Fine Grit Spindle Sander Drums...?

[erikbojerik]

I'm doing some serious shopping for an oscillating spindle sander, but I want to get one that will accomodate some readily available fine-grit drums.

Problems is...I can't seem to find any drums that are finer than 150 grit. Do you guys know if they exist, and where I might find some? Like maybe down to 1000 grit??

[bigdguitars]

I have seen 150 thats it...

[mledbetter]

I've never seen any either.. probably because drum sanders are primarily used for shaping, the fine grits wouldn't be of any value. You'd be better off getting the ultra fine grit pads and using those.. once you get into the finish grades you don't need much force behind it.

[Houdini]

Try this maybe: Since most spindles for drum sanders are made from rubber, consider using a non-permanent spray adhesive such as Elmer's spray or 3M spray and attach the grit of sandpaper you want to the spindle. If you let the glue on the sandpaper dry for 3-4 minutes before attaching it to the spindle, it should peel right off when you are done using it. Then when you are done, peel the paper off and clean off any excess glue/goo with some mineral spirits or acetone. This will take the glue right off. Just be careful that the spirits/acetone wont eat the rubber, it shouldn't but read the warnings on the back of the can.

[erikbojerik]

Yeah, thanks...that's what I think I'll need to do. These days I am very much into serious prepping of the wood before any finishing, I'm taking everything down to 1000 grit. And the cutaways are a serious PITA, hence the spindle sander...

I'll need like 4 or 5 extra sets of spindles...

[bigdguitars]

Try this maybe: Since most spindles for drum sanders are made from rubber, consider using a non-permanent spray adhesive such as Elmer's spray or 3M spray and attach the grit of sandpaper you want to the spindle. If you let the glue on the sandpaper dry for 3-4 minutes before attaching it to the spindle, it should peel right off when you are done using it. Then when you are done, peel the paper off and clean off any excess glue/goo with some mineral spirits or acetone. This will take the glue right off. Just be careful that the spirits/acetone wont eat the rubber, it shouldn't but read the warnings on the back of the can.

This has to win the best noobie advice ever. Thats freakin brilliant!!!!

I am gonna do this!

-Derek

[mledbetter]

If you have any trouble with the seam.. you could try the same thing but with a spiral wrap.. Replacing the abrasive on a drum sander is done this way.. it's a spiral wrap (like unpeeling a can of biscuits ) You just do a strip of abrasive, spiral it around the drum, trim the ends and use your adhesive. Nice thing about the spiral is the sanding action won't pull up the paper. The only places you need to anchor are the ends and a couple of small wide rubber bands would do that beautifully as long as you can put them out of the spindle travel where they don't hit your wood.

The drum sanders you don't glue.. you wrap, pin the ends then wrap strapping tape around each end. Same concept.

[Doc]

This is just an opinion so feel free to ignore me or call me names.

Do you really need to finish wood down to 1000 grit? There is a reason that woodworking sandpaper stops at about 280 and you have to shift to metal or paint type paper. At over 280 you aren't really sanding you're burnishing. Some of the finsh gurus like Dresner and Flexner don't recomend going any where near that fine (1000) 'cause it can cause toubles with stain absorption.

You should maybe look at using cabinet scrapers. Properly used they give an absolutely glass smooth surface. Thes are the rectangular ones not the paint scraper type.

Check Klingspore for sleeves. They're a manufacturer that sells to anyone. They're online and sell the widest range of sanding supplies that I've seen.

[erikbojerik]

Thanks for the tip...I checked Klingspor, the best they can do is 150 grit. Good place for spare sleeves.

I can see how burnishing would cause problems with stain adsorbtion. In my case, my current proj is flame maple-padauk-walnut-ebony-bocote, and certainly these last 3 can be fine-sanded down pretty well, almost to a polish. I'm going to finish with Tru-Oil, which goes on very very thin, filling the grain with it, then buff out to a high gloss. So the surface needs to be near perfect before I start.

I've never used scrapers...should give 'em a try sometime. My current proj involves a lot of carving, but I'm going with chisels & sandpaper; sandpaper is slow but forgiving.

[Doc]

The more oil finished guitars I see the better I like them. Especially the exotic woods. I'm going to start finishing the walnut one I'm doing now with oil and may go no further. I use Tung oil and finish off with a good coat of wax. I use the stuff I get from Liberon.

[Devon Headen]

Scrapers had a pretty big learning curve for me. Not the use so much as sharpening them right. It took some experimentation to get a good cutting edge that was dead smooth. I could get it to make a good cut, but it was always jagged. In no way ready for finishing. Now that I've figured out how to use it properly, I'll never look back. It saves quite a bit of sandpaper money, too

[bigdguitars]

razor blades work very well too, I use them almost all the time, then just toss them

[Houdini]

Big D

I appreciate the comments. I am trying to learn a lot from this forum, thinking about what I say before I say it so I don't look too much like a moron. I'm new to guitar making, but have been woodworking for a while and have a few tricks up my sleeves here and there.

[jer7440]

Erikbojerik,

Rather than glue the paper directly to the drum and make a huge mess, Just glue your higher grit papers over a used up sanding sleeve. Once you wear out a 150 grit sleeve just glue you 1000 or whatever over that.