Ok, I have a confession to make: Not all my sanding supplies come from 2Sand.com. There, I said it! Great to have that off my chest!

Seriously, like all of you, even though I buy all my bulk supplies from 2Sand.com, sometimes I need something today, or I notice things I need at yard sales or in the clearance rack at the home center. In the case of clearance items, if the price is good enough I will buy as much as I can. And I firmly believe that until needed, it is best to leave them in the original packaging, especially blister packs.

One of the advantages of the storage unit I am building is that the pegboard panels forming the sides and doors can be used equally well on both the inside and outside. So extra retail packs can be stored on the inside of the cabinet hanging on the walls.

Just use standard hooks. Virtually all of the retail packaging will be punched for hook hanging anyway. And storing them on the inside of the cabinet keeps them clean, organized and out of the way. As you need, you can open a pack up and transfer the contents to the proper rack on the outside ready for instant use.

In the next installment, we begin actual construction on the storage cabinet. I am designing the unit to use standard “two by” stock for the frame members, and pegboard sheet from the home center. You can pick up a few 2 x 4s for yourself if you want to follow along.

 I certainly invite you to add your thoughts or send along ideas that have worked well for you. Please feel free to add your comments here on the blog, on our Facebook page, or via Twitter. Let us know what you think!  -2Sand.com

We’ve talk a fair amount about storing sanding supplies, there is even a photo album on our Facebook Page where friends posted their storage ideas. So in the next several blog posts, we will be developing ideas for keeping your sanding supplies neat, organized and ready to use.

As I gathered the various sanding sheets, disks and such from around my shop for the above photo, I realized two things: First, I have a much greater variety of sanding supplies than I would have been able to tell, and Second, that they were scattered willy-nilly all over my shop!

Then I realized that those above were not all of it! What about supporting items like gum rubber cleaning sticks, sanding blocks, tack cloths and the like? There are a lot of SKU numbers here! This exersize also showed me that my various sanders were scattered around the shop as well. Maybe I want to store them with the sanding supplies.

I might save some space by ditching the cases, but these tools travel with me at times, and I like keeping the accessories in the cases. So now the image forming in my mind has a interior cabinet for stacking the tools and their cases. But my smallish shop does not really have room for a dedicated sanding storage cabinet on the walls. Hmm, maybe a rolling cabinet? Storage inside for the sanders and pegboard on the outside to stow the various supplies? Seems right, I can roll it out of the way when not needed. Ahh, but with all that in mind, the top seems a logical place for a sanding table! A DOWNDRAFT sanding table!

So I prepared a quick CAD sketch of a 36″ x 24″ table with the supporting cabinet being paneled in pegboard. The shapes shown under the cabinet are representations of the various disks and sheets I need to store. I can use these to lay out the locations of the supplies. I want to plan all this out before actually building anything to save time, materials and frustration. What I need to work out now is a reasonable container for the disks that can be easily hung from the pegboard and not add too much to each disk’s ‘footprint’. I have some ideas that I’ll work through in the next post.

If you have features you’d like to see, or want to share your storage solutions, we invite your input here on the blog, on our Facebook page, or via Twitter. Let us know what you think!  -2Sand.com

If you’ve been following along and building your own Lathe Disk Sander, you’ve already been using it. Typically, most folks just use the flat table to round edges, sand rough cut edges to the lines and the like. In this final installment, we’ll discuss some non-typical ways to get the most from your sander.

The fence detailed in the last installment is highly useful for trimming angles very precisely. Once the fence is set, any number of parts can be created with the same angle. The parts can be rough cut, then touched up on the sanding wheel. This is a GREAT way to create very tight miters, especially miters that are not exactly 90 degrees.

Applying solid wood edging to curved parts is where your new tool begins to excel. Here it is shaping the outer edge of the field part, the curve is transfered to the solid stock, the parts rough cut and sanded to the lines. The inside edge must be sanded to the lines using some form of drum sander.

We hope that you have been enjoying this series, and have found it useful. We have designed the Lathe Disk Sander to be quick to set up, and easy to use. Every day, we find more uses for it. (mine will be pointing tomato stakes this week!) We’d LOVE to see your’s at work in your shop, please feel free to send us your photos, we will post them in this blog.

We invite your comments here on the blog, on our Facebook page, or via Twitter. Let us know what you think!  -2Sand.com

It is Woodworking Safety Week again, and we at 2Sand.com want to do our part to spread the safety message. While most folks don’t typically think about digging out the safety glasses and hearing protection when they think of sandpaper or sanding supplies, we are a part of your shop and want you to be safe.

While sanding is not typically a hazard to eyes and digits like using a table saw might be, there are still concerns that you should be addressing. Breathing in fine sanding dust is not good for your nose or lungs, and some people can have severe allergic reactions to some exotic woods. Dust build up in the motors and switches of power tools not only shorten’s their lifespan, but can start fires. (I actually saw a shop refrigerator burt into flames from dust around the compressor!)

Our point here is that no matter the project you are working on or the tools you are using, the single most important safety device in your shop rests between your ears. Develop the habit of thinking safe at all times, and your will become a more safe woodworker.

We invite your comments here on the blog, on our Facebook page, or via Twitter. Let us know what you think!  -2Sand.com

RW

If you’ve been following this series, you now have a working disk sander on your lathe. While it is highly useful as is, adding a fence will greatly increase the accuracy and utility of your sander.

I could have simply added a 3/4″ slot and used a standard miter gauge, but most stock ones are not terrible accurate, and aftermaket gauges are expensive and quite large for the small table here. I chose instead to cut a pair of dados and embed T-Tracks into the table. I used the thinner T-Track to minimize the material removed from the table. Epoxying the tracks in place makes up for the material removed.

I cut the body of the fence from high quality phenolic faced 1/2″ ply. It is 6″ wide by 12 long. Cutting a cardboard mock up first helped me lay out the slots for the clamping system. the slots are 5/16″ wide and 3 1/4″ long, centered on the base. The idea is that as the base is angled, the effective distance between the clamps gets longer, so the clamps need to be able to slide in and out relative to the base. Again, mocking it up in cardboard saves time and materials. The upright for the fence is also 12″ long, and 1 1/2″ high. I cut a shallow rabet in one edge to locate it properly on the base and allow for a good glue joint. The T-Track is designed to work with 1/4-20 bolts or 5/16″ T-Bolts. I’m using cam clamps for holding the fence, but there are other options.

In use, the fence can be quickly set to 90 or 45 degrees using a square. There are no presets, so it can be set to any angle from 90 to less than 45 using a sliding square or other angle gauge.

The fence is highly useful for squaring up even small parts accurately and safely. Look for our next post where I will provide tips and tricks for getting the most from your new lathe disk sander.    12″ Sanding Disks from 2Sand.com

We invite your comments here on the blog, on our Facebook page, or via Twitter. Let us know what you think!  -2Sand.com

In our last blog post, we began a series on building a disk sander for your lathe. This week, we continue the series by building the table.

To keep the work properly aligned to the sanding disk, I decided that my table had to clamp onto the lathe bed. The table needs to be large enough to work on, and sturdy enough to not move while sanding. It also needs to be quick and easy to set up and remove.

The dimensions shown fit my lathe set up. Yours may well be different so be sure to verify before you begin cutting. (Plans will be available at the end of this blog series.)

This view shows the table upside down. The top is made from a melamine shelf I had left over. I cross cut it to 14 inches so that it would extend past the sanding disk on each side. The base is baltic birch (any ply will do) cut 6″ wide to span the lathe bed rails, and 16″ long.

Matching grooves are cut into the table and the base to accept a pair of uprights. The uprights have to be long enough to place the top of the table at the centerline of the disk, in my case, 7 1/4″ over all. Note the two stiffeners mounted underneath the top. These keep the table from flexing forward and back. The center section has to be open to allow access for the clamping knobs. Once I was happy with the dry fit, I glued and nailed the plywood components and screwed the Melamine top on.

I cut two more strips of ply for the clamps. I cut them 1 1/4″ wide so they will drop between the bed rails of my lathe. They are cut long enough to span the 1 1/2″ opening and too long to spin inside the frame. Also note that I added a strip of 1/4″ material along the centerline of the base. This fits snugly in between the bed rails of my lathe and aligh the table to the lathe. Holes were drilled to accept two 5/16th” carraige boltsthrough the clamp blocks and the base.

To set the table, lower the clamp blocks in between the bed rails, and slide the table forward until there is a small (1/16″) gap between the table and the disk. Tightening the knobs will tend to turn the blocks inside the bed rails. Because they are too long to spin inside the frame, they will catch the underside of the rails and draw tight. 

Secure both clamps and you are ready to begin sanding!

I was very pleased with the way this system turned out. It provides a stable platform for sanding, and the large disk coupled with variable speed allows for complete control over my work. In the next post, we’ll look at options for adding a fence and/or stops for precision work.

We invite your comments here on the blog, on our Facebook page, or via Twitter. Let us know what you think!

Ok, well sort of George Vondriska of the WoodWorker’s Guild of America (WWGOA) has an excellent video available on using an inflatable drum sander for shaping parts.

  Click the image to view the video.

These inflatable drum sanders can be mounted in a lathe or drill press and by controlling the firmness of the drum , you can control the contours of your sanding.

If you have ideas, how-to’s or just comments you want to share, you can comment here on the blog, write us at RW@2Sand.com , or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

We found an interesting article in the Woodfeeder Blog and wanted to pass it along to our readers.

Seems that the author was wondering if the vacuum freezer bags he has in his kitchen would work for vacuum veneering small parts. (admit it, you’ve wondered too!)

Well, he tried it and you can read the results here.

If you come across interesting articles on the web that you think should be shared with other readers, please feel free to comment here on the blog, or email your suggestions to: rw@2sand.com