Dremel Mini Sanding Table for Nuts & Saddles

the.ronin

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 30, 2009
Messages
577
Reaction score
1
Location
Long Beach, CA
I recently decided to go through all of my ukes and replace the synthetic nuts and saddles with bone ones. After going through two of them, my fingers are just in too much pain from shaping them from blanks. I know belt sanders can be had for $40 these days but I just wanted a small sander to work with these nuts and saddles.

So I designed this little Dremel (mine is a Dremel 300-1) holder and table to do just this with a grinding stone or sanding band adapter. And it works great!

316uijo.jpg


If you've got a 3d printer, I've attached the stl file so you can make it yourself. Here were the Cura settings I used although I'd recommend a higher infill. I used PLA - the way I designed this, there's not much pressure on the stand or table itself.

2ly0hw5.jpg


Enjoy! :D

[edit] gah it wont let me upload an stl file. I'll put it on thingiverse and link to that.
 
That's great. I've been toying with the idea of doing more nut and saddle work, but I know how difficult that is manually. I have a battery operated 8220 Dremel and that cowl, would it fit your design? Might also be useful to incorporate a fence somehow.
 
Last edited:
I'm sorry man I'm not sure about the dimensions of the 8220. I can give you the specs to the holders if that helps.

I just finished shaping a saddle and nut from huge guitar blanks in about 2 hours. Normally it takes me that long to get close. I've still got to cut notches and after that there's always some fine tune shaving left but this thing works good.

I'm using the circular front entirely now. The fence is a good idea but really, I just use my thumbs to guide the piece back and forth in front of the grinding drum. I was even able to make great curves for the nut with it.
 
Im trying to judge by the photo how your Dremel compares to mine. Yours looks a little wider where you insert it in your cradle, but it's hard to tell.

Dremel 8220.png

Dremel 300.png
 
Last edited:
I just found a 3D printing service very near me. I downloaded your STL and the screen shot, could you post the specs you mention? I also found a Dremel 3D printer for $999, but I don't know if I will make enough use of it, though once I bought a Dremel, I've been using it for all kinds of things I didn't think of before.

You can create an instant download link to your STL on that server; edit your post, click the the greenish Link icon at the top of the text box, to the right of the yellow smiley face, and enter the address you posted above.
 
Last edited:
Oh wow, I'd hate for you to go through all this trouble, kohanmike. If you are really interested in this, I can make one that will fit your Dremel or at least be more model agnostic. Actually I just noticed you live pretty close.

And to your point, the 3d printer opens up a whole mess of possibilities just like you are finding with your dremel. Together, you can rule the world lol. I would HIGHLY recommend building your printer though.
 
That's very nice of you, thanks, I'd certainly pay whatever it cost you, but I don't have a problem going to Hollywood 3D Printing, it's really close to me. I can bring them the Dremel and your plans.

How does one build a 3D printer? Seems like a daunting task. I'll look up DIY 3D printer.
 
It's daunting for sure - think a 100 page ikea manual. But not at all technical - I didn't even have to solder anything. I highly recommend looking into printrbot. It's open source. I'd stay away from Dremel (this is not their expertise) or Makrbot (think Apple of 3d printing - a lot of hype and not a whole lot of value not offered by others for less $$).

Ok its a little hard to describe these specs but the bracket closer to the collet / front of the dremel is 32mm apart at the inside of the tips, 18mm deep - but the curve starts 6mm down from the tips. It flattens out with 8mm at the bottom. For the rear bracket, 48mm apart at the tips, 28mm deep, and the curve starts 4mm from the tips and just meets at the center (no flat area). I hope that helps.

[edit] and the brackets themselves are 64mm apart from inside edge to inside edge. Front bracket is 3mm thick and rear bracket is 5mm thick.
 
Thanks. I'll do some measuring on my Dremel and see how it compares. Maybe I'll get lucky and it will be a perfect fit.
 
As I look over your measurements, I realized that it would be better if I got the measurements of your 300. Can you shoot your 300 from straight above, not in the cradle, then measure it from tip of collet to the body end and send them to me? uumail at kohanmike dot com. Or maybe a short road trip is in order, I could coincide it with the Long Beach BBQ Festival in August to make the trip a little more worthwhile.
 
Be careful with that bone dust , it can be hazardous .
 
As I look over your measurements, I realized that it would be better if I got the measurements of your 300. Can you shoot your 300 from straight above, not in the cradle, then measure it from tip of collet to the body end and send them to me? uumail at kohanmike dot com. Or maybe a short road trip is in order, I could coincide it with the Long Beach BBQ Festival in August to make the trip a little more worthwhile.
Sorry for the late response. I've been getting a lot of questions like this. I'll see if I can design something more ubiquitous. I had done this design very fast just wanting a quick fix.

Be careful with that bone dust , it can be hazardous .
YES!!! Wear a mask. Not just bone dust but any dust. Worst is carbon fiber. Also with bone, I don't know about you but I find the smell putrid.
 
I just sent the files over to Hollywood 3D Printing to get an estimate, figure I'll get one made and just see how close it is. If it's too far off, I'm sure I can work with them to fine tune it.
 
Last edited:
I received the proposal from Hollywood 3D Printing, $89.45. Debating with myself if I want to spend that for a possible mis-fit. I guess I should bring in my Dremel and have them look at the STI document in their application to see if it needs adjusting.
 
Went to Hollywood 3D Printing today with my Dremel 8220 and found that it will not fit the cradle as is. They will charge about $150 to design a new STI for my Dremel, plus printing fees. It's not really worth it so I'll just have to live without the cradle.
 
Top Bottom