Replies

1. 
   douglas2cats | Nov 09, 2004 10:33pm | #1

   I had a somewhat related problem with my Delta BOSS sprindle sander, but in that case the rubber drum sits not completely down at the bottom of the spindle but on a rough section of spindle that flares out at the base. It wasn't binding  per se, but was really chewing up the rubber drums around the hole. In my case just putting a regular old washer underneath the rubber before I slipped it on the spindle did the trick. It's kind of hard to tell from your pic, but it looks like your spindle is the same size all the way down and that your drum just sits on a round plate at the base of the spindle. If that's the case, I'm wondering if just sticking some pieces of that UHMW plastic Slik-Tape on the plate would to keep it from binding up. Or even just a nylon washer?

1. 
   forestgirl | Nov 09, 2004 10:47pm | #2

   Thanks Douglas, I'll see if I can find a washer with the right sized hole at Ace.  The spindle here does have a larger part at the bottom, it just didn't show up in the 1st pic.

   View Imageforestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

2. 
   JohnWW | Nov 09, 2004 11:25pm | #3

   Forest Girl,

   If you look closely, there is a small shoulder on the shaft of the sander right where it comes out of the transmission.  There is supposed to be a large metal or plastic washer sitting on the shoulder.  Without the washer in place, the rubber drum has been pushed over the shoulder allowing the bottom of the drum to rub on the transmission housing.  

   If the sander came with different diameter drums, you might get lucky and find that the missing washer is stuck on the bottom of one of the other drums.  If you can't find the original washer, get a couple of fender washers that just slide down over the shaft, but won't go past the shoulder, and you'll be back in business. 

   If you want to get fancy, and the shaft is a half inch in diameter, you could get the molded plastic washer used on the Ridgid spindle sanders, these washers have low ridges in the bottom side that work to keep dust from packing in under the bottom of the drum and jamming the downward motion.

   Hope this helps, John W.

1. 
   forestgirl | Nov 10, 2004 03:08am | #5

   "There is supposed to be a large metal or plastic washer sitting on the shoulder."  Ahhhhh, that must be what this is:

   View Image

   I thought it was the top disc for the largest spindle, but bet it isn't.  That means I'm missing top discs for all but one of the drums.  Another question:  Those lines you see are skinny, extremely shallow grooves that appear only on one side of that disc.  The other side is plain and flat.  Which side faces the sanding drum, and which faces the bottom of the machine?

   TIA!

   forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

   Edited 11/9/2004 7:09 pm ET by forestgirl

1. 
   JohnWW | Nov 10, 2004 03:21am | #7

   Forest Girl,

   You found it!  The photo looks almost identical to the bottom disks on the Ridgid sanders. 

   It probably won't make a big difference but I would turn the grooved side downward, on the idea that the grooves would have an "impeller" effect and keep dust from building up beneath the disk.  On the Ridgid sander, the radial lines are raised and they do seem to keep the area right around the spindle clear of dust.  The top disks usually are just ordinary washers and fender washers for the larger diameters.

   John W.

1. 
   forestgirl | Nov 10, 2004 04:26am | #8

   YIPEEEEEE!  Impeller, eh?  Might be the only impeller in the shop if sales don't pick up here soon.  Hoping to get a dust collector before the end of the year, LOL!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>) 

3. 
   TomBrown10 | Nov 09, 2004 11:28pm | #4

   I hope I am understanding your problem correctly. I believe I own the same spindle sander you do. If yours is not a Ryobi, then it is a copy of one. I went down to the shop and removed the rubber spindle on mine. The only sign that it ever rubbed, was evidence that at some point I had mounted the sanding sleeve a little too far down on the drum, as it left a telltale ring of shiny metal around the perimeter of the stationary black metal base at the bottom of the hole. Other than that, it would seem that the only possibility is that there might have been an accumulation of fine sawdust underneath your drum.

   Additionally, when I first owned the tool, it began to act up, including the vertical oscillation function. Eventually, it stop completely. This was remedied for me at one of the larger woodworking shows, when a Ryobi representative volunteered a free modification kit from the company, to correct an inherent design problem with the older models. It did the trick, and has worked flawlessly since.

   In the event that you can't solve your problem with the things I have mentioned, you might try your "slippery washer" idea, using a very thin piece of translucent mylar, or a piece of the material used to make the fences of table saws or jointers slippery.

   Another thought, is that you might have a machinist friend fashion a very short     bushing, that is no larger than the widest diameter of the base of the center drive spindle itself. That will raise the rubber drum away from the bottom of the hole.

   If the problem is that the rubber drum is actually spinning against the rotating bottom plate that it sits on, then you simply need to snug down the nut on the top more tightly, so that it cannot spin on the shaft.  It was hard to tell from the photo whether the black disc in the center was the base or the metal ring that spins with the rubber drum. I hope some of this makes sense. Good Luck.

1. 
   forestgirl | Nov 10, 2004 03:15am | #6

   Hi Tom, thanks for pitching in here.  Your post helped me figure out that one of the discs I have is the one that belongs on the bottom "the metal ring that spins with the rubber drum...." as you described it..

   Mine is a Craftsman that I grabbed super-cheap at an estate auction.  I tried to get info from Sears on it, but they were absolutely no help (yet I can get parts from Delta for a 50-year-old miter gauge -- go figure!).

   Hopefully, all I need to do now is get upper discs for the various drums that don't have them.  Thanks again!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)Another proud member of the  "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)