Sanding Sleeves for Craftsman

I have a sanding drum for my Craftsman radial arm saw, and I use it often for thicknessing and for preparing for joining without a planer/joiner. Here you can see an Instructable I did about that.

A few years ago Sears stopped offering these 2 1/4 x 3 inch sanding sleeves. I have been looking for a new source. I even considered trying to make my own. But, Shopsmith offers almost identical sanding sleeves at this link. See the second photo. The sleeves are sold in lots of six. It is possible to order six identical sleeves of your chosen grit, or to order a bag of six assorted grits.

"Almost identical" is the key phrase. The Shopsmith sleeves are just a little larger in diameter, but not much. This Instructable will show how to make Shopsmith sleeves fit a Craftsman drum.

Tools

• Screwdriver
• Paper cutter or scissors and ruler

Materials

• 8 1/2 x 11 inch scrap copy paper

The left side of the photo shows an unused Craftsman sleeve I still have. The right of the photo shows the Craftsman sanding drum placed inside a Shopsmith sleeve. Craftsman sleeves slide onto the drum with some difficulty. The fit is very tight. The Shopsmith sleeves are loose, even after tightening the screw on the drum as much as possible.

Cut two strips almost 3 inches wide and 11 inches long from a piece of scrap copy paper. I used a paper cutter for a straight and accurate cut. A scissors would work, too. Measure and mark with a ruler first, though.

Place the two paper strips over one another and wrap the sanding drum with them. Slide the sleeve onto the paper around the drum.

The photo shows the screw in the end of the sanding drum. Turn it as tightly as possible. Screw the drum onto the threaded end of the saw's shaft and use.

My sanding drum will continue to be useful into the future, even though the original sleeves are no longer available at Sears.