Probably the most intimidating component is the drum, which must be assembled carefully, since it'll be exposed to a good deal of stress when the tool's in operation. The 12"long wooden cylinder is composed of a dozen 1" X 4-3/8" disks glued together and pinned to a 1/2" steel axle. Though the pieces-or the whole drum—could be turned on a lathe, we used a 4-1/2" fly cutter bit in a drill press to cut the hardwood circles. (A band saw, scroll saw, or carefully wielded coping saw could be used as well.)
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With the disks cut and 1/2" holes drilled in their centers, an aliphatic carpenter's glue or a plastic resin can be applied to cement the pieces together on the shaft. For extra insurance, you should pin the last disk (opposite the pulley) through the axle . . . which will then serve as a locator for positioning the entire drum. To be certain, trial-fit the axle and mark the hole before actually gluing the disks in place. Once the drum's fully cured, true it on a lathe or mount it in the pillow blocks and drive it with the pulley so you'll be able to cut it to a true 4-3/8" diameter with a chisel and temporary tool rest.
The feed rollers also require some attention, though their precision isn't as critical because they don't turn at high speed. Each is made from an 11-7/8" section of 1-1/2" banister dowel (or hardwood turned to that dimension), but instead of having straight-through axles, they use pinion shafts made from 1/2" lag screws. It's important that these pinions be centered in the rollers, so mark your starter holes very carefully before drilling the 11/32" pilot holes, especially when setting up the longer 6" lag bores at the pulley ends.
Once the pinions are secured, you can cut off the heads and true the rollers as you did the drum. Don't remove too much stock, though, because the rubber hose sleeves must fit snugly over the rollers, even though each gets pinned at the pulley end.
When setting up the table frame, remember that it must remain level as it's raised and lowered. The best way to guarantee this is to be sure the holes in the hinge posts are exactly the same distance apart in each piece, and that the hinge pins in the bed and base are spaced equidistant as well.
