# Disc sander on your lathe?



## awsimons (Apr 26, 2009)

Most lathes come with faceplates: something you can screw a board to and then thread onto your lathe spindle for turning. What if I screwed a piece of plywood to a faceplate, stuck some sandpaper to it and made a box that sits on the lathe bed to act as a table. Now I have a disc sander! Can anyone think why this might be a bad idea?

Alan


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## SCOTSMAN (Aug 1, 2008)

NO it's done all the time in fact I have this very facility on two of my lathes but rarely use it as I have two dedicated sanders one in each work room. Alistair


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## awsimons (Apr 26, 2009)

Cool! I just found this nice example of this idea:

http://americanwoodworker.com/blogs/shop/archive/2009/11/10/lathe-and-disc-sander-combo.aspx

Alan


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## jerrells (Jul 3, 2010)

I have seen some examples of just that. I am thinking of taking an old drill and doing something like that. Did not see any pictrures of you and Ben playing in the shop while they were on vacation.


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## peteg (Sep 2, 2010)

Remember to stick Velcroe to the disk, then you can use velroe backed paper for quick change when going down thru the grades.
I also use the disk of an old burnt out orbital sander, th disk fit directly onto my chuck making it very quick & easy to set up


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## jimboy (Mar 1, 2011)

I use mine all the time I glue the disc to MDF, the discs last a long time and arte cheap to buy, I use a 10" one and that give room for big pieces


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## Bluepine38 (Dec 14, 2009)

The sanding disc with a table used to be a standard option on lathes, I have two different discs (one fine,one
coarse) and a table on my 1950s Delta lathe, just add a small dust hood and your are in business, or use the
table design on the site Alan S lists and your dust collection is solved. peteg's idea of velcro is really good, that
will allow you to switch grits without a lot of bother and make life a lot easier. Shopsmith also has this disc
setup available.


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## dbhost (Jul 20, 2009)

I did it. A fellow woodworker near me received a waste 3/4" BB ply disk from me to build his. (I messed up measurements for a Thien baffle, and had no use for the disk any more…). Works great and saves a TON of space in the shop versus a dedicated sander… You might want to pick up a spare faceplate instead of installing / removing the faceplate to make sure everything stays true…


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## Dusty56 (Apr 20, 2008)

I made a set-up for my JET VS mini lathe and applied Velcro to the MDF disc that I turned….now for the dust collection table : ) 
Thanks for the link above !


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## mtenterprises (Jan 10, 2011)

Yup lots of accessories can be made to fit on your faceplate, limited only by your imagination and safety. I made my 5" sanding disk to fit my faceplate or my 1 3/8" expandable collet chuck that way if one is occupied with a project I can put the sander on the other. Oh, 5" why you might ask well Carborundum used to make sandpaper here in Niagara Falls and I got loads of them free like some of my sandpaper.

MIKE


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## Eric_S (Aug 26, 2009)

I just got the new FWW magazine in the mail yesterday and sure enough this was one of the tips in the front of the mag with a box to fit on the lathe bed and a miter slot and gauge


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