Paper (Newsprint) Roll Dispenser for the Shop

This was inspired by my friend and fellow woodworker Anthony Kennedy. The rolls are ends from the newspaper biz. There are for sure other papers on a tube, 30” long. If you have a source for a heavier grade paper, that might be an improvement.

The roll is 30” long and that fit sweetly between the legs of my smaller assembly table. The cutter’s original calling in life is obvious from the images. What you can’t see is that I dressed the edge to Cutco crispness on the edge sander. A spring on each end keeps the tension.

The knob is to lift the cutter to get the tag end of the paper free. It is a little too close to the edge. When you pull the sheet to cut it, it blips on the knob. Nothing happens really, but I just don’t like it. Gotta improve it!

The tube has a large interior diameter that would make an unwieldy axle. My solution to have it turning freely and evenly (without bouncing) is shown in the last image. Little tabs on the end keep the broomstick in the hubs. You can note I chamfered the ends of the broomstick to ease the blind insertion. That would be even easier had I chamfered the inside of the hole of the outboard bushings. Still could. Probably will.

This is very handy stuff, this paper. So far it has been used to protect surfaces during finishing (in one case, two layers) but I can also see it being a wonderful canvas for brainstorming solutions to knotty joinery or design challenges. Please pass the Dixon Ticonderoga #2.5.

-- "...in his brain, which is as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage, he hath strange places cramm'd with observation, the which he vents in mangled forms." --Shakespeare, "As You Like It"