Flat Sander

[Sycamore67]

Awhile ago, I built a flat sander, like a Sand Flea, and use it on my Shopsmith. I made drums about 2.5" in diameter using PVC pipe.  I thought about buying a Sand Flea but the about $800 price tag was a bit much and even the flat sander from Stockroom Supply seemed to be to much.

The view of the inside show the two adjustment knobs.  Also, I used a PVC pipe with holes in it to collect the dust.  I connect it to my Ridgid shop vac.  

The Shopsmith offers a lot of flexibility for a lot of uses and the variable speed works great.  My Shopsmith is about 50 years old and I just had it completely rebuilt and runs like new.  I use it for the flat sander, pneumatic drum sander, buffer, sanding mops, lathe, horizontal drill press and many other things.

 

Edited May 9, 2018 by Sycamore67

[Dan]

Nice work. Like you, I've been eyeing one of the pricey drum sanders. But unlike you I have not built one. That may change soon. Thanks for posting. 

[oldhudson]

Super job on the sander. As a fellow SS owner I'm particularly interested. I hope you can share more details and pics. My unit is a '82. I don't think they're for everyone, but if you like a machine that's flexible - it can't be beat. You can PM me with any details on the build, if you have the time and inclination. 

[tgiro]

Really nice! I sold my 32 year old shopsmith a while back, but I always like to see the innovative uses folks put theirs to.

I really like the way you are doing dust collection. I might modify the benchtop flat sander I made to see how that works. Right now I just stick a vacuum tube into a hole at the end of the box.

[amazingkevin]

Good job!