How to Sand Barrel Rounds

Note: If the drum sander is out of order, you will have to do this by hand. Scroll to bottom of page for these instructions.

Sanding Barrel Round Faces

Time Standard: 3.85 min/round (3 min 51 seconds per round)

Scrape off any wax from the barrel round.

With conveyor belt & drums running, hold the round in one hand, and adjust the conveyor height until the round is just touching the roller bar.
The staves of the round should be running with the conveyor.
As the round is sanded, be watching both the amp meter and the speed of conveyor belt.
If amp meter starts to spike, lower the height.
If belt slows down, lower the height.
Pull round out and feed through again, raising the bed 1/2 -- 1 full rotation.
Repeat this process until the surface is mostly consistent.
For individual spots that are refusing to be sanded, you can leave them and sand with random orbital or surface conditioner. Don't waste time trying to feed through drum sander.
Use a low grit at first to remove the marks, and then a higher grit to smooth it out.
If barrel round is especially curved on bottom, or completely coated in sugar, flip over and do a pass or 2 through drum sander. Don't overdo it though.

Sanding Barrel Round Edges

Make sure the dust collector port for the belt sander is open.
Do NOT use the belt sander for any rounds that are falling apart. The belt sander will rip it apart immediately.
Turn on belt sander.
Hold barrel round at 10 & 2, like you're driving, and rotate the round clockwise on the belt.
Never let your hands get close to moving belt. Readjust hands frequently by resting the round on the metal table of the belt sander.
Take a piece of 150 grit sandpaper, pinch the newly sanded edge with it, and quickly sand the edges. This will smooth out any remaining sharpness or roughness.

Manually Sanding Rounds When Drum Sander is Down

Scrape off any wax from the barrel round.

Lawrence created this good idea to keep the round from sliding.

Use surface prep wheel if there are any big spots/stamps/etc that need to be removed

Finish up the surface and edges with 80 grit on the random orbital sander.

Next Stop: Gluing Rounds -- Take to Glue Table