So I finally finished this sanding station i'd been working on. It was originally concieved as a tool to aid in my decoy carving passion, but had to be made to also handle my bowery obsession too now! lol

The only thing a person wouldn't be able to buy themselves on this thing is the spindle itself. I had a friend mill it for me off a cad drawing I drew for em. But it can also be made from a piece of 3/4" aluminum, with 3" wooden circles cut off the bandsaw glued together and secured to make the fatter side of the drum. Here is a quick list of the materials I used, and a breakdown on price:

1/2 hp motor from wholesale tool, $40
Pulley from WT, $12
Belt from local shop, @10
The spindle, I traded a set of baggo boards for it
(3) pillow blocks with 3/4" ID, $8 a piece
He made the spacers for me too, but they can easily be wooden, or a piece of thin stock aluminum cut to length and drilled
$20 in hardware
$10 in MDF, and $6 in a 2X12 cut to size.

So all in all about $120 in materials, which I purchased here and there, so it didn't hurt the checkbook. And I easily could've used some shop scraps for wood, but wanted this thing to be worth keeping a while so I got what it needed.

A quick note before the pics, the motor is attached to a sled, which has routed slots that allow me to tighten it to the frame. I used simple 4" eye bolts and some knobs to be able to pull the belt taught, and then tighten the motor's sled to the base. All the hardware is is either lag bolts, or 1/4X20 nuts and bolts.

Since the pictures, I have re-positioned the tee nuts that hold the table to the inside of the base, so I don't need to open the top to attach it. A simple flathead and (2) 1/4X20X2 screws and she's ready to rock. A disc was intended to be added to the stub of aluminum on the right side, but I'm going to just make one of those one day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The moral of the story is, if you think you can't afford a tool that'll help you achieve what you want to do, think again. A little time, some thought, AND SOME THOUGHTS YOU PUT ON PAPER, can get you there. People ask me what the first step to building or making the things I make are, and the answer is simple, YOU PLAN. Draw the thing out on grid paper, give it a life there first, and you will see how you can work out the kinks.

Oh yeah, a note on the dust collection system for this guy:

It doesn't have one. lol. Yet. We're waiting to move so I planned on putting on the dust system when I got into my new shop and this thing gets a permanent home. I'd sugget you add one tho. This thing eats wood with 60 grit! Oh yeah, i got that from wholesale tool as well. 50 yards @ 1.5" for $10.

Nice

Great work. Very nice.

Great job!

very nice project and finished product, looks like it would work nicely for sanding fades.

Nice work!

Very nice, I just ordered 2 inch spindles, going to make an edge sander. Pretty much with the same materials you used, except I'll use a 4 X 36 inch belt.

Dang nice tool!

Excellent design and finished product.  That definetly has a multiple use ingenuity built in.  
You've got to share where you picked up the pillow blocks from for $8.00.  I was at Grainger, yesterday, picking up hardware for an edge sander build.  Their price on flanged two bolt bearings with grease zerks were from $25.00 up, each.  I choose to wait and find them at a better price.  You have found them at an excellent price.

Looks like your dog is ok with it too.

Pretty darn neat....

Thanks for posting.

Mike

http://www.thebigbearingstore.com/pillowblockbearing.html    

Pillow blocks.

Looks good, but I'd ventilate that motor box a little bit.

QuoteOriginally posted by ChristopherO:
Excellent design and finished product.  That definetly has a multiple use ingenuity built in.  
You've got to share where you picked up the pillow blocks from for $8.00.  I was at Grainger, yesterday, picking up hardware for an edge sander build.  Their price on flanged two bolt bearings with grease zerks were from $25.00 up, each.  I choose to wait and find them at a better price.  You have found them at an excellent price.

Here ya go brother. They have a multitude of options for ya:

http://www.wttool.com/category-exec/category_id/15971

QuoteOriginally posted by Tom Leemans:
Looks good, but I'd ventilate that motor box a little bit.

That's a great idea! I've got a few pc fans laying around. I can mount one on the inside blowing out? Blowing in would be silly with sawdust right?

yea the sawdust would just gunk it up after awhile.

thanks for sharin been wanting to build one

Thanks Jon, good site.