Make Soft Sanding Drums

In the last column we saw how to make a soft sanding drum with an ‘hourglass' shape. Now we will look at another useful drum used for soft finishing sanding.

This drum gives a soft sanding action similar to a pneumatic sanding drum - but at a lot less cost, and you can make yourself a range of different diameters - all to use the same standard sanding belts that you can buy in any hardware shop.

The drum is made using scrap wood and bright mild steel rod, as was described in Tips No. 3.
Remember to keep the turned drum parallel otherwise the belt won't track true.

Make the drum diameter a tight fit into the sponge rubber jacket - say 5% oversize. This sponge rubber tubing is available from suppliers of rubber products - it is available in a range of different diameters. Cut it slightly longer than the drum - stretch it on and then trim the ends with a sharp knife. Squirt some contact adhesive or silicon sealant into each end to ensure the rubber stays in place on the wooden drum.

The sponge rubber drum makes an ideal finishing sander for wood. Use it to follow up a spokeshave for example to get rid of those minor imperfections.
It is also a very useful drum for cleaning up metal jobs.
Use it to remove rust or scale or scratches. The sponge rubber assures a more intimate contact between the sanding belt and the surface of the job giving a much more efficient sanding action.