making a thickness sander question

[Brian Evans]

I am thinking of modifying my horizontal mill into a thickness sander. It would have a 12" drum to spin the sandpaper, a table for the wood and .001" controllable thickness, with a range of speeds from 80 rpm to 1500 rpm. What I don't understand is how you control or feed the wood under the drum. The shop-made plans I've looked at don't seem to have a feed mechanism, just a table, and I have visions of launching wood across the shop at 200 mph...

Brian

[Mike Sandor]

Brian,
Had the same concern when I made mine. Just don't feed into a in running nip. I was concerned about the material lifting when it first touched the dum. It never did but I installed a spring loaded roller just in case. I ran it for quite a while while until I built the feed system. It worked fine hand feeding, but having some one pulling on the discharge side sure helps.
Dust collector or vacuum is a must.

[Bryan Bear]

Mine is hand feed and it is a bit tedious but not too bad. I have had a few parts Kick back a little bit, but only when I tried to take too heavy of a pass or do a part that is too small. i have mine arranged so that I stand to the side (not in line of fire), this allows me to push a plate or side in with the right hand and start pulling it out with the left. It really helps keep a nice constant feed rate. I'm

[Mark Fogleman]

Not sure about your horizontal mill set-up but here's a hand crank conveyer you may want to adapt. http://www.shopnotes.com/plans/thickness-sander/ http://www.shopnotes.com/plans/thicknes ... /exploded/

[Brian Evans]

For the curious, this is a page about my Harrison horizontal mill, along with a picture. The idea is to mount a drum on the arbor, and install a feed table on the mill table. The mill table moves but it only has about 14 inches of travel. Eight speeds, all gear drive transmission, belt drive from the motor, three axis feed screws for the table that are accurate to .001". It also has a vertical head attachment. I stopped using it when I got a Bridgeport.

http://www.lathes.co.uk/harrisonmiller/

Brian

[Mike Sandor]

Brian,
That is a very nice mill you have there. It sounds as if you have the experience and equipment to make this happen. It would be a satisfying project. Have you considered making a removable driven conveyor assembly? A small gear motor would work great for drive. I got a few of these laying around in my stash, hell, I'll give you one if you pay shipping.