disksander

Disk Sander

Build Your Own Disk Sander for Carpentry and/or Metal Working

Designing and building your own home made disk sander is not a difficult project. You will need a 1/2 horsepower or larger electric motor. This as well as the rest of the parts may be available as surplus and/or salvage.

Pictures at the right show how I made my sander. The table top is 3/4 inch thick MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard), with a slot cut in it for the miter gage from my table saw. Position the slot so that the miter gage will clear the sanding disk at all settings.

The framework was welded up from 1/2 inch square steel tube left over from a decorative fence project.

An aluminum pulley was drilled for two 1.4 inch bolts. Then an 8 inch disk of MDF was cut and secured to the pulley. Once installed on the motor, a wood lathe chisel was used to true-up the MDF disk. Truing it on the equipment where it will be operating minimizes any tendency to vibrate.

After giving the MDF disk several coats of varnish, a sanding disk is adhered to it with rubber cement.

This unit has become a convenient workhorse in my shop, used for smoothing wood, plastic, and metal edges & surfaces.

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20 Oct 2017: Recently I became tired of this sander sliding around on the workbench and needing to be clamped down to keep it in one place. I added two 1/4 inch holes in the metal base and matching holes in the top of my workbench. By dropping a couple of 1/4 inch bolts into holes in the sander base and aligning those so they fit into holes in the workbench I can lock the sander in place...and it is still portable when I want to lift if off the bolt holes and store it under the workbench.

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The exposed pulley can be used to temporarily power other tools.

Using the miter gage from my table saw allows sanding angles without needing a tilt-table arrangement.

Needs a cover on the switch box.

Loosening the motor mounts allows the motor and disk to be slid back for changing sanding disks.