Most woodworkers put sanding right next to root canals on their list of favorite things to do. And for professional woodworkers and cabinet makers, sanding is a significant part of their day. That’s why Lloyd Troyer created the Sand Pro downdraft sanding station. He was a professional woodworker who saw a sanding table in a magazine one day and decided to build one for himself. Along the way, he introduced some of his own innovations and finally came up with a prototype of the Sand Pro.
This downdraft sanding table is designed to be quiet and, says Lloyd, sanders will be surprised how much pull is generated by the 1/2 HP motor. That’s because the top of the sanding station is a very thin (1/4″) ABS plastic with camfered holes. He tried straight holes at first, explains Lloyd, but the whistling they created was a real negative. When he camfered the holes, it eliminated the whistling and created the added benefit of generating more suction for the table.
The Sand Pro can be ordered with a variety of widths and heights and is on casters for easy portability. It also has ball roller accessories that can turn this into a useful infeed/outfeed table. It’s a bit pricey for the home hobbyist ? the 48″ by 36″ model runs about $1,150 ? but Lloyd understands that. A downdraft table, he says, is a real boon for professionals, but a lot of hobbyists won’t be looking at them until they come down to about half their current price. Delta is building some of those now, but Lloyd can see a time in the not-too-distant future when he would be building smaller units for hobbyists. As soon as he can catch up with the back orders he’s getting from professional woodworkers for the Sand Pro, he says he will design the next evolution of the downdraft sanding table.
– Bob Filipczak
