Sanding small parts in a rotary drum

[genek]

Does anyone do any rotary drum sanding of small parts. If so what material for the sanding solution do you use. And what is the gear ratio of your drum and how big is the drum itself.. Need to build one. To many small parts to sand by hand.

[paul_z]

I wonder if a vibrating drum would work? If the parts a fragile, the vibrating drum might cause less breakage.

Paul Z

[genek]

Possible... But have had a large company close it doors and left large void... Have put multi products into production to meet the needs of the state parks in the surrounding states... Have orders that are huge.. And sanding each is just to time consuming.

[kartracer63]

How small are your parts?

[genek]

They range from .5 round and 6 inches long... The type of drum sander i am talking about looks like a 55 gallon drum that has a door on it and you put product in with sanding grit or rocks etc... Then you let the tumble for a while...

[Brady Watson]

Gene - Just slap one together yourself. Get a used treadmill (that works) off of CL and take the motor and variable speed control out of it. You can pretty much make the rest yourself on the bot etc if you are crafty.

-B

[Ajcoholic]

I know this is done often to burnish metal parts (and give the surface a treatment). They use some sort of medium - from metal balls to abrasives.

I imagine, for wood, you would want a fairly fine medium as not to put dents and coarse scratches in the wooden parts.

It might be something like walnut shells, or other "organic" material.

Othwerwise, I was thinking, if you lined the interior with sand paper (something like taking a wide belt sander belt and turning it inside out - then mounting the belt securely to the inside) the tumbling parts would continually rub against the abrasive surface and take the sharp edges off. As long as they are exterior edges.

Maybe it would be as simple as taking some cloth belts, and tearing them up into strips and tumbling the parts along with the abrasive strips? If I had time I'd be interested in some experimentation.

All I know is the drum would have to turn slow. Like 10 rpm or so I'm guessing.

AJC

[donek]

We use one of these for small aluminum parts. 30 to 60 minutes with the right medium and they're deburred.
http://www.harborfreight.com/18-lb-vibratory-bowl-with-liquid-drain-hose-96923.html

[genek]

That would work... But i would like to be able to do some larger items... Would need to do up to about 14 inches.. Like a rubber band gun. Lol... I have a large order for rubber band guns... A large woodworking company decided they wanted to retire and closed up.. No notice to the end users.. Left huge void... The state parks that i deal with are screaming for me to get the 8 different rubber band guns into production... Plus about 14 other items...the cnc has been doing nothing this week but cutting the pistol and pop gun... 12 and 16 hour days none stop. They need to be full stocked by memorial day...lol... They waited till last sunday to call for a meeting... There are other items that will have major void in.. Also.
So check with your local state parks... I am sure ky, tenn, wva, and ohio are not the only state parks that are coming up short.

[knight_toolworks]

might be time to hire some kids to do the work.

[genek]

Have tried to hire young men from the vocational school... Most can not read a ruler... Tried to get them to load 1/8 baltic birch and push a button on the laser for 8.50 hour... Most of the time i had to come into the laser room and tell them it was time to take that run out and to put a new one in... Had one to ask me how i knew it was time... I pointed at the camera mounted over the lasers.. And then showed him where the monitor was... Plus i heard the beep.. Lol... Had one to go to sleep on me.
I can get more done by myself than i can with the workers that are hitting the market now. This age group does not want to work... They want payed to stand and do nothing..

[knight_toolworks]

I mean just for the sanding not the real work. that seems to be the place that's the bottleneck?

[myxpykalix]

eugene,
I think you are going to find that in the end you will need to find some way for either yourself to do what you need done or some machine to do it because people don't want to do manual labor anymore.

I have seen on tv shows plenty of these tumbler type units but that has always been for metal, i'm not sure how they would work for wood.

Have you tried hiring some Mexicans?:eek: Now before any of you get your panties in a knot, i'm not talking about hiring "illegals" but I see people from other countries that come here seem to have a better work ethic then some of the young people today.

[CNYDWW]

Have tried to hire young men from the vocational school... Most can not read a ruler... Tried to get them to load 1/8 baltic birch and push a button on the laser for 8.50 hour... Most of the time i had to come into the laser room and tell them it was time to take that run out and to put a new one in... Had one to ask me how i knew it was time... I pointed at the camera mounted over the lasers.. And then showed him where the monitor was... Plus i heard the beep.. Lol... Had one to go to sleep on me.
I can get more done by myself than i can with the workers that are hitting the market now. This age group does not want to work... They want payed to stand and do nothing..

This kind of work ethic is common around here and has been for years. So many people just want a check and think they're entitled to it if they show up. Even if they don't show up. On the other hand, i'm mowing the property this year where my shop is because the caretaker ( landlord's 73 yr old uncle) just had six bypasses, two new valves and another artery repaired in his neck. The tough old bird last spring was cleaning up the whole place with a wheelbarrow and shovel. Hauling around gravel that got plowed up over the winter, picking up brush etc etc. I asked him if he wanted to use the skid steer and he just waved his arms around and make a muscle man pose and went back to work (he's also deaf). He's about 5ft 4in and around 140lbs. He's a great guy and he's doing well. Point is, he works harder just for fun then most people do for a decent wage and he's still kickin. I know he'll be back by fall. I'll spend my last dollar on equipment and starve for a month to pay it off before i'll waist time and money on someone. Unless i know them and know their work ethic it's a no brainer.

Regards
Randy

[myxpykalix]

I like that story Randy.....:)

[tverdin]

I took a 55 gallon drum, put it on a drum stand and mounted a slow moving electic motor on it and ran 2 belts around the drum down to the shaft on the motor. I welded a couple of pieces of flat inside the drum because it seemed the tumbling stones were just sliding in the bottom. I use it for alot of aluminum parts and it works great. the belts sometimes will start to slide on the drum but a little silicone spray and its good for awhile.

hope this helps.

[donek]

That would work... But i would like to be able to do some larger items... Would need to do up to about 14 inches.. Like a rubber band gun. Lol... I have a large order for rubber band guns... A large woodworking company decided they wanted to retire and closed up.. No notice to the end users.. Left huge void... The state parks that i deal with are screaming for me to get the 8 different rubber band guns into production... Plus about 14 other items...the cnc has been doing nothing this week but cutting the pistol and pop gun... 12 and 16 hour days none stop. They need to be full stocked by memorial day...lol... They waited till last sunday to call for a meeting... There are other items that will have major void in.. Also.
So check with your local state parks... I am sure ky, tenn, wva, and ohio are not the only state parks that are coming up short.

Have you talked with the company closing it's doors? How do they finish these items? Perhaps they would sell you the machine. There are much larger tumblers available. They are typically used for metal working and more expensive. The tumbler I suggest would be an easy way to test the concept. Should it work, then invest in a bigger machine. It's tough to resist the desire to build your own, but do what makes you money and invest in proven technology.

[bobmoore]

you can buy sanding grit from rock polisher supply houses. I have bulk 80 grit and 220 grit for polishing agates or maybe just sand from a quarry would work if you can find it sifted. The treadmill idea sounds good to me. Just attach an idler roller and let the tread itself do the rotating.

[myxpykalix]

Has anyone thought of looking on Craigslist for someone giving away a dryer?
You could modify the drum on the inside to seal up the holes but that would seem to me to the simplest thing to adapt since it's already set up to be a rotating drum.:rolleyes::D

[wwaldner]

Sorry to dredge up this old post, but was wondering if you or anyone else has found a solution for small parts coming off the CNC. Mostly to remove burr and provide a small bit of rounding.
wayne

[WMNH]

Back in the 80's my grandfather made wooden toilet seats for dollhouses, he cut them out on his scroll saw 5 or ten at a time. He made 1000's of them. He then put them in a wooden drum he made for his big metal lathe with some sort of abrasive and ran it at a slow speed overnight. The next day they were done and no sanding needed. I wish he was still around to ask about the abrasive (and many other things).