For the past few years I have had an old 2 drum Kuster sander in my shop.
For my work the second (rear drum) is not used. It is just too much trouble
to wrap both drums and get their relative heights set correctly. With the
second drum not being used a shorter drive belt was installed that only
drives the front drum. This results in the belt contacting 180 degrees of
both the motor pulley and the drum pulley. This increased contact area has
cured all tendency of the belt to slip when making heavy cuts.

I have no complaints with the way the old sucker sands but I wish the boards
came out of the machine clean instead of covered with a layer of packed down
saw dust. It takes longer to clean the boards between passes than it takes
to sand them. Each time I look at that unused drum just sitting there I
wish it were a rotating brush that would clean the boards as they exit the
machine. Anyone with a dual drum sander have similar thoughts or have
devised some other way to make the boards exit dust free?
Earl Creel

Just a thought.... where is this sawdust coming from? Is your DC on? Is
it working efficiently? When I get too lazy to turn mine on for a board or
two, I find the sawdust builds up all over the inside of the housing and
falls down onto the next board.


"Earl Creel" wrote in message
news:A45Cf.10319$NE.7124@dukeread12...
For the past few years I have had an old 2 drum Kuster sander in my shop.
For my work the second (rear drum) is not used. It is just too much
trouble to wrap both drums and get their relative heights set correctly.
With the second drum not being used a shorter drive belt was installed
that only drives the front drum. This results in the belt contacting 180
degrees of both the motor pulley and the drum pulley. This increased
contact area has cured all tendency of the belt to slip when making heavy
cuts.

I have no complaints with the way the old sucker sands but I wish the
boards came out of the machine clean instead of covered with a layer of
packed down saw dust. It takes longer to clean the boards between passes
than it takes to sand them. Each time I look at that unused drum just
sitting there I wish it were a rotating brush that would clean the boards
as they exit the machine. Anyone with a dual drum sander have similar
thoughts or have devised some other way to make the boards exit dust free?
Earl Creel

"Earl Creel" wrote in message
news:A45Cf.10319$NE.7124@dukeread12...
For the past few years I have had an old 2 drum Kuster sander in my shop.
For my work the second (rear drum) is not used. It is just too much
trouble to wrap both drums and get their relative heights set correctly.
With the second drum not being used a shorter drive belt was installed
that only drives the front drum. This results in the belt contacting 180
degrees of both the motor pulley and the drum pulley. This increased
contact area has cured all tendency of the belt to slip when making heavy
cuts.

I have no complaints with the way the old sucker sands but I wish the
boards came out of the machine clean instead of covered with a layer of
packed down saw dust. It takes longer to clean the boards between passes
than it takes to sand them. Each time I look at that unused drum just
sitting there I wish it were a rotating brush that would clean the boards
as they exit the machine. Anyone with a dual drum sander have similar
thoughts or have devised some other way to make the boards exit dust free?
Earl Creel
try using the rear drum and eliminate the front from the sanding step. I
use both drums on my GI machine and get very little dust but then I have a
large DC that works quite well.

Gary

I have a 2HP dust collector with a 6 inch pipe and it is just a few feet
from the sander. Almost no dust escapes from the machine and the inside
stays very clean. The machine has three pinch rollers to hold the boards to
the conveyor belt. One roller is in front of the first drum, the second is
between the drums and the third is after the second drum. I believe it is
the second roller that catches the heavy dust flow just behind the cut that
is trapping the saw dust and packing it down and sticking it to the board
being sanded. I have reduced all the openings to the extent possible so
that air velocity into the machine through the openings is maximized.
Pretty sure any dust that gets air borne is removed. Removing the second
pinch roller would probably help the stuck dust problem but would likely
produce unacceptable snipe. Tom with your DC on do your boards come out
clean?
Earl Creel

"Tom Woodman" wrote in message
...
Just a thought.... where is this sawdust coming from? Is your DC on?
Is it working efficiently? When I get too lazy to turn mine on for a
board or two, I find the sawdust builds up all over the inside of the
housing and falls down onto the next board.


"Earl Creel" wrote in message
news:A45Cf.10319$NE.7124@dukeread12...
For the past few years I have had an old 2 drum Kuster sander in my shop.
For my work the second (rear drum) is not used. It is just too much
trouble to wrap both drums and get their relative heights set correctly.
With the second drum not being used a shorter drive belt was installed
that only drives the front drum. This results in the belt contacting 180
degrees of both the motor pulley and the drum pulley. This increased
contact area has cured all tendency of the belt to slip when making
heavy cuts.

I have no complaints with the way the old sucker sands but I wish the
boards came out of the machine clean instead of covered with a layer of
packed down saw dust. It takes longer to clean the boards between passes
than it takes to sand them. Each time I look at that unused drum just
sitting there I wish it were a rotating brush that would clean the boards
as they exit the machine. Anyone with a dual drum sander have similar
thoughts or have devised some other way to make the boards exit dust
free?
Earl Creel

"GeeDubb" wrote in message
...

try using the rear drum and eliminate the front from the sanding step. I
use both drums on my GI machine and get very little dust but then I have a
large DC that works quite well.

I am clueless as to what the solution will be but geez GeeDubb that has to
be way too simple. LOL If it was my problem I'd be looking for a much more
complex solution like hanging the sander from the ceiling. ;~)
Good call.

"Leon" wrote in message
news

"GeeDubb" wrote in message
...

try using the rear drum and eliminate the front from the sanding step. I
use both drums on my GI machine and get very little dust but then I have
a large DC that works quite well.

I am clueless as to what the solution will be but geez GeeDubb that has to
be way too simple. LOL If it was my problem I'd be looking for a much
more complex solution like hanging the sander from the ceiling. ;~)
Good call.
It's a lot easier to look at somebody else's problem and come up with a
simple fix. My wife does it to me all the time after hearing the crash and
profane language that often occurs when I'm trying to over analyze a
solution.

Now if I could just get my drum sander to stop burning the wood......

Gary (I know it's a simple fix........)

"GeeDubb" wrote in message
...

It's a lot easier to look at somebody else's problem and come up with a
simple fix.

I really love it when an on looker starts with "All you gotta do is"...



Now if I could just get my drum sander to stop burning the wood......

Internal sprinkler system. Another splendidly simple answer. :~)

About 90% of the time they come out clean and I am nowhere as careful as you
are about the DC setup. 10% of the time I have some sawdust n the board as
you do. I just brush it off with a counter brush. Now I'm thinking the
paper must be holding onto it then dropping it.

"Earl Creel" wrote in message
newsPdCf.10382$NE.2721@dukeread12...
I have a 2HP dust collector with a 6 inch pipe and it is just a few feet
from the sander. Almost no dust escapes from the machine and the inside
stays very clean. The machine has three pinch rollers to hold the boards
to the conveyor belt. One roller is in front of the first drum, the second
is between the drums and the third is after the second drum. I believe it
is the second roller that catches the heavy dust flow just behind the cut
that is trapping the saw dust and packing it down and sticking it to the
board being sanded. I have reduced all the openings to the extent possible
so that air velocity into the machine through the openings is maximized.
Pretty sure any dust that gets air borne is removed. Removing the second
pinch roller would probably help the stuck dust problem but would likely
produce unacceptable snipe. Tom with your DC on do your boards come out
clean?
Earl Creel

"Tom Woodman" wrote in message
...
Just a thought.... where is this sawdust coming from? Is your DC on?
Is it working efficiently? When I get too lazy to turn mine on for a
board or two, I find the sawdust builds up all over the inside of the
housing and falls down onto the next board.


"Earl Creel" wrote in message
news:A45Cf.10319$NE.7124@dukeread12...
For the past few years I have had an old 2 drum Kuster sander in my
shop. For my work the second (rear drum) is not used. It is just too
much trouble to wrap both drums and get their relative heights set
correctly. With the second drum not being used a shorter drive belt was
installed that only drives the front drum. This results in the belt
contacting 180 degrees of both the motor pulley and the drum pulley.
This increased contact area has cured all tendency of the belt to slip
when making heavy cuts.

I have no complaints with the way the old sucker sands but I wish the
boards came out of the machine clean instead of covered with a layer of
packed down saw dust. It takes longer to clean the boards between
passes than it takes to sand them. Each time I look at that unused drum
just sitting there I wish it were a rotating brush that would clean the
boards as they exit the machine. Anyone with a dual drum sander have
similar thoughts or have devised some other way to make the boards exit
dust free?
Earl Creel

I could try using the rear drum instead of the front but I would have to
remove the drums to install a belt on the rear drum. But the rear drum and
pinch roller arrangement is really no different than the front drum. My
Kuster is the only drum sander I have ever looked at closely. I am
wondering if there is some basic difference in other makes that I am unaware
of. The people who made the machine expected sawdust to stick to the
boards. Here is a direct quote from the Kuster owners manual: "It should
be noted that all sanded material will probably not be removed by the dust
collection system; all airborne particles should be caught, but it is normal
for a thin , even layer of dust to cling to the board as it exits the
machine. Remove this dust with a brush before feeding the work in for
another pass."
If I were to post a picture or two on a.b.p.w. would some of you be so kind
as to look at the way the Kuster is made compared to your machine. Perhaps
you have something under the hood that the old Kuster lacks.
Earl Creel

"GeeDubb" wrote in message
...

try using the rear drum and eliminate the front from the sanding step.
I use both drums on my GI machine and get very little dust but then I
have a large DC that works quite well.