Anyhooo…. I did manage to finally build my shop made disc sander. YEA ME!

On the first attempt I was using a like-new Baldor 110v / 1725rpm motor but unfortunately I realized it was less than a quarter-horsepower, so it was WAAAY underpowered. In just trying to sand the edge of the disc, I was all but stopping it with my hand-held sanding block.
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I did have several other motors in my shop, and they were 110v, but they both ran at 3450rpm which is much too fast for sanding. This gold-colored one came from a commercial floor sander and it is a BEAST, but it simply ran too fast for this application.
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My search for a suitable (spelled F-R-E-E) motor took me several places and each one came up zero, but they each gave me another lead for another place to try. On about the 4th or 5th stop I ended up in a local junk and scrap metal dealer. When I told him what I was looking for at first he said “Nope, dont have anything that small. All I have around here is some 3-phase motors”

As I was walking out of his office, his son spoke up and said “Hey Dad. What about that motor under the workbench. I think that’s a 110.” So out to the shop we go, and sure enough there it sits.
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110volts, 1725rpm, and it’s 3/4 hp. Fantastic! How much you gotta have for it?

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So the old guy says “You mentioned you have a couple big motors but cant use them. Depending on what they are, I might trade you because I’m gonna sell ‘em as scrap anyway. ”
As luck would have it, I just so happened to have thrown them in my trunk before leaving on this quest. :-)

Long story short, he gets the 2 motors I have and I go home with this nice running (and VERY usable) Dayton motor for my disc sander!
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So I drill and tap the pulley to match the disc I had already made to fit the other motor’s pulley
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And now I just had to lay out the dust shrouding and the sanding table setup.
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Next was figuring a way to keep the dust from just “riding with the disc” and coming back up out of the other side and all over me.
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Once I had the basic layout, I put the table on with the extended arms past the disc, and I noticed that the disc was ever-so-slightly out of round. (Even though there was negligible vibrations, it bothered me). I tried a sanding block but that sanded the whole edge and not just the high-spot. So, not having a lathe, I decided to try and mount a chisel as a cutter and see if I could “Turn” out the high spot.
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It’s still not perfectly round, but I got out about 90% of the offset and now it has little to no “wobble. “Can you say “Wood Butcher?” Yes, I thought you could… LOL
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And now it’s just a matter of finishing out the shrouding with a few scraps to help enclose and direct the dust so it’ll basically eject out the bottom .
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To make the paper changing easier I mounted the table with an old piece of piano hinge I had, but that didnt open fully because the screw-heads are placed directly opposite each other.
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So I used 2 separate hinges and now the table opens fully and I can change the sandpaper without having to hold up the table at the same time.
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The wife had a Dr appointment down in Knoxville so we stopped in at HF to see what they had in 12” sanding discs. (Yeah I know, everybody says their sandpaper sux, but I was anxious to at least try this baby out.) They were out of the 12” size but they had some 10” so I bought a pack just to give this thing a go.
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Works like a charm! YAAA-HOOOOO!
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One thing I noticed was it was throwing a good bit of dust out the left side so I made a “Chute” to sorta wrap that disc on the left side, to better throw the dust into the bottom under the table.
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I used a scrap of 1”X12” oak I had to make the final tabletop. Gave it 3 coats of Tung oil and then a good coat of Turtle wax …because I cant find my can of Johnsons paste wax :-(
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The yellow safety tape wont stick to the waxed table, so I’m gonna use a red sharpie and mark the right side of the table as a reminder to NOT GO THERE :-)
And there you have it. The longest blog in history … because I’m not smart enough to figure out this multi-part blog thingy.
I’ll just be happy if this thing doesnt get wiped out in cyber space when I hit the “Post this blog” button!

I start with an assortment of “stuff” that I think might make good handles and adornments, Some are cabinet knobs and some is just stuff I find in my hardware, plumbing, and electrical parts. The shafts are made of simple bar stock.

Depending on what kind of handle I’m gonna use, I might have to grind the stock to make it “rounder” so I can cut threads on the end. I also usually have to drill and thread any cabinet knobs I use

Then it’s on to the griinder to start shaping the pointy end.

I use a buffing wheel to start cleaning up the bar. I own a motorcycle, and any of you that also have one know that I have 2 full shelves of polishes, rubbing compounds and cleaning agents. So there’s plenty of polishing stuff to chose from LOL

I use a “hot wrench” (that’s a propane torch for you non-mechanics out there) to heat the shaft getting ready to twist it. You can use a pencil torch to generate heat at different areas of the shaft to get more than one spirial shape if you like)

When it’s glowing red-hot I use a large adjustable wrench to make the twists. I tried vice grips but they bite into the hot metal and leave some pretty deep gashes that takes too much grinding away to remove. The more you twist, the tighter that spirial gets.

I chuck the shaft in my drill press and using several grits of sandpaper I start finishing the point.

Now it’s back to the buffing wheel to do the final polishing. I made thie one yesterday and it took me about two hours total. You can see the cabinet knob and brass ferrel I chose in the first pic above.

Oops, I forgot to add. I heat treat just the tips by heating them to VERY red-hot, then SLOWLY lowering them into a can of common motor oil. I forgot to take a pic of that. Then I re-polish out the dark burn marks again.

And here’s some of the ones I made last year when he first told me about these. As you can see, you can use your imagination on how much or how little to polish, and on what kind of spirials you want. Also think outside the box when looking at things to use for knobs and adornments. I have some pieces of plumbing fittings, lamp parts, copper tubing, brass ferrells, and even a wrist pin from a car engine in that top picture.

Here’s the day it was delivered as it was dropped off in our yard (7 years ago). I had rented a storage trailer while were were first setting up house. We had moved here with less than 3 weeks notice.

It’s a 30X40 pole barn and they sent 4 guys who had it up in just 2 days.

I found a guy to pour the driveway and put the floor in the shop all at once. My driveway is 325’ long and 15’ wide, the concrete pour was almost as much as the cost of the building kit … LOL

The first day I unloaded the storage trailer I tried to pile everything in the middle of the shop. The plan was that as I set up and found a home for everything, everything would have a place and I’d have a very user friendly shop with plenty of room to move about. What’s that old saying about best laid plans of mice and men? LOL

Now , seven years later, I’m STILL trying to have room to move…. I dont actually CLEAN, I just sweep and re-arrange the clutter! Here’s a few views.

I built this work table out of 2” square steel tubing, and topped it with 2 layers of 3/4” pressure treated plywood. It sits on 3” steel casters and is pretty easy to move. The 4 little house-looking things are some clocks I’m making as Christmas gifts for the four guys that work in my department.

I did all the wiring myself and the building inspector asked if I was an electrician, he said my job looked more professional than some of the so-called contractors in this town. My motorcycle & trailer and all the accompanying gear takes up almost a quarter of the space. I also added a roll-up garage door so It could get the bike in and out with it’s own door. Here’s the M/C trailer I built.. the box was an old refridgerator and I used a HF trailer kit which I cut down to fit.

So even though I’m pretty crowded in here, every month I still manage to make 4 or 5 bird houses, 4 or 5 cutting boards, and usually 2 or 3 other things like small tables, walking sticks, lamps and such that I give away as door prizes at the Ladies Clinics we put on at my store every month. I guess the thing I’m most proud of is the dining room table I made for the wife last year. It’s made mostly of some 100+ year old oak that someone gave me when they disassembled an old barn after her grandfather passed away. I’ll make a project post about that another time but here’s the finished table.