Drum-sanding guide
When forming cutouts like those used in handle pulls, the cutout edges must be sanded, even after careful bandsawing. You'll want to keep the straight middle straight, the round ends round, and the transition between the two smooth. To get consistent results, here's a simple guide you can make in a hurry. The one shown fits the 3⁄4 " sanding drum, but you can make one to fit any size sanding drum, and use it on your drill press or spindle sander.
Follow these steps
Cut a 3⁄4 "-thick scrapwood fence and a 1⁄4 " tempered-hardboard base to size. Make the fence 1" wider than the diameter of the sanding drum and the base 1" wider than the workpiece width plus the fence width. Make both parts twice the length of the longest part you need to sand. Then mark a hole center on the base [Step 1], and bore a hole 1⁄2 " larger in diameter than the diameter of the sanding drum. Now position the fence on the base [Step 2], and trace the portion of the hole that the fence overlaps onto the bottom of the fence. Bandsaw along the traced line. Adhere the fence to the base with double-faced tape.
Place the fence on the drill-press table, lower the sanding drum into the hole, and lock the quill. On a spindle sander, simply place the fence over the sanding drum. Position the fence [Step 3], and clamp it in place. Now, after bandsawing the cutout close to the pattern line, sand it to final shape by moving the part back and forth over the drum until both "feet" contact the fence, the cutout ends are perfectly round, and the sanding drum quits removing material from the center.
