A Big Welbeck Welcome

For over 100 years Welbeck Sawmill has been a hub in the Durham community.  For the past 10 years they have been hosting their very own, in house "Wood Expo".   The Welbeck Wood Expo is known as an exclusive event that the sawmill puts on for it's customers and the greater wood working community.  Our local customers have told us how enjoyable it is, and they have no issues at all with driving 4 hours to attend.  After hearing the stories, we were honoured to have been invited for the first time this year.  Suffice it to say, Welbeck exceeded it's expectations.  We were welcomed with open arms and were able to catch up with customers we haven't seen in years, since the last Durham Wood Show in 2001.

One of the biggest surprises for us was how many new faces we met, and how many of them had never seen our Flatmaster or Little Ripper before.  The store itself is very nice & very well stocked with a wide selection of woodworking tools  - Canadian lumber being their specialty.  Great staff too!  The store is literally in the middle of nowhere, so if you decide to visit be prepared for some good old fashioned country road driving.

In true Paul form, when I asked him what the highlight of the show was, he told me "The sausages were amazing and the tarts were to die for!"  I think he also very much appreciated catching up with fellow vendors from shows gone by.  Was great to catch up with our long lost friends like  Kreg's "Bald Eagle" Mark Eaton, Ralph Swan the Minwax Man, and many others.

Interestingly enough, Durham is the home of the very first Canadian Wood Show which had it's debut 30 years ago. It was great to be back in this area which has such deep roots in the Woodworking Industry.  We are looking forward to attending again in 2014 - bring on the sausages & tarts!

Next stop - Waco, TX for SWAT.  August 23, 24, 25 2013.

The "V" Drum - A Drum Sander Idea "Built" to Last

It all began while driving home from The Ottawa Woodshow in 1999.  After a successful show season with the introduction of the Sanding Mop, Paul an Cheryl were discussing the following year.  How would they be able to top The Sanding Mop?  Paul often does thinks out loud, and according to Cheryl, this trip was no different.  After many discussions, some between both Paul and Cheryl, and many between Paul himself there was an abrupt stop in the conversation.  Suddenly Paul burst out "Oh No!  Oh No!   .......I've got an idea!"  That idea, and the discussions that took place that day would eventually develop into the V-Drum Sander, and it's successor, The Flatmaster.

 Paul's original thought was this would be a "poor man's" drum sander, but we have come to see that our simple sander has out performed commercial sanders in many ways.  We hear regularly from people who, being frustrated with the limitations of their $2000 machines, are pleased as punch with their V-Drum Sanders.  One major difference is that a commercial drum uses the drum to push the sandpaper into the wood, creating big time heat!  The warm sandpaper then clogs up with melted pitch and can burn the wood.  The sandpaper for these commercial sanders is VERY expensive, so this is a big disadvantage, especially when it is so easily damaged.  Most of these commercial sanders are designed with the drum on the top, allowing what dust that doesn't float up into the air or get sucked into the dust collector to fall down onto the piece you are sanding.  This causes what we call re-grinding of sawdust, once again contributing to heat, burning and deteriorated sandpaper.

The biggest difference between a commercial sander and The V-Drum Sander is the set-up.  Unlike the set-up for a commercial sander the V-Drum is set BELOW the table....yes below!  How can this be possible you ask? It's pretty simple really, centrifugal force.  When turned OFF the sandpaper on the drum sits below the opening on the top, but when switched ON the loops on the paper pull to the ends of the hooks on the drum, lifting up the paper and creating several major advantages.

1. An air gap between the paper and drum, preventing heat
2. Allowing the paper to do the work of wood removal, rather than forcing the drum into the wood, in turn the sander requires very little power
3.No adjustment required after the initial set-up.  Depth of cut is controlled by the grit.


Other than the set-up, there are some fairly distinct advantages of the V-Drum.  (We'll expand on these in future blogs.)

- No clips required to hold the paper on which means very simple grit changes
-Larger Drums can hold more than one grit of sandpaper
-The drum is made from a non-static plastic material, preventing heat build up and allowing the dust to fall down into the box, rather than float up in the air.

The V-Drum Sander comes in kit form, allowing you to either customize the sander to your own shops needs or build the standard version.  There is a free plan available here.  For those who are unable to build their own version we have the Flatmaster.  What's the difference?  Nothing, other than one is built already and one you build yourself.

 All in all the V-Drum sander has proven itself a worthy tool in the woodworking industry. I'm sure there were those that saw the simple, rustic sanding box that Paul built at the first few Woodshows and thought to themselves "This will never last!"  We have proved the naysayers wrong and today, more than 10 years later the V-Drum sander can be found in large cabinet shops, schools and the shops of many small time hobbyists. Just goes to show that sometimes the simplest ideas work the best!



Stay tuned for more blogs about this great tool!  Make sure to come see the V-Drum Sander at a Wood Show near you.