Masonsailor's Shop of Shopsmith's

[Masonsailor]

Artie here are the pictures of the SS’s. The first it the sliding table. Second is the lathe and belt sander, third the band saw and sanding disc, fourth is horizontal boring and lathe chisel sharpening jig. Fifth is the drill press  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Artie]

That is quite the shop! Thank you for the pictures.

[FlGatorwood]

Paul, I saw the sanding drum but not the boxes it goes in.  Would you be willing to share a link or some pictures of your sanding drum so we can steal your idea?  Thank you.

 

 

[John Morris]

@Masonsailor, @Artie, @FlGatorwood. I split these posts off of our forum introduction topic, because this deserves its own topic. Everybody keeps posting in the forum introduction topic, I was concerned yall were never going to get out of that topic and create new ones for our new forum.

[Masonsailor]

The drum sander has been with me for a few years now. The drums are 5” diameter 3/8” wall aluminum tubing and right at 30” long. They are as long as the Shopsmith will take. The body is made 3/4” Baltic birch and the platten is melamine. Works very well. I use it mainly for cabinet doors and drawer fronts. I have tried several versions over the years and this is what I finally came up with. It’s main drawback is the weight. The box is just outside my limit to do alone so it takes the wife’s help to get on and off. In a previous shop I had more room and had it on a dedicated SS. If you want to build one I can post much more detailed pics and dimensions. The drums are the key to the whole machine. I tried several other versions, PVC and wood and none worked nearly as well as the aluminum. Mostly that’s due to the mass. Once the SS gets them spinning they stay at speed much better when sanding and they don’t flex. 
Paul

[Masonsailor]

A little added note about SS’s. If you take your time and monitor the SS ads on Craigslist etc you can find what you want for pretty cheap. Try to look for the 510’s ( strictly my opinion). If you find a 520 for a good price then snag it but usually they will go for way more than I was ready to spend. In all the years I have only found one and I gave that one to my son. My max was $250. Three of the 510’s came with every accessory known to man. The other two were given to me and were bare machines, no accessories. So don’t go spending a bunch of money on these machines. There are literally hundreds of thousands of them lying around in garages wasting away. Most people bought them and never used them or used them a few times and stored them away. One of the ones I paid 250 for was a total shop but had never been used. The bandsaw and jointer were still in the boxes and the machine had probably only been turned on a few times. 
Paul

[kmealy]

I used to hang out on a forum (25+ years ago).   There was a phrase, paraphrased, "Daddy has a Shopsmith problem."

Just kidding, looks like a good set up.

[FlGatorwood]

Thanks, Paul.  I was considering using PVC filled with spray foam in layers with pieces of wood spaced every few inches to minimize the flex.  So, now I have to rethink this drum design.  Thank you for posting.  It is good to see it again.  

[Masonsailor]

That might work using the wood spacers. It would be worth a try. Inexpensive experiment and one advantage to the pvc is that it is easier to true up. 
Paul