3 ft.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

Do you have a photo of your finished drum Tony?
Cheers
Charliewood

one aspect of any finish you apply that you need to consider is its behavior when it gets hot. the drum will generate a bit of heat, more or less depending upon how hard you push it. if the finish were to soften and slip around it might cause problems.

That's something to consider if you use contact cement and cover with other material as well.  I have seen contact cement fail just sitting in the sun for a short time.  I suppose it depends on the cement you use too.  Why don't you use z-poxy?  It should be pretty hard, and be easy to level out.

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Waddy

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Im still in the consideration stage definitely Waddy, so anything is a possibility at this point...
Cheers for the info/tips
Charliewood

Charlie, I'd either just leave it once trued up or just a thin coat or two of shellac to seal it. Looks like the drum is birch plywood eh? all those pieces glued together should be pretty stable I think and if it's in your shop (don't know if the shop will be humidity controlled) than it should be fine.

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Actually Rod the ends are 3/4" bb but the 18 or so disks in between them are 3/4"mdf - but all the same I dont think there will be stability issues, as I have heard from others who say thier mdf drums have held up for years..
Heck I dont even mind if I have to re-true them up slightly once a year or so.
Thanks for the input Rod
Cheers
Charliewood

Charlie, are you gonna use hook & loop paper or stick-on paper?  That could make a difference.  If you use stick-on, sealing would be a good idea.  I think it would make the paper stick better.  That MDF edge is pretty porous, and cleaning glue off could be a mess. I think, I would seal it no matter what.  You will get stuff to stick to it better, IMO.

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Waddy

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What about a coating of JB Weld? You can sand it smooth afterwards. It might take a bit, but I'm sure you can get there.

The above suggestion is offered on 6 hrs or sleep over two days. Use at your own risk.

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Aoibeann

I have a 4" white pine drum on mine and I didn't put any finish on it. I did cover it with a velcro material, though, so I use velcro backed paper. In use for two years and no problems at all.

Ron

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Ron Wisdom

Somewhere in the middle of Arkansas......

I use water based Varathane floor finish on all my jigs & it seems to work great... No problem with it softening up with a little heat on the sanding drum.

The hard bb disks on the ends of the drum
{although not yet completed in the picture shown}
have locking wedges in them - the ends of the sandpaper are inserted into these wedge cavities, then the wedge is inserted and tightened down
{theres a threaded insert in the bottom of the wedge cavity}
this locks the sandpaper in place without adhesives of any type.
So for this matter... the drum could probably left bare?
Mabye someone can comment having the extra info
I should have stated this earlier..
Cheers
Charliewood

I think, under those circumstances, it would be fine as long as it doesn't get wet or live in a very damp or dry environment.

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Waddy

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Charlie, I would think the idea of applying finish to the drum is to seal it and help prevent it changing shape from humidity changes.

I think I would just use some 2lb cut shellac and let is soak in a little, maybe just rag it on for a nice thin coat. That should be enough to give it a seal and then the paper being wrapped around it would help even further.

Or, you could just skip that step and only do it if it does become a problem later.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

Thanks for all the advice guys - I think I will do what you say Dave - its just easy and I really have alot of extra projects on the go now, that could use the attention I would end up giving to this sander..
Cheers
Charliewood