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Sanding

Spindle SanderI have a Delta BOSS spindle sander with a hose to attach it to a shop vac or to my dust collector. Good machine and very quiet, as it uses an induction motor.

I picked up a factory refurbished Delta 31-675 Disc and Belt Sander. It still had a couple of problems but Delta quickly replaced those parts and it now works well.

A shop made sanding table sits on my table saw and connects to my dust collector. It has a standard size dust port connector on one side and a pegboard top in which the holes have been enlarged to 3/8" and chamfered with a counter sink bit. The bottom (ramp) inclines from 4 inches on the dust port end to about 1/2 inch on the other. I use this table with a variety of sanders, including my favorite, the PC 330 random orbit sheet sander which has been fitted with PSA pads. I also use this table when free hand routing.

I have two random orbit disk sanders which use 8-hole hook and loop disks. Before putting new disks in use, I always mark the grit size on the back with a marking pen. I made a guide from a scrap of plywood and some pegs to assist in lining up the holes in the disk with those in the sander. After placing the disk face down on the guide, I place the sander on the guide and the holes line up.

Shop made tear guides can be quickly made from spent fine tooth hacksaw blades. One assists in tearing PSA roll paper for the PC 330, profile sander, and sanding blocks. Another tear guide is used for tearing sheet paper.

Sanding blocks are typically made to accept a quarter sheet of paper, a good size for palm sanders such as the PC330. For hand sanding I like a smaller size, 3 5/8" by 4 1/2", and a standard sheet of sandpaper yields 6 pieces of this size. When using PSA roll paper, I simply wrap these pieces around a block of hardwood. Some of the finer grit sanding blocks are faced with cork for finish sanding. I made several of these blocks from hardwood scrap left over from making kitchen cabinet face frames so they are all the same size. When a block is used up, the paper is removed and the block thrown in a box to be reused.

When using garnet sandpaper which does not have adhesive backing I use some sanding blocks made from two hardwood blocks held together with a single square drive screw. The corners on the top block have been well rounded and these are very comfortable to hold. I made 3 sets of these blocks, two sets with cork facing and one without.

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