Wood Lathe Attachments & Improvements Pt 1, Low Buget Sanding Table.

Project: I just bought a Sealy 10 speed wood lathe Mr Sealy wanted £35 for delivery to N, Ireland on something that is free delivery for the rest of the UK, anyhow I sourced it for the same price and only £20 delivery, but I vowed that Mr Sealy wold never see the ridiculous price of 60 odd quid for the sanding attachment.

This instructable shows how to build a sanding table from about 3 quids worth of 3/4" plywood scraps.

Note, I buy the small cuttings of plywood from a local hardware store I once worked in, all I can carry for a few quid, sometimes if they have way to much scraps you get it for free as they don't have to dump it.

Materials:
3/4" plywood.
Your choice of a good quality sandpaper
spray contact adhesive

Tools used
saw, drill, screwdriver, and not surprisingly a wood lathe.

This was a super easy build and is now one of my most useful tools.

Step 1: The Sanding Disk

The sanding disk is just a square of 3/4" plywood screw to the back plate It is just under 8" and fits a standers sandpaper sheet with about 1/4" to spare.

I intend to make some new back plates so all my various disks are always ready to use.

The plywood was screwed to the backplate with 3/4" screws, picture only shows 4 screw in place but i did use all 8.

The back plate was then attached to the lathe and was turned down to the desired size.

Plywood is not the nicest to turn, tools need to be sharp and tend to get quite hot and require cooling and also sharpening more than usual. safety goggles or even a face visor is highly recommended.

Step 2: Attaching the Sandpaper.

First chose you favorite grade sand paper, I went for a 120 grit cloth backed wet and dry for this pic.

Use a good quality paper as it will wear quite well if you are just sanding wood

I tied a cheap sandpaper but it wore out way to fast and then ripped itself of the disk.

Place the disk on the sheet in a corner with a few mm to spare from the edge and draw round it with a sharpie,then cut the disk out with an old pair of scissors you don't care much about.

first put the back plate back on the lathe and spin it at the lowest speed on the lathe and spray it with a good spray of glue, use you own judgment here.

once you are satisfied with your application of glue either let it sit untill it is tacky or use a heat gun from a bout 2 foot away.

Try and remove the glued disk from the lathe without dropping it as it will be sure to fall in the dust glue side down like what happened to me the second time changed the sandpaper.

Leave the disk for a while to let the glue cure and you should be good to go.

if you need to remove a paper disk to replace it use a heat gun to warm to glue up a bit and it should peel easily.

Every now and then you need to scrap access glue of the disk after you remove the sandpaper, this built up glue will tend to throw the paper and cause the fresh replaced disk to tare.

To remove glue from the disk set put the stripped disk in the lathe and set you tool rest parallel to it and use a straight edged scraper chisel to lightly scrape the surface free of glue but try not not to cut into the surface of the disk.

Step 3: The Table and Frame.

Dimensions where not planed I used what i had at hand.

The table top is 15" wide and 9" deep because that's what one of my cuttings was, simple as that.

The bottom board is about 6" wide and about 15" long, it has a baton about 12" screw to it base this is a snug fit into the parallel rails of the lathe bed.

Note i would advise to make this longer and extend it out the back a bit as it will give a second clamping point.

The sides are about 6" wide and the height was set as tho leave the top table to be approx 10mm below the center of the sanding disk. I plan to add a 10mm skin on the top with a parallel slot to use the sliding miter from my band saw.