DIY - Lathe Based 10" Disk Sander

Greetings,

Building segmented vessels has produced the need for yet another tool.

Using a 1/4" sheet of plate glass and PSA sandpaper works - but eats
up a lot of time and energy, and the results aren't _quite_ perfect.
The tiny segment edges tend to round over very slightly - even using a
supporting jig/fence. I'm not certain if it's the sandpaper deforming
slightly under pressure or the wood tilting slightly on successive
strokes, but it was there nevertheless.

I looked at available Disk Sanders and their predictably poor Chinese
construction, and built this instead. Not particularly difficult to
build, but using a piece of perfectly flat plywood scrap is important.

http://webpages.charter.net/videodoctor/images/LatheDiskSander01.jpg

http://webpages.charter.net/videodoctor/images/LatheDiskSander02.jpg

All you need to know to replicate this idea is contained in the
photos. No, we don't use no steenkin plans... ;-)
Total cost was about $25.00, excluding the PSA sanding disks.
The majority of the cost was the extra 6" faceplate.

Pundits may notice that the platform height is a little low, but I
have reasons for this. There are other jigs, with both single and
compound angles, that ride on this table.

The wooden sanding disk is held to a trued 6" faceplate by imbedded
T-nuts and machine screws from the back. I don't trust wood screws
enough to do otherwise. The T-nuts were then covered with a thin
layer of epoxy/filler and lathed smooth. I placed an outer rim of hot
glue around the disk/flange junction so that subsequent disassembly
and reassembly would result in proper alignment. The glue doesn't
stick to the cast iron.

Although I used a geared protractor to tune the platform to _exactly_
90 degrees to the face of the sanding disk, if you simply flip the
opposite ring half over, they will mate perfectly even if your angles
are off slightly.

As always, use common sense using this or any other power tool.
Shoving a piece of wood into the rising rear edge of the disk is
liable to result in it flying across the room. Keep a firm hold on
your stock and don't press too hard. Either way, I've not had a
problem with insufficient power or the lathe slipping when sanding
much of anything, much less small segments. It does produce massive
amounts of dust, however. A DIY dust hood is in order.

Does in seconds what was taking _many_ minutes otherwise.
The nicest thing about this setup is that the speed is variable,
rather than being stuck at 1750 or 3600 RPM.

FWIW,


Greg G.