sanding sides on the cheap and easy

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fungusgeek

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I took an old cheap lathe head, a couple of faceplates, some heavy particle board, an old electric motor, and made a setup to power sand the sides before gluing on the top and back. To slow the sanding plate down to a reasonable speed, I cut a V grove around the edge of the sanding disk, and run a V-belt through this. Works like a champ. I made both a flat disk and a radius disk for sanding the back profile.

Also, since I am just building ukes and not guitars, I found that you can get 17" sanding disks in a number of grits (they are used for wood floor refinishing) from the rental tool place for only a few dollars and not the very pricy disks from Stew Mac, LMI, etc.

I just clamp the sides in the mold, hold them up against the disk, and things are sanded perfectly in only a minute or two. Takes longer to set things up outside (there is a bit of a dust issue).
 

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Thats cool. You could flip it so its laying flat and build it into a table top with a dust port on the edge to catch all the lung gunk. As far as safe, what is? My daughters legos lying around in the middle of the night are death traps. I love home made machinery
 
I did. I was guessing 800-1000 RPM because that's what a buffer runs at. I just searched and saw where disc sanders are at 1700 RPM. BTW, you can by large disc sanding sheets at woodworking stores without the hole in the center.
 
I wouldn't want that large particle board spinning at that speed. And you wrote "get down" but changing to a smaller diameter on the driven wheel would make it spin a lot faster than it will when it's driven on the perimeter.
 
Nice idea but I agree that it isn't safe. You could easily get a finger caught in that belt while using it. The pinch point is right where you'll be holding the mold. One slip of the mold and you might have a broken finger or sprained wrist
Definitely needs a finger guard.
 
If you mounted it horizontally it wouldn't be hard to hard to make a belt guard by boxing in the belt and pulley. You really need to think about safety when using such a piece if equipment. It's hard to build or play when your missing a couple of fingers, not to mention your eyes. And you really don't need or want more than a couple a hundred RPM. That's the highest speed of my potter's wheel and it works dandy.
 
ksquine said:
Nice idea but I agree that it isn't safe. You could easily get a finger caught in that belt while using it. The pinch point is right where you'll be holding the mold. One slip of the mold and you might have a broken finger or sprained wrist
Definitely needs a finger guard.
Click to expand...

Yes but you do know that it's possible to trip over a match stick, roll down the stairs and be perfectly OK. Only to walk outside , get stung by a few hundred hornets and die!!!
Why on earth do we, governments, companies, individuals bother with this safety rubbish!!!!
 
Michael N. said:
Yes but you do know that it's possible to trip over a match stick, roll down the stairs and be perfectly OK. Only to walk outside , get stung by a few hundred hornets and die!!!
Why on earth do we, governments, companies, individuals bother with this safety rubbish!!!!
Click to expand...

That could possibly happen, but why tempt fate!
 
Michael N. said:
Yes but you do know that it's possible to trip over a match stick, roll down the stairs and be perfectly OK. Only to walk outside , get stung by a few hundred hornets and die!!!
Why on earth do we, governments, companies, individuals bother with this safety rubbish!!!!
Click to expand...

I...wait, what?!
 
Michael N. said:
Yes but you do know that it's possible to trip over a match stick, roll down the stairs and be perfectly OK. Only to walk outside , get stung by a few hundred hornets and die!!!
Why on earth do we, governments, companies, individuals bother with this safety rubbish!!!!
Click to expand...

Yeah....nevermind. Might as well strip off the insulation on the motor wiring too. Its just adding extra weight and cost
 
Nicely made, but why not put a little time into making it safer. A guard for the belt could also be part of a dust shroud. If you're going to breathe all that dust, you'll need all of your fingers for picking your nose.
 
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