Official Luthiers Forum!

Right, oddball question:

I'm planning on building my own version of the thickness sander published in ShopNotes a few months back (special thanks to Todd for having a spare copy), and I'm considering converting the hand-crank belt feed into a power feed, if at all feasible.

Thing is, I have no reference for what kinds of torque/power are required. I know I want a high torque, low RPM (gear?)motor, but I'd very much appreciate it if folks who own sanders with power feeds (the larger the sander, the better; probably making a 22"-24" wide drum, but 18" at the minimum) could have a look at the motors on theirs, and tell me anything that's written on them (watts/HP, torque, voltage, RPM, that sort of thing), that would be very much appreciated.Mattia Valente38852.571875

The feed motor on my performax is quite small 1/30 hp, 40 RPM with a variable speed drive to control the feed rate.

Al

I have just such a motor on my Kuster sander at home...which was built from a kit. I'll try to remember to look at the model no. and get you specs tonight. Send me a PM reminder this evening!

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

If I remember right that one in ShopNotes was diven by a table saw right?

Look up Grainger, or McMaster-Carr, and see what they offer.

Al

Michael: the shopnotes sander's drum is tablesaw mounted, but just using a standalone motor instead is pretty trivial. The feed belt is hand-cranked.

Don: will do! Thanks!

Al: thanks for the info, but I'm going to look around locally first, see if I can avoid shipping charges.

Also: are these full 110v motors, or DC?

Hand crank should work great. In some ways, better than a motor brcause you can be sensitive to changes in drag & adjust the feed rate.
That being said, I used a 1/4 HP, 60 - 1 (110 V. AC) reduction gear motor I found on E-Bay for $50.00. IIRC, the output shaft turns 60 RPM. I pulleyed the speed down 2-1.
If you can find a gearmotor which turns fairly slowly, it's simple to pulley the speed up or down to wherever you want it.
There are a lot of inexpensive DC units on Ebay, but you'd need to get a power supply to run them.
It is really nice (and safer)to not have to be busy with the feed as you work. You can quickly ruin a piece of wood if the feed stops while you are sanding.
I am super pleased with my sander & wouldn't trade it for any of the smaller production units I've seen.
Good luck with your project.
If you would like any advice or pics of how I built my sander, feel free to PM me.
Grant Goltz (another OLFer) built a very succesful sander with a feed roller system. He sent me some pics when I was building mine & they were very helpful

Mattia

I've got the European 220V Jet so I will get the spec off the feed motor in the morning for you.

I was reading somewhere (here?) the other day, someone was just chucking their corded power drill to the belt shaft and driving it that way. I guess feed speed would depend on the diameter of the drums that drive the belt. Sounded like a nice simple solution.

[QUOTE=PaulB] I was reading somewhere (here?) the other day, someone was just chucking their corded power drill to the belt shaft and driving it that way. I guess feed speed would depend on the diameter of the drums that drive the belt. Sounded like a nice simple solution.[/QUOTE]

Huh. Now there's a though. If I can't find a decent motor, a cheapie corded drill should provide the torque needed. Not sure about running it too long, but it's worth keeping in mind. Thanks!

Russel: got them numbers for me?

;-)

Mattia

The Motor is rated for 1 to 180V so presumably the controller board steps down the voltage ?

0.22 Amps and 30 Watts, Rated to IP54 to cope with Dust.

I use the "armstrong" feed method on a smooth melamine covered table. It works amazingly well once you get the feel for it.

_________________
Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Thanks guys.

Food for thought, I think. I'll be doing the feed belt system, because I feel more comfortable turning a handle at a constant rate than just feeding stuff through. If I find a motor, I'll add it, if it takes a while, so be it. No probs.

Mattia, if your feed table has a very slippery surface like melamine, all you'd need would be side rails so your piece stays on the table, i hand feed mine but i have built a sort of wide lip on the dust port that helps me push the piece further in without touching the drum itself. just molasse dime!





Serge