I have recently purchased a Supermax 19-38 drum sander. The drum sander was on back order, so in the meantime, I decided to build a rolling cabinet for it. The sander does come with a metal base, but it has no storage and I have heard it can be a little rickety once casters are added. One other detail is that I have also purchased the folding infeed/outfeed tables, so they need to be accounted for in the design.
Finished Cabinet
YOUTUBE VIDEO
Plan and Materials
I had a good plan on the construction on the cabinet that allowed me to continuously build as glue set up elsewhere. Primarily through the use of pocket screws, regular screws, and brad nails. The entire cabinet was built with
- (2X) 4’x8′ sheets of 3/4″ birch veneer plywood
- (1X) 4’X8′ sheet of 1/2″ plywood
- Walnut for edge trimming
- (2X) 16″ drawer slides
- 4″ locking casters
- 5mm adjustable shelf pins
A couple things to note:
A, Q, R, M have a common dimension and should be ripped at the same time. P, Q, R, S, Z have a common dimension and should be cut at the same time (or flush trimmed like I did). B, C, S have the same size and should be ripped at the same time. Finally D and P have a common dimension and should be cut at the same time.
During construction I added one more component not in the diagram. Lets call it a lower spine (E) and it will measure the same as B, so cut three of those.
Drum Sander Cabinet Glue Up (Round 1)
The cabinet construction began by cutting the sides(A), bottom(R), top(P), mid shelf (Q) to the size. Note that many pieces are 34 1/2 long which is larger than my table saw rip capacity. So, I rough cut them to length and flush trimmed them with a “master” board. The “master” board was one of the pieces cut to final dimension.
After the main components were cut to size, I could cut the side profile out. I started on the bandsaw and finished it up with the jig saw. After the side profiles were cut, I drilled some pocket holes in the bottom and top pieces (P & R) and performed a dry fit to get the correct height for internal pieces (B, C, and S). The mid shelf(Q) will sit on top of these pieces.
Once the initial pieces were cut to size, I started the glue up process by gluing and screwing the bottom to the two sides with 1 1/4″ pocket screws. Then I set the internal side pieces (B) into place with glue and brad nailed them into place. After that, I glued the vertical divider (S) into place and screwed it to everything it touched(A, B & R)with screws. Then I glued on the rear side internal pieces (C) and held in place with brad nails. Once those pieces were in place I could glue on the mid shelf (Q) and use clamps and pocket screws to hold into place. The picture below shows the lower internals and how they form a super rabbet.
Drum Sander Cabinet Glue Up (Round 2)
After the bottom portion of the cabinet was glued and clamped up, I could move onto the top. This started by gluing on the large vertical “back” (Z) between the two sides. I didn’t use any screws for this and just a caul and some clamps, with plenty of glue. Then I assembled the top (P) into place with clamps and pocket screws. I should have added some more pocket screws to pull it towards the back, but clamps worked too.
Once the top was attached I glued in the upper spine piece (center divider D). This piece was glued and screwed into place. The screws were put in through the top and through the mid shelf. I did have one screw split the spine, so I removed it and added one behind it. Glue was also applied to the rear of the spine so it would bond to the vertical “back” piece (Z)
Top and Bottom Laminations
The very top of the cabinet had another piece of plywood glued and screwed (from underneath) into place. This will give the drum sander something substantial to mount to. The very bottom of the cabinet also had pieces laminated to it. I didn’t have a single piece large enough, so I glued three up and screwed them into place. The piece were cut a bit oversize and flush trimmed to the cabinet.
Audible
It was roughly at this time that I decided to add the lower spine and create two smaller drawers on the bottom of the drum sander cabinet. The mid shelf seemed to have a bit of flex and I wanted the upper spine to carry the load directly down through the lower spine and into the base. So, I cut the piece to size and added a bunch of pocket holes. Then I glued it and screwed it into place. Picture below after edging was applied.
Shelf Pin Holes and Edging
Next I drilled the holes for the shelf pins using my Kreg shelf pin jig. I offset the holes, so they wouldn’t line up exactly in the center spine.
I decided to edge all of the plywood with leftover walnut. First, I grabbed all of my scrap pieces of various sizes and got them all to 3/4″ or 1 1/2″ in one direction. Then cut them to a rough thickness on the bandsaw. Finally passing them through the planer for uniform thickness (1/4″ thick)
I edged everything in the same manner. I would lay the piece on the cabinet, mark, cut to size, glue, and pin nail. The pin nail holes got filled afterwards. The most challenging pieces were the small angled cuts I made in the sides. The angles were easy to cut, but my jig saw didn’t leave a very flat surface, so I was doing a lot of hand sanding to make the cabinet have a straight line.
Drawers
The two drawers were created from 1/2 plywood for the sides, back/front, and bottom. I ripped the 8 pieces (fronts, backs, sides) to the same height, then cut the sides to final length. I cut the groove for the bottom in all parts and cut the rabbets in the sides on the router table. Then I measured how long the front/back had to be and also the bottom. I cut them to size and performed a dry fit. Once I was happy, I gave them a quick sand and glued/screwed them together. The drawer construction is the same as my miter saw station (rabbets reinforced with screws).
I didn’t want any hardware sticking out where I could hit my shin, so I made a recess for my hand. I used a simple jig and flush trimmed them out on the false front pieces. Then I trimmed the false fronts out just like the cabinet with 1/4″ thick walnut. Since the drawers are inset, I had to account for this before cutting the false front to size. Finally I mounted the drawers and the false fronts
A Thought
So, the drum sander cabinet has this odd size cavity on the back and I couldn’t figure out what to do with it. Then a thought came to me, “GIANT BOOMBOX”. So, I started researching the various components that could be used to make a great sound system for the shop. With the size of the cavity I had, I settled on the following components
- Moukey Power Amplifier
- Fosi Audio Sub Amplifier
- JBL Club 6520 (6.5″ coaxial speakers)
- Skar Audio EVL-65 D2 (6.5″ subwoofer)
- RCA Cables and 90 degree adapters
Once the components arrived, I started to lay out the exact spacings, but I knew they should all fit based on their dimensions. Below you can see that the far left will hold the two amplifiers and the right will house the speakers and sub. The square blocks are in there to provide more rigidity to the panels to keep them from vibrating. I also calculated how much air volume I could get for the subwoofer to make sure it was adequate for a sealed box. All of the seams/holes were eventually caulked to keep them air tight.
The front panel gets screwed into the 3 vertical dividers and the screws got covered with strips of walnut.
The one disappointing part was that the amplifier (big box) for the coax speakers was much deeper than I anticipated, so it extends past the edge of the cabinet. So, I have to be careful not to damage it when rolling it around the shop or by accidentally kicking it.
Shelves, Sand, Shellac, Poly
One of the last things to make were the adjustable shelves. I only had enough material to make 3 full size shelved and one reduced depth shelf, so that is what I did. Then I glued and taped the walnut edging into place.
As the glue was drying on the shelf trim, I sanded the cabinet and flushed up the edging. Then I did the same for the shelves. I applied 1 coat of shellac to everything that was visible. Then two coats of polyurethane to everything (except drawer cavity of cabinet). Final step was to attach the 4 inch casters and re assemble the drawers, shelf pins, and audio equipment.
Now I just hope the drum sander fits!
Once the new sander arrives, I will update the post with finished pictures.