# Drum sander for segmenting



## Joe S. (Jul 7, 2012)

Ive been thinking about getting some type of drum sander to do pen blank segmenting. After looking at the woodcraft catalog, and then the grizzly catalog, I couldn't find anything in my price range. I figured this is the next best place to get answers. What is a good solution for accurately squaring and smoothing tiny pieces, around the $150 range?


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## bradh (Jul 7, 2012)

I built one like this. It is great for small pieces used in segmenting:
http://www.penturners.org/forum/f30/homemade-thickness-sander-48700/#post871847


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## firewhatfire (Jul 7, 2012)

craigslist is a good place to watch for disk and belt sanders.


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## Joe S. (Jul 7, 2012)

I'll keep an eye out on Craigslist, and I might get lucky at a garage sale!


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## plantman (Jul 7, 2012)

I am somehow missing the concept of using a round surface to make a square edge. Given the correct jig, it can be done. But why go through all that effort if you can hold it up to a disk sander with a miter guage and create any angle you desire, or square your tubes and blanks with little or no effort. Go to Harbor Freight and buy the 10" bench top disk sander when it's on sale and use the 20% off coupon to get the price down even lower. I paid about $50 for mine and it comes with a miter guage, dust collecter hook-up, and a motor thats quiet and smooth. Jim S


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## DestinTurnings (Jul 7, 2012)

plantman said:


> I am somehow missing the concept of using a round surface to make a square edge. Given the correct jig, it can be done. But why go through all that effort if you can hold it up to a disk sander with a miter guage and create any angle you desire, or square your tubes and blanks with little or no effort. Go to Harbor Freight and buy the 10" bench top disk sander when it's on sale and use the 20% off coupon to get the price down even lower. I paid about $50 for mine and it comes with a miter guage, dust collecter hook-up, and a motor thats quiet and smooth. Jim S


 
Jim, these aren't for squaring a pen tube or setting an angle...a disc sander just as you mentioned is the ideal tool for that. The sanders here are thicknessing sanders and are used very much like a planer to dimension sheets or rings of lumber to a specific thickness. This is critical in segmenting and makes life a whole lot easier than the alternative of hand sanding.


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## plantman (Jul 8, 2012)

DestinTurnings said:


> plantman said:
> 
> 
> > I am somehow missing the concept of using a round surface to make a square edge. Given the correct jig, it can be done. But why go through all that effort if you can hold it up to a disk sander with a miter guage and create any angle you desire, or square your tubes and blanks with little or no effort. Go to Harbor Freight and buy the 10" bench top disk sander when it's on sale and use the 20% off coupon to get the price down even lower. I paid about $50 for mine and it comes with a miter guage, dust collecter hook-up, and a motor thats quiet and smooth. Jim S
> ...


 
When I need to get a piece of lumber down to an exact thickness for my scrollsawn clocks, I use my thickness planer. I start with a length of  3/4" MDF and glue or use two sided tape to add stops and side strips to hold my wood steady. Tape the bottom of your wood to the MDF. Now I can safely plane my wood to an even and very small thickness all at once without turning it to splinters.
Just my method.   Jim S


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## Joe S. (Jul 8, 2012)

plantman said:


> DestinTurnings said:
> 
> 
> > plantman said:
> ...



With a sander there is no need for that kind of setup. It's easy to do and the piece comes out sanded.:wink:
Then again, I've never used either of the tools...


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## fernhills (Jul 8, 2012)

You are not sending squares or rectangles through the planer, you would be sending rings of segmented wood. This would not be good for a good smooth surface for all of the segments within the ring, if it were even possible to send them through the planer.  Carl


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## Curly (Jul 8, 2012)

Many moons ago when there were few thickness sanders for small shop use, magazines like Fine Wood Working had articles on making home made drum sanders. One used a lathe driven drum and a hinged table below to slide the work under the drum. Thickness was controlled by raising one end of the table. Here are a couple links to someone who made one for segmenting and another to a drum sanding kit. 

Home made jigs

.: Stockroom Supply :. Stockroom Supply | V-Drum and Flatmaster Sanders


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## KenV (Jul 8, 2012)

When I need to get a piece of lumber down to an exact thickness for my scrollsawn clocks, I use my thickness planer. I start with a length of  3/4" MDF and glue or use two sided tape to add stops and side strips to hold my wood steady. Tape the bottom of your wood to the MDF. Now I can safely plane my wood to an even and very small thickness all at once without turning it to splinters.
Just my method.   Jim S


Jim -- I have a planer and a drum sander.  When I get thinner than 1/4 inch or have wood with funny/odd grain, I avoid the planer and use the drum sander.  With care it finishes surfaces to within about 0.005 and does not provide the ripples of the planer.

I also use the drum sander with wood which may have a nail or staple in it.  Packing crate wood for example.

It does a much more reliable job with segmented rings than a planer.

I am using a Jet and do not use the velcro wrap - as that add to the variability of the surface because of surface flex -- tight wrap on a metal drum works quite consistently


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## Ed McDonnell (Jul 8, 2012)

Before you drop big bucks on a drum sander, check and see the minimum size of material you can run through it.  I have a Performax 16-32.  You can not run small or fragile pieces through it without some kind of support / jig.  And even then it's a dicey affair.  A drum sander applies quite a bit of force to the wood (both from the sanding drum and from the feed rollers).  Unless you are doing large production runs, spending the time to make the specialized carriers / jigs for each piece you want to run through will get old fast.

Have you looked at the small machines that micro-mark sells?  That might be better suited for pen scale work than a drum sander intended to sand cabinet doors or desk tops.


Ed


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## Joe S. (Jul 8, 2012)

Found this at micro mark, MicroLux Drum Thickness Sander I just wonder if I would outgrow the 1/2" max... I'll see if I can find one used.


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## firewhatfire (Jul 8, 2012)

I like the idea of the micro mark sander.  If pens are you ever wanna do it is perfect.  Makes me want to start saving pennies again.  If it would go to 1 inch I would sell a piece of equipment to buy it.  That way I could square a 7/8 blank up for finer detail work


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