Building a 37" drum sander

Don Baer · Oct 18, 2010

well let me offer up option 8... No I can't swear to this but MY dad who was an old time electrician told me that back in WW II when they need 3 phase they would take a 3 phase motor and hook 1 phase to 2 of the winding then hook the three phase phase motor to all three legs. They would wrap a rope around the shaft of the first motor and then close the breaker to the first motor and then pull the rope. The first motor then became a rotary phase converter. Now I'm not recommending this, only passing it along. Oh BTW he said the first motor should be bigger then the second mot. like for a 5 HP load you should use a 7 1/2Hp converter motor.

Dave Black · Oct 18, 2010

Dom DiCara said:
I changed a couple of things on mine. I went from chain to an adjustable v belt from HF....works a lot better

Is that for the conveyor drive?

Dom DiCara · Oct 18, 2010

Dave Black said:
Is that for the conveyor drive?

correct. It works a lot better

stayed with a standard v-belt for the drum

Dave Black · Oct 18, 2010

Dom DiCara said:
correct. It works a lot better

stayed with a standard v-belt for the drum

When you say "adjustable" do you mean a CVT setup like on some lathes or multi sized pulleys like on most drill presses. I assume with either that you are using a gear reduction motor.

Dom DiCara · Oct 18, 2010

here is a better look at it...I took apart the cover so you can see the belts. My 16' conveyor broke last week...so I had to use what was available in the shop....4-4"x48" .....waiting for the new 16" to be delivered

Dom DiCara · Oct 18, 2010

Dave Black said:
When you say "adjustable" do you mean a CVT setup like on some lathes or multi sized pulleys like on most drill presses. I assume with either that you are using a gear reduction motor.

this belt system for the conveyor

http://www.harborfreight.com/vibration-free-link-belt-43771.html

Dave Black · Oct 18, 2010

Don Baer said:
well let me offer up option 8... No I can't swear to this but MY dad who was an old time electrician told me that back in WW II when they need 3 phase they would take a 3 phase motor and hook 1 phase to 2 of the winding then hook the three phase phase motor to all three legs. They would wrap a rope around the shaft of the first motor and then close the breaker to the first motor and then pull the rope. The first motor then became a rotary phase converter. Now I'm not recommending this, only passing it along. Oh BTW he said the first motor should be bigger then the second mot. like for a 5 HP load you should use a 7 1/2Hp converter motor.

This setup is a rudimentary rotary phase converter, the only problem is the 3 phases are not balanced, so between any 2 phases the voltages vary from 190v to 280v or something like that. So to balance them you need capacitors and stuff. Someone on the forum has plans to build one, search for rotary phase converter and you will find some stuff.

Dom DiCara · Oct 18, 2010

Dave Black said:
This setup is a rudimentary rotary phase converter, the only problem is the 3 phases are not balanced, so between any 2 phases the voltages vary from 190v to 280v or something like that. So to balance them you need capacitors and stuff. Someone on the forum has plans to build one, search for rotary phase converter and you will find some stuff.

okay...gotcha...damn the things you learn here!!

Dave Black · Oct 18, 2010

Dom DiCara said:
this belt system for the conveyor

http://www.harborfreight.com/vibration-free-link-belt-43771.html

I see, you don't have any problems with the belt slipping? Why does this work better than a chain? :huh:

Either way a belt would be cheaper for me because I have plenty of pulleys around and I don't have sprockets so... less to buy

Don Baer · Oct 18, 2010

The reason why I think a belt works is that when your sanding your not taking off that much material so no slippin g.

Dave Black · Oct 18, 2010

So, VFD, rotary converter, or single phase motor?

Dom DiCara · Oct 18, 2010

Dave Black said:
I see, you don't have any problems with the belt slipping? Why does this work better than a chain? Either way a belt would be cheaper for me because I have plenty of pulleys around and I don't have sprockets so... less to buy

for some reason the belt grips a whole lot better...the chain was slipping on me

Dave Black · Nov 16, 2010

I am starting construction on the sander and I came across this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZObeIRx1tE
Their thoughts are since the belt is at an angle it won't leave lines in the wood if theres something on the belt. Any thoughts? That is the only place I saw something like that. It would be easy enough to skew the angle on the sanding drum so its off a few degrees from the conveyor belt. :dunno:

Dom DiCara · Nov 16, 2010

Dave Black said:
I am starting construction on the sander and I came across this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZObeIRx1tE
Their thoughts are since the belt is at an angle it won't leave lines in the wood if theres something on the belt. Any thoughts? That is the only place I saw something like that. It would be easy enough to skew the angle on the sanding drum so its off a few degrees from the conveyor belt.

Dave...I use 2 inch paper and wrap my drum on my 16"...never leaves lines

Dave Black · Nov 16, 2010

One of my concerns were when sanding a glue up the glue line would be the same place on the drum through the whole pass and would gunk up the paper. Skewing the piece slightly would work too I suppose. Any thoughts on drum diameter? The sander I am stealing my design from uses a 8" drum.

Don Baer · Nov 16, 2010

well the bigger the diameter the more Horse power your gonna need to run the drum. Whet HP motor does the one your borrowing the ideas on verses the size motor your planning on using.

Dave Black · Nov 16, 2010

Don Baer said:
well the bigger the diameter the more Horse power your gonna need to run the drum. Whet HP motor does the one your borrowing the ideas on verses the size motor your planning on using.

6.5hp, the woodmaster uses a 5hp and a 6" drum which gets good reviews.
A larger drum uses more paper and therefore would need less changes.

Dom DiCara · Nov 16, 2010

Dave Black said:
One of my concerns were when sanding a glue up the glue line would be the same place on the drum through the whole pass and would gunk up the paper. Skewing the piece slightly would work too I suppose. Any thoughts on drum diameter? The sander I am stealing my design from uses a 8" drum.

I use 6 inch. I know it is oversize.....but i figured I had the motor for it....so i went with it

Dave Black · Nov 30, 2010

heres my progress so far. I got the frame done, the conveyor frame is mostly done except for the plate. I am hoping to use a piece of granite for it if I can find one cheap enough. I just finished the conveyor motor today. I'm not sure if the motor will be strong enough. Its hard to stop the conveyor with my hands but I'm concerned that when I'm sanding a large piece that the conveyor may stall out. I'll have to wait and see. Right now the conveyor speed is about 13 feet per minute which should be good for most tasks. The height mechanism is about done, I'm waiting for chain sprockets to arrive, when they do it should be a matter of putting them on the allthread and rigging an idler sprocket. I still need to get a 5-6hp motor, make the sanding drum and pressure rollers and test it out and tweek it.

Brent Dowell · Nov 30, 2010

Well I can see you are not messing around there!

Building a 37" drum sander

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