THE DRILL PRESS SPINDLE SANDER

I was in need of doing some fine sanding and rounding and thought I'd make a spindle sander for my drill press.

Note: Before attempting this, please read all comments.

I used a 1 x 4 scrap piece of pallet wood, a 3/4" dowel, a metal rod and 60 grit sandpaper. I also used a small triangular piece of hardboard, painter's tape and glue.

I only used a few tools to do this. But I did have to build two jigs. One for finding the exact center of the dowel and one to hold the dowel while a center hole was drilled.

DRILL PRESS

MITER SAW

HACK SAW

DRILL BITS

I needed to find the exact center of the dowel so I made a jig. I cut and glued two pieces of scrap wood at 90 degrees and added a triangle of hardwood that bisected this right angle at 45 degrees. Laying the dowel in the jig and marking lines perpendicular to each other gave me the exact center of the dowel.

I was going to hold the dowel and drill into its center. I knew this was opening the door for a potentially serious accident. So I made another jig. One to hold the dowel. I cut a slot down the middle of scrap 1 x 4 then drilled a 3/4" hole which was the diameter of the dowel I was using. I centered the hole on the slot. When the dowel is slipped into the hole and a clamp squeezes the slot closed the dowel is held securely in place.

NOTE: I would've been better off using a taller 2 x 4 instead of the thinner 3/4" scrap. Using the thinner scrap meant I had to check plumb. The taller 2 x 4 would've held it perpendicular better.

I cut a piece of metal rod, drilled a center hole in the dowel and inserted the rod. I covered the dowel with sand paper glued in place, and taped it until it dried.

All in all, this worked out nicely. I am also going to make some more using different diameter dowels. But even if I don't use these in my drill press as a spindle sander they make great sanding aids by themselves.

Thanks for coming along on this journey. And as always, all comments are appreciated and all questions are answered.

KJ

https://www.instructables.com/howto/drill+press+sander/

There might be some safety issues following my instructable to the letter. Please read what others have come across building their drill press sanders.