How to store your Random Orbital Sander Discs in a shopmade box!

Nothing fancy here, just a quick and easy way to build a nice storage unit for your random orbital hook and loop sanding discs.

Storing your discs in this way greatly improves your efficiency. An orderly shop not only looks nice it helps to keep you focussed on making things instead of scrounging for needed tools and materials.
The box is big enough so it won't get lost in your shop(unlike the flat packs that the discs come in) which saves time.
It's also very easy to tell at a glance if you need to buy more discs (nothing like finding out you have to go to the store to finish sanding something).
It easily stores more than 10 discs on each shelf.
It is a great way to keep your discs stored while in the shop and you can easily transport it to a jobsite if required.
It's easily customizable if desired and can be made from shop scraps.
It's also a nice beginner project that new woodworkers can do.
You can scale this box up and store saw blades in the same way (just put an appropriately sized peg in the center of the shelf and store one blade per shelf).

If your shop is set up you could probably put one together in less than an hour.
I haven't given many dimensions because they depend on what size discs you use. I have a Bosch 5" random orbital sander, so your mileage may vary.
This is the first one I made about a year ago. It's got 5 shelves (60, 80, 100, 150, and 220 Grit). I added another shelf for the new box.
This design will work for any type of sanding disc (5 hole, 8 hole, etc.) that has holes.

Step 1 Materials and parts needed

Your dimensions will be determined by your shelf size, which will be determined by your sanding disc size. My Bosch uses 5" discs. I ended up making the shelves about 6 3/8" deep and 6 1/2" wide. Then I based all my other dimensions off that. The sides, back, tops, and bottoms were all made with hardwood plywood scraps I had in the shop. All but the top (which was 1/4" ply) is made of 1/2" ply.
The shelves were made from 3/16" filches of Cherry I had. I made them out of 1/8" ply in my first box. Either will work. Base your dados off that size. For these my dados were exactly two saw blade kerfs wide and 1/4" deep. For my first box they were a little wider because I used 1/8" ply.

Comments

[ArtsyFartsyGirl]

This would be perfect for my jewelry projects, but I'm way too lazy to try it (and I'm a girl). Beautiful though, if that's not too girly a compliment! :)

[BobbyMike]

Not too girly at all, thanks!

[Superplexus.com]

his box for random orbit sandpaper disks is a great idea. A small improvement would be to make sure the pegs used to hold the disks are cut and beveled nicely to allow one to simply set the sander on the pegs for instant vacuum hole alignment. Of course, this means placing the disks velcro side up on each shelf. Years ago I made a simple jig with two dowels that align with the vacuum holes, so that the disks register flawlessly when velcro'd on. Yes, it is a time saver, but even better than that, the dust collection holes do their job properly.

[BobbyMike]

Not a bad idea. The way I switch discs while working is pretty fast. I tend to lay out the shelves i need and put and pull off discs as I need them. Once you do it about 100 times it becomes second nature ;) Do you still have the jig? Can you share a picture with us?

[darkmuskrat]

Its cool :D i would give a big comment but I

[BobbyMike]

Thanks anyway ;) Have a good sleepytime!

[GorillazMiko]

Really awesome Instructable! I hope I can try this, it just looks so awesome (especially how it looks like an expensive thing), I will post a picture if I try it out.

[BobbyMike]

Thanks for the nice comment. I'd love to see how other peoples turn out, so please do post a picture if you do one!