This is a simple minded question, but I can’t seem to change the sleeve on the small rubber drum sander attachment for a drill or drill press. The very act of trying to pull the sleeve off the rubber drum or trying to push the rubber drum through the sleeve, seems to compress the rubber and tighten it. It is difficult enough to put a new sleeve on, but getting one off seems to require that it be torn apart and wasted, just to change grits. Please let me know any tricks you might have. Thanks a lot.
Jay
Replies
Most of the small rubber drums have a nut on the shaft above the drum. Loosening it all the way will relax the drum, tighten it after the sleeve is on, they are usually left handed. Some sleeves and drums just won't go together. A couple of tricks are, keep the sleeves dry in a zip lock, put the drum in the freezer, dust with talcum powder or corn starch. The last time I ran out of sleeves, I cut some strips of sandpaper, sprayed them with 3M 77 adhesive and tied them on with a locking tie wrap. Worked as good as those stupid sleeves that won't go on.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
I saw some that used compressed air.. Big shop though...
Will, funny you should mention the pneumatic drums. I just got a catalog from SandRite, a company that specializes in air filled drums and flap wheel sanders. We had one of their hand held drums in one shop I worked in, very nice tool if you do that kind of work often.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
I had a 4 x 6 pneumatic drum sander that came on the ouboard side of an old Grizzly lathe I had. Never used it much since I prefer to shape whenever possible with a spokeshave, compass plane or something that doesn't make dust and noise. Anyway, it was easy to deflate it and remove the sleeve.
Jay
spokeshave on a LATHE.. Ya got any pictures of that...??? LOL...
Not at you... I just had this mental picture.....
I think you misunderstood. I was saying that the pneumatic drum sander is an attachment on the lathe, and that I don't like to use it, because all of these sanders make noise and dust. The spokeshave is used conventionally and is not related to the lathe.
Jay
One thing about AIR! If ya blow it up and it do NOT POP! Ya in good shape!
I don't use these very often and they have been sitting around my shop for 5 years. I'll try the freezer trick, but how did you keep the plastic tie out of theway of your work? I would think you would need one at the top of the druma and one at the bottom.
Jay
The last time I had to use one of my drums, I had run out of sleeves. I cut the sandpaper strips on a bias in the direction of the rotation. I probably didn't spray enough glue on the paper and it started to flap. This drum was 3"x 3" and the material was only 3/4". I just grabbed a tie wrap and pulled it tight. That paper is actually still on the drum with a tie wrap in the center. Make sure you don't whack your knuckles with the tie end. There arel drums that are made to accept ordinary papers, they have a slot with a locking cam. Someday, I'm going to try one. The glue and tie wrap worked long enough to get my job done and that's all I needed.Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
Jayst... first make sure the expander nut is nice and loose. Put the drum on a nice flat piece of wood and place another board over it. Press down on the two ends of the top board and 'roll' the sanding drum between the two boards. This loosens the sleeve by compressing the rubber section that makes up the body of the drum. A bit of talcum powder on the drum before installing a new sleeve also helps.
SawdustSteve
Use a little talcom powder on them befor aplying next time and always release pressure after use.
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