Posts by Wood Guy

First I've heard of it. Looks like it's a lot better and faster than how I was doing it. I just never thought of taking that much wood off in a single cut. Now I've got to go try it out! Thanks for sharing.

You might want to consider mounting the mop head closer to the front of the table so you could install the drum down the road if you decided you wanted it. It's not a "must have" if you have a long bed planer. Most of the time you would use the 2 different tools for different things, it just happens that you can use both for tapering blanks. If you don't already have a long bed jointer, however, it's a mighty cheap alternative for tapering blanks.

Chad, that would be a sweet setup. You could just crank the mop up or down so it would be under the table when you weren't using it. I have found, however, that once the mop head is where I want it that I don't have to move it down when I switch to the drum. The mop strands just lay down enough to clear the table on their own, so you might not even have to crank it down. I think you would still want the height adjustment, though, since it works better higher or lower depending on what you are sanding, and to adjust for wear on the mop strands(they wear on the tips only).

If you use a bench grinder motor you will need to adjust for the speed a little since the mop head should turn at around 2500- 2700 rpm and the grinder is probably 3450. Easy enough.

Chad,
This is where I got the sanding strip. This is the 320 grit, but others are available as well
www.mcmaster.com/#4687a922/=4bcb6j

A 25 yard roll will make a mop about 6" wide if the strips are cut 6" long. I took a 6" scale from a 6" trisquare and folded it over until I had 7 strips on it. Then I used a sharpened piece of tubing in my mill chuck to punch the hole in the middle for the mandrel. I cut the folded part of the ends off and, using a piece of scrap wood underneath, cut slots in the strips, leaving about 1" uncut from the end of the cut to the middle of the strip. I just kept the 7 strips all together while I did the whole operation. It goes pretty fast this way but use an old blade on a jigsaw if you have one because the sandpaper will dull it pretty bad. I used 7 strips because that's how many it took to cover the circumference with a little overlap. Thread the strips on the mandrel and you've got the first layer done. Add a 1/8 x 1.5" rubber washer and repeat the process until you've got the thickness you want, then put a nut on the end and you're good to go.

I put all of the strips facing the same way, but I don't think it matters much once they are spinning.

I would use threaded rod for the mandrel since you'll want it fairly long and you'll want a nut at each end,

The sander designed to fit on top of the saw was intended to use the saw's vacuum system since it sits over the blade insert that is removed. If I were building a table top moulding sander I would seriously think about making it about 6" deeper from front to back and addind a 12" x 2" drum. If you wanted you could just make the table longer now and add the drum later. It would look like a scaled down version of mine and both would be driven by the saw motor. Were you thinking about leaving it in the location you mentioned? How would you power it? Separate motor?

Dan,
The belt is an ajustable link belt that I got from mcmaster but is available other places online. It's called Twist Lock and is sold by the foot, just be sure it matches the size of the pulleys you use. It also is a good vibration dampener since it doesn't have a continuous backbone like v- belt does.http://www.mcmaster.com/#v-belts/=4bctzf

As far as belt lenght goes, I'd just measure it with a piece of rope tracking the belt path and get the length in feet rounded up to the next highest foot. One nice thing about this type of belt is that you can use pieces interchangeably as long as the width is the same. It will dampen vibration on almost any belt driven tool.

Yup, good thinking!

Jeff, you might also be able to trim the backside of the pulley hub flush with the side of the pulley, and recess a shoulder into the front side to accomodate the nut.

"What are the disadvantages of the vertical drill press mount, if you constructed a little tabletop to sit on the drill press table?"
The horizotal version is wider(as wide as you want to make it, really). You could probably make the vertical version wide as well, so no real advantage there. It's nice being able to "float" the blank on the spinning moulding sander while moving it back and forth. Witn the vertical version you would be pushing the blank against the sander- certainly do- able.

"What rpm does the mop sander turn? I'm wondering about using a Grizzly 8" 3500 rpm buffer ($79) and just making a mop end for it."
It's supposed to turn around 3000 rpm so 3500 might be pushing it a little. For about $4 we could put a smaller pulley on mine and find out.

"How much did it cost in sandpaper to make your mop, vs. the fairly expensive pre-made ones that Woodcraft sells ($59)?"
Aout $17 for a 25 yard roll (the amount I used for a 6" wide sander), so it's a lot cheaper. It will take an hour or two to cut it to length, punch the arbor hole, and cut it into 4-5 little "mop" strands.

"How exactly does the pulley mount on the saw arbor? I have a farily inexpensive saw, with a short arbor, and I may not have enough room to attach a pulley."
The pulley just slides onto the saw arbor and is held by the nut that normally holds the saw blade, so that could be a show stopper if your saw arbor isn't long enough. What about a pulley arrangement that uses a narrow belt or a round belt? How much room do you have on your saw arbor? What controls the stop on the backside?

The way the machine operates is as follows. For the Moulding sander, you elevate the arbor by turning the crank, then set the drive belt on the arbor pulley, Turh it on and push or pull the blank across the sander letting it "float" on the "mop" as it spins. I made mine out of 320 grit and it's just right for getting a really smooth finish on wood. It's also great for aluminum and stainless. It will give a fine satin finish on aluminum and polish stainless to a high luster, almost a mirror shine, but not quite.

For the drum sander, it's even easier. The drum has an adhesive backed "hook" strip on it, so you just put the right grit "hook and loop" strip on the drum, put the drive belt on and you're good to go. I use 320 for finish sanding, and 100 or 150 for removing stock in a hurry (like tapering a blank). It's aggressive, so you don't press down. You just float the wood across the drum. The way it works is a really cool idea. When it's not running, the arbor is set so the top of the sander is just barely below the top of the table. When you start the motor, the centrifugal force causes the sandpaper strip to move out from the drum a little, which puts it above the table by that amount. The little air space between the drum and the paper keeps the paper cool, which means you can sand a glued joint without the glue loading up the grit. I got the idea of building the drum/ moulding sander from this website. They also sell kits that simplify things, and drums and arbors for guys without the tools to make them. The moulding arbor could be just a threaded shaft with nuts to hold the strips, but the drum would be a little more challenging. They also have plans that you can download that fit their kits. Hook and loop strips, and adhesive backed loop paper is available lots of places. I used mcmaster for the hardware but if you have a good local hardware they will probably have everything you need. Here arre the links:/www.stockroomsupply.com, and:www.mcmaster.com

I also designed a table top version of the moulding sander for guys who didn't want the big cabinet. My brother wanted one so I designed it to fit on top of his tablesaw.

This version uses the saw motor so you save about $80. You take the blade off the saw and replace it with the drive pulley. Then you set the sander body over the top and put the drive belt on, which is loose. Then you lower the "blade" arbor on the saw to put tension on the belt. Whichever model I made, I would use this design for raising the arbor. You just slide the dowel back and raise or lower the arbor, then slide the dowel forward and you're good to go. I designed this for a moulding sander, but it could be extended in depth to make a smaller version of the other sander. If I just wanted it for small projects, that's probably the one I would make.

I'll be happy to provide more info or answer questions to anyone interested. Take it from me, you will wonder how you got along without this little sander

Hi Y'all,
In luv2dive's post about the gun I made for him the subject of a "mop" sander came up, and it was suggested that I start a separate thread about the one I built. I made it for finishing the occasional piece of furniture I build, but used it on the last gun I made with suprising results, so I thought I would share it with everyone.

Dan, I wasn't sure where this post would belong, so if you need to move it to a more suitable place, please feel free.

I wanted what was basicly a large cabinet with a flat surface since I wanted to finish sand large pieces like the panels on the ends of beds and bookcases, or panel doors. The open drum lets me put any size object on the table, and the "moulding" sander let's me sand the shapes on the panels, or the shapes of mouldings, hence the name. The large cabinet also allows me to store stuff like sanding belts, saw blades, router bits, etc.

For spearos the moulding sander is fantastic since it sands the curves on a speargun without losing the crisp definition. The drum takes different grits of cloth backed sandpaper, and is a solution for guys who want to taper blanks but don't have a long bed joiner. I'll do several posts showing the one I built, and share some other options and material sources if anyone wants to build one. The one I built has a big footprint for the reasons I mentioned, but in the process of designing and building it, I came up with better, faster, and cheaper ways, so y'all will benefit from my " research" ("screwups" sounds so harsh!:D).

Here are some pics of the "as built" version. As you can see, it still lacks things like drawer handles, which I deem to be less important than building spearguns.

The "moulding" sander is made up of strips of 1-1/2" wide sanding cloth but is available already cut from a website I'll provide. It's an arbor supported by two pillow block bearings. I have a sliding piece of aluminum that elevates the arbor so the sanding surface rises above the table level by whatever amount you want. After I did this I came up with a much simpler way of elevating the arbor, which I'll share later as well.

The drum itself is more difficult to build, but much simpler to install. They also can be bought on a website I'll share, but what's the fun in that?:D. I'll go into more detail in the next post.

Yup! It is one of those tools you wonder how you got along without. I'll start a thread later today on the one I built, but the one I designed for my brother may be of more interest to spearos- it's smaller and designed to sit on top of the tablesaw and uses the saw's motor and vacuum system.

Right, Dan. That's the drill press version. I'll start a thread tomorrow on the one I built. It has the arbor under a table and cranks up to the height you want. A drum sander is also built into the table, and there are drawers in the cabinet.

Jeff, the richness of the color is from the 320 grit sanding. With the mop sander it's easy so you don't cut it short. Lots of coats of oil helps too!

The gun is 1-3/4" wide x 1-1/2" high at the butt, tapering to 1-1/2" wide x 1-3/8" high at the muzzle. Luv 2 Dive wanted it as streamlined as possible so I tapered it and rounded the corners so as not to require any ballast for floatation. It sinks by the nose with the 9/32" shaft and floats level with enough buoyancy without the shaft to add a camera mount or reel (hopefully!!) and still have positive buoyancy without the shaft.

I made the handle frame out of 3/16" ( Tin Mans design), but made it about 1/4" longer and a smidge wider to give me a little more room to weld around the front of the trigger guard. Tin Man's welding skills make my stuff look like a blind monkey did it- except for the wood part!:D.

This is the first gun I sanded using the mop sander I made awhile back- awesome smoothness with the 320 grit.

Or you could use the curved end mill you've been designing. You know, like the curved spear shaft that shoots around corners!

Seriously, what if you used a smaller diameter end mill like I mentioned before, then opened it up "selectively" to get the curved shape? Maybe even a dremel with a long, 1/8" end mill for the final rounding inside the muzzle?

Might be worth screwing up a piece of pine to find out!

jeff, the head on your mill angles, so why not just angle it to the angle you want, cut the first half, turn it around, index it with the DRO, and cut the second half? Am I missing something?

Very interesting! Little changes can make a big difference! By the way, if you are taking a vote, this avatar INMHO is WAAAAY better than the other one!

Assuming the wax you use melts below the boiling point of water, and that the hot water is ok with the fiber, epoxy, and any other components you might have in there, it seems like the simplest way is to use an aluminum pipe or maybe thinwall aluminum tubing as large in diam. as is practical in the tube. That way you use less wax and the water can get all the way through the tubing. The aluminum helps heat transfer. Put the whole thing in a steel pipe with a cap on one end filled with water and heat the whole thing up over your crawfish burner until the wax melts around the tubing. Then pull the tubing out and let the water contact the wax directly. You'll get a natural circulation from the warmer water on the bottom rising up through the tube.

There's this tiny little speargun (because the fish are really tiny), and you have to look reeaally close to see the tiny tiny spike (about the size of a sewing needle, I would guess)!!!

Hang in there, Amigo! They will still be there, just a little bigger. I sure as hell won't shoot em all, but I can't speak for Tin man

Hi Y'all,

I finally got to shoot the gun I made last fall just before I made Alvin's (CORE SUB). Tin Man and I went out twice last fall but I had a head cold both times so I ran the boat while he shot em uo (A 20 pound snapper one trip and 8 grouper the other trip). We went out 2 weeks ago and were covered up with that endangered species, the Red Snapper, but of course the season wasn't yet open. Yesterday I finally drew blood with the 17-1/2 pounder shown. I swear as I pulled down on the fish I heard it say "Is that you, Alvin? Is that the Woody I've been hearing so much about?" Just kidding, Alvin!

As usual, Tin man carried the day. I shot one other snapper, and we ended up with 5 snapper and 4 grouper- all in all a great day on Pensacola Bay!

More pics.

I like this gun! If I shot a long gun, I might just keep it for myself!

Bill