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How to make a universal wood sander. Do-it-yourself belt grinder for knife makers Do-it-yourself wood sanding machine

When work with a wooden surface comes to an end, the final sanding stage begins. To perform grinding without burrs, scratches, and to beautifully round sharp corners of any part, you need to use a wood sander. This tool will help you perform professional grinding even for a beginner who picks up the machine for the first time. If you wish, you can make a grinding machine yourself, using only available tools.

The industry produces several types of machines, differing both in design and purpose. Here are the main ones:

Eccentric or orbital, in this case the base of the tool simultaneously rotates around its axis and along a certain orbit. It turns out that each time it passes in a slightly different place, so scratches and burrs are rubbed out more and more with each pass.

Vibration model. Here the working sole carries out reciprocating movements with a frequency of about 20,000 movements per minute. It is through these movements that grinding occurs.
Corner grinding machine, which is popularly called “grinder”. Using this tool, rough processing of parts, large logs, etc. is carried out. Abrasive wheels of the required grain size are used for processing.
A belt sander typically used for large surface jobs. Structurally, it consists of rollers driven by an electric motor, on which sanding tape is worn.

Making a belt sander with your own hands + (Video)

Making a belt sander yourself is not at all difficult; you need to complete the following steps:

pick up suitable materials and details;
create a reliable basis for securing the tool;
install a suitable tabletop;
secure the vertical posts with tensioner and drum;
mount the motor and drums;
secure with sanding tape.

To process fairly large parts and elements, it is necessary to make a large copy of a serial grinder. For example, if you take an electric motor with a power of 2 kW or more powerful with a rotor speed of 1500 rpm, then you don’t need to install a gearbox. The power of such an engine is quite enough to rotate a drum about 20 cm in diameter and process parts of about 2 m.

You can also use an electric motor from an old one washing machine. In this case, the frame is made from a thick sheet of iron, preparing a place for installing the motor and carefully securing it with bolts to eliminate vibration. The design of such a machine consists of 2 drums, one of which is fixed, and the second can be tensioned and rotates on bearings around an axis. It is advisable to make the base for the machine from metal or several sheets of thick plywood. Drums are made by lathe from chipboard. The tape is cut from sandpaper sheets about 20 cm wide and secured to the frame. The larger the table size, the larger the parts can be stacked and processed in the future. Drawings finished products can be found on the web.

https://youtu.be/vDs1gBM_MW4

Making a grinder from a grinder

Many may say that the “grinder” is the same as an angle grinder, but there are some subtleties hidden here. It should be borne in mind that an angle grinder has very high speeds and often quite a decent weight. To polish a surface with a grinder, you need to have considerable experience in this matter and use special polishing discs and circles. Sanding machine has much lower engine speed and weight. To operate a factory grinding machine, no specific experience or skill is required.

You can independently make a good grinder from an angle grinder, which is not inferior in its parameters to a factory machine, only by modifying it electrical diagram, by mounting the regulator on more low revs and by using special grinding attachments.

Making a grinder from a drill

To turn ordinary, household electric drill The grinding machine must be equipped with a special attachment - a working drum or a special support plate, depending on the task at hand.

The support or sanding pad is a plastic or rubber base with sandpaper glued on and a shank for clamping into the drill chuck. Plates with a flexible shaft are suitable for working with a loose drill, while those with a rigid shaft are best used only for a well-fixed drill.

Sanding drums for a household drill are structurally a regular cylinder, a shank and sandpaper glued to the cylinder. When using drums, the working surface of the grinder is parallel to the axis of rotation.

Making an orbital sander

Currently, you can only make an orbital machine with your own hands from a broken orbital machine. This is due to a complex device for rotating the working disk, which is quite problematic to replicate on your own. You should also keep in mind that a machine manufactured by a specialized company will not cost too much, but making it yourself will be very difficult and will take a lot of time.

Making a grinder from a computer hard drive + (Video)

Anyone who has served his time hard drive can be converted into a miniature grinding machine. To do this you need to complete the following steps:

completely disassemble the hard drive and remove from the case everything that is located to the left of the magnetic disks;
cut out a working circle from sandpaper, make a hole for the spindle in the center of the circle;
stick several strips on the rotating disk of the hard drive double sided tape and fix sandpaper on it;
do protective screen, protecting the eyes from possible flight of the manufactured sanding disc;
connect finished design to the power supply from the computer and use it.

Of course, this design does not have high power, but it is quite possible to sharpen a small knife or scissors.

Hand-held power tools have become so widespread these days that not a single craftsman can do without them. However, sometimes even this toolkit is not enough, and there is a need for serious equipment for your workshop. So in my practice, a period came when a belt grinding machine became necessary, allowing me to process the surfaces of large parts.

Industrial copies of grinding machines are too expensive. So I had to come up with something myself. An ordinary manual belt machine, in which a continuous sanding belt moves along a straight surface of the soleplate with the abrasive side outward, seemed to me the ideal structural prototype for a homemade machine. Naturally, my machine will be much larger in size, and it will be installed permanently.

It so happened that I needed to process a large number of parts about two meters long. This determined the dimensions of the table and the future machine itself. (photo 1).

There was no need to choose an electric motor. I installed the motor I have on the machine with a power of 2.5-3.0 kW and a speed of 1500 per minute. If the belt speed is chosen to be about 20 m/s, then the diameter of the drums should be close to 200 mm. Thus, it turned out that at the speed of our engine, the machine does not require a gearbox.

Of the two reels, one plays the role of the leader. It should sit rigidly on the motor shaft, and the other - the tension one - should rotate freely on bearings around a fixed axis. To regulate the tension of the tape, it is enough to shift this axis along the desktop in one direction or another (photo 2). I built the table from thick pine timber, but now I think it should have been made from sheet metal. "

It is quite obvious that the distance between the shafts and the length of the sanding belt depend on the length of the table. The size of the entire platform on which the machine parts are mounted (electric motor with a drive drum, work table, driven drum with a tensioning device) is also decisive. On the side of the driven drum, the table must have a bevel (photo 3). ensuring a smooth touch of the tape (especially its glued joint) to the surface of the desktop.

Make a leading sanding belt (photo 4) and tension (photo 5) drums can be made of chipboard. To do this, it is enough to cut blanks measuring 200x200 mm from the slab and assemble a 240 mm package from them. Square tiles - each separately or (if the lathe allows) together, placing the blanks on an axis - grind to a diameter of 200 mm. The latter option is preferable, since the drum can be made in one installation. It should be borne in mind that the diameter of the drum in the center should be 2-3 mm larger than at the edges. It is known that with such a surface geometry, the flexible tape will be held in the middle of the drum. In my opinion, the optimal tape width is 200 mm. From one roll of emery cloth 1 m wide you can easily glue 5 such tapes.

If at the very beginning I expected to process exclusively wooden blanks (photo 6-10), then during operation I discovered the ability to quickly and efficiently sharpen special tools, for example, various profile fully assembled cutters.

It turned out that the longer the work table, the greater the opportunity for imagination when choosing a technological method for processing a product. Personally, I had to work with a tape of about 4.5 m, while the length of the processed parts reached 2 m. This does not mean that the length of the workpieces cannot be even greater. Under certain conditions, the length of the workpieces being sanded may not matter. If they are narrow, then any of them is the machine's capabilities. Now I don’t have to go to specialized workshops to sharpen cutting tools: planes, jointers, surface planers, etc. (photo 11-13). Such quality of ax sharpening (photo 14), knives, chisels and various chisels I could not achieve before on any universal sharpening equipment. And if you remove wooden table and make it from iron, it will be easy, you can put it on an abrasive belt (photo 15). But when the length of the workpiece is equal to or less than the length of the table, then achieving perfect grinding of the entire surface is much easier than when moving a large workpiece.

Belt is used in cases where it is necessary to perform finishing work on parts, that is, as equipment for finishing technological operations. Most often, such machines are used in the furniture industry; they are used to process parts made from various types of wood. But you can also use a belt grinder to process metal parts, for which a tape with an appropriate abrasive material is used.

Application areas of the machine

The main tasks performed by the belt grinding machine are: final leveling of the surface being processed, bringing the level of surface roughness to the required level, bringing the processed surfaces to a level of smoothness before coating them with varnish and others. finishing materials. The belt machine is also used to eliminate minor defects of the processed surface: depressions, elevations and burrs, processing finishing coating: removing sagging primer and varnish, burr, sanding internal surfaces, processing of curves on the surface of the part.

A factory-produced option, the drawings of which can be used to create a similar homemade device.

The band saw can be used to process parts made from various materials: wood, plain and non-ferrous metals. What’s convenient is that you can process parts that have different shape: quadrangular, round and flat. Using such equipment, it is possible to process round and tubular parts that differ large diameter its cross section.

Design features of the machine

The working tool of any belt is a belt on the surface of which abrasive powder is applied. It is made in the form of a ring and is placed between two rotating drums, one of which is the leading one and the second is the driven one.

Rotation on drive shaft band press transmitted from an electric motor, which is connected to it using a belt drive. The speed of movement of the belt mechanism can be adjusted, thereby changing the processing modes of parts. The belt of a surface grinding machine can be positioned horizontally or vertically, as well as at a certain angle, which is allowed by some models of equipment in this category.

When choosing a belt sanding machine model for processing a particular part, it is important to consider the length of the surface that needs to be sanded. It is much more convenient to process parts on such machines whose surface length is shorter than the length of the abrasive belt and work table. If such conditions are met, the quality of processing will be much higher.

The belt grinding machine can have different designs: with a movable and fixed work table, with a free belt. A separate category includes wide-belt equipment, the peculiarity of which is that their work table, which is also a feed element, is made in the shape of a caterpillar. In those equipment models that have a work table in their design, the abrasive belt is located in a horizontal plane, and in equipment with a free belt that does not have a work table, it can have a different spatial position.

Mandatory structural element any belt sander, including tabletop ones, is exhaust device, which is necessary to remove dust, in large quantities formed during processing. Both a professional and any homemade grinding machine used in a home workshop or garage are powered by an electric motor.

Operating principle

The main operating parameters of a belt sanding machine include the feed speed and the force with which the belt is pressed against the workpiece. Parameters such as the degree of grain size of the abrasive belt should be selected depending on the material from which the workpiece is made, as well as the degree of roughness that the surface of the machined product should have.

The characteristics of the material being processed, in particular its hardness, primarily influence the grit size of the abrasive belt to be selected. Processing modes that are directly related to each other are feed speed and tape clamping force. So, if grinding is carried out at high speed, but with insignificant pressing force of the abrasive belt, then some areas of the surface of the part may turn out to be unprocessed. If, on the contrary, you increase the clamping force and reduce the feed speed, you may encounter the fact that burns and blackening of the material may appear in certain areas of the surface being processed.

Another variation of the machine - view from the working surface of the belt

The results of grinding are also influenced by how well the abrasive tape is glued together. To get high quality To avoid problems with your belt machine, do not use abrasive belts that are not glued correctly or have torn edges. When putting the tape on equipment shafts, it should be positioned so that the overlapping end of the seam does not ride up against the surface of the workpiece, but slides along it. Learn more about gluing tape in the video below.

Any, including a manual grinding machine, must provide the ability to adjust the belt tension, which is ensured by moving a movable shaft that is not driven. Tape tension is a very important parameter, when choosing which you should follow the “golden mean” rule. If the sanding machine belt is pulled too tightly, this can lead to its rupture during operation, and if its tension is too weak, it will cause slipping and, as a result, excessive heating. The main characteristic for determining the degree of tension of the tape is its deflection, which is measured by lightly pressing on its surface in a tense state.

A manual belt grinding machine can be serviced by one operator, who moves the work table with the workpiece and rotates it so as to bring all areas of its surface under the abrasive belt.

How to make a belt sander

Many home craftsmen and professionals are wondering how to make a grinding machine with their own hands. The reason for this question is quite simple: the high cost of serial grinding equipment, which not everyone can pay off if not used regularly. In order to make such equipment, you will need several main components: an electric motor, rollers and a reliable frame. Naturally, drawings of such a device or a photo of it would not be superfluous. Also at the end of the article you can watch videos on assembling a tape machine on your own.

The motor for belt grinding equipment is not difficult to find; it can be removed from an old washing machine. You will have to make the frame yourself; for this you can use a sheet of metal with dimensions 500x180x20 mm. One side of the frame should be cut very evenly, since it will be necessary to attach the platform on which the electric motor will be mounted to it. The platform for the electric motor should also be made of a sheet of metal with dimensions 180x160x10 mm. Such a platform must be secured to the frame very securely using several bolts.

Another version of the bed

The efficiency of a belt sanding machine directly depends on the characteristics of the electric motor that is installed on it. If you are planning to make a grinding machine with your own hands, then an electric motor with a power of 2.5–3 kW, developing about 1500 rpm, is quite suitable for you. In order for the sanding belt to move at a speed of 20 m/s when using such a motor, the drums must have a diameter of about 200 mm. What’s convenient is that if you choose an engine with these characteristics, you won’t need to make a gearbox for your grinding machine.

The drive shaft is connected directly to the electric motor shaft, and the second - driven - must rotate freely on an axis, which is installed in bearing units. In order for the abrasive belt to touch the surface of the workpiece more smoothly, the section of the frame on which the driven shaft is installed should be slightly beveled.

You can make shafts for a belt sanding machine from a chipboard with minimal financial costs. Simply cut square blanks of 200x200 mm in size from such a plate, drill central holes in them and place them on the axle with a package with a total thickness of 240 mm. After this, all you have to do is grind the resulting package and make it into a round shaft with a diameter of about 200 mm.

Drawings and detailed analysis some parts of a machine made of wood.

Wood belt sander (click to enlarge)

Table tilt adjustment mechanism Plate block Belt tensioner Machine assembly

The industry produces several types of machines, differing both in design and purpose. Here are the main ones:

Eccentric or orbital, in this case the base of the tool simultaneously rotates around its axis and along a certain orbit. It turns out that each time it passes in a slightly different place, so scratches and burrs are rubbed out more and more with each pass.

Vibration model. Here the working sole carries out reciprocating movements with a frequency of about 20,000 movements per minute. It is through these movements that grinding occurs.
An angle grinder, which is popularly called a “grinder”. Using this tool, rough processing of parts, large logs, etc. is carried out. Abrasive wheels of the required grain size are used for processing.
A belt sander typically used for large surface jobs. Structurally, it consists of rollers driven by an electric motor, on which sanding tape is worn.

Making a belt sander with your own hands + (Video)

Making a belt sander yourself is not at all difficult; you need to complete the following steps:

select suitable materials and parts;
create a reliable basis for securing the tool;
install a suitable tabletop;
secure the vertical posts with tensioner and drum;
mount the motor and drums;
secure with sanding tape.

You can also use an electric motor from an old washing machine. In this case, the frame is made from a thick sheet of iron, preparing a place for installing the motor and carefully securing it with bolts to eliminate vibration. The design of such a machine consists of 2 drums, one of which is fixed, and the second can be tensioned and rotates on bearings around an axis. It is advisable to make the base for the machine from metal or several sheets of thick plywood. The drums are made on a lathe from chipboard. The tape is cut from sandpaper sheets about 20 cm wide and secured to the frame. The larger the table size, the larger the parts can be stacked and processed in the future. Drawings of finished products can be found online.

https://youtu.be/vDs1gBM_MW4

Making a grinder from a grinder

Many may say that the “grinder” is the same as an angle grinder, but there are some subtleties hidden here. It should be borne in mind that an angle grinder has very high speeds and often quite a decent weight. To polish a surface with a grinder, you need to have considerable experience in this matter and use special polishing discs and circles. The grinder has much lower engine speed and weight. To operate a factory grinding machine, no specific experience or skill is required.

You can independently make a good grinder from a grinder, which is not inferior in its parameters to a factory machine, only by modifying its electrical circuit, by installing the regulator at lower speeds and by using special grinding attachments.

Making a grinder from a drill

To turn an ordinary household electric drill into a grinding machine, you need to equip it with a special attachment - a working drum or a special support plate, depending on the task at hand.

Making an orbital sander

Making a grinder from a computer hard drive + (Video)

Any old hard drive can be converted into a miniature grinding machine. To do this you need to complete the following steps:

completely disassemble the hard drive and remove from the case everything that is located to the left of the magnetic disks;
cut out a working circle from sandpaper, make a hole for the spindle in the center of the circle;
stick several strips of double-sided tape onto the rotating disk of the hard drive and secure it with sandpaper;
make a protective screen to protect the eyes from the possible ejection of the manufactured sanding disc;
connect the finished design to the power supply from the computer and use it.

Of course, this design does not have high power, but it is quite possible to sharpen a small knife or scissors.

Grinding machines from the manufacturer are expensive and therefore if they are used infrequently, then you involuntarily think about whether to buy it or not.

And if, in addition, there is no free money, then you have to make something with your own hands. This is what happened with this homemade grinding machine.

The simplest hand-held sander was taken as a sample (read about how to choose an eccentric sander). In such a sander, the abrasive belt moves along the surface of the sole, with the rough side outward (abrasive).

That is, in the future belt grinding machine I laid down the same principles in advance, changing only the dimensions in the plans - I need a large machine so that it can be used to process parts of at least 1.9-2 meters by grinding, and it must be installed permanently.

The entire design of the grinding machine is based on an electric motor with a power of 2.8 kilowatts and a speed of 1500, I already had it, so I didn’t have to buy anything.

There was no need to install a gearbox, because with an electric motor of such power, in order to achieve a normal belt speed (which will be quite enough for grinding) of 20 meters per second, the diameter of the drum should be only about 20 centimeters.

The design has 2 drums: one, rigidly fixed to the shaft - the driving one. The second is tension, it rotates around an axis on bearings.

To tighten or loosen the sanding belt, just adjust this axis in either of the 2 directions.

The machine table is made of thick boards, if possible in the future I will remake it and make it from metal sheets.

The length of the working part of the machine, as well as the grinding belt itself, depends, first of all, on the length of the working surface of the table. The second shaft is equipped with a bevel as shown in photo No. 3, this is necessary to ensure that the tape touches the edge of the table as smoothly as possible.

Both drums can be made from ordinary chipboard. To do this, cut square tiles 20 by 20 centimeters and assemble them into a workpiece of 24 cm and then grind them on a lathe to a diameter of 20 centimeters. When making a drum, take into account the fact that the tape will stick to it better if it is a couple of millimeters larger in diameter at its center.

About the sanding belt. Through trial and error in practice, I found that the best width for a sanding belt is 20 centimeters - with this width you can perform all the tasks facing the machine and, moreover, cut 5 such belts from a meter roll of sandpaper, without any residue.

Besides sanding wooden parts, for which it was originally intended, on such a homemade machine it is very convenient and quick to sharpen any tools with cutting surfaces - knives, chisels, axes, knives, pruners, etc. The sharpening quality is excellent.

In principle, if the design includes making the table not from wood, but from metal, then it is possible to sharpen more complex, special tools, the sharpening of which cannot be handled by any universal device.

Let me emphasize once again that in this machine a lot depends on the length of the table. It is this that gives you scope for possibilities, because when a part is shorter than the length of the working surface of the machine, it is much more convenient to process it and the processing will be of higher quality. For example, with a sanding belt length of four and a half meters, you can easily process wooden workpieces 200 cm long.

Another advantage of such a do-it-yourself grinding machine is that with some skill you can also work with parts that have curved surfaces (as shown in photo 16) - to do this, just remove the wooden table and, placing the workpiece on the bed, grind the part the reverse, bottom side of the working tape.

DIY belt grinding machine: photo

Below are other entries on the topic “How to do it yourself - for a homeowner!”

How to make a homemade grinding machine Recently...

For wood - a highly efficient apparatus for processing material planes. Using such units, you can quickly and efficiently process wood, obtaining perfectly smooth surfaces.

Classification

Wood sanding machine is used on final stage wood processing. During the work, special rough circles, tapes, and powdered pastes are used.

Currently, based on their purpose, the following units are distinguished:

Automatic cylindrical grinding devices.
Devices designed for processing the internal surfaces of parts and workpieces.
Surface grinding machines.
Specialized models that are used to implement narrowly focused tasks.

Areas of application

The areas in which a wood sander can be used are extremely varied. Latest achievements in the field of carpentry processing of parts, they make it possible to replace large turning units with more convenient to use mobile devices.

Such common solutions as drum and belt sanders for wood can be successfully used for:

Rough abrading of workpiece surfaces.
Precise processing of wood planes.
Obtaining refined surfaces.
Cleaning of timber and panel parts, their side and end edges.
Intermediate sanding of paint and varnish coatings.

Thanks to its wide range of uses, a wood sanding machine is one of the most popular units among professional carpenters. Manufacturers are constantly improving popular models and offering consumers a whole host of additional tools to perform complex, specific tasks.

How to assemble a wood sanding machine with your own hands

We invite you to consider the features self-assembly drum device for processing the outer surface of wood. This will require several functional design elements. Some of them can be found in household.

Engine

To assemble a wood sander, the easiest way is to remove the motor from an old washing machine. Fortunately, Soviet-made models gather dust idle in many closets. From here you can get belts, pulleys and electrical parts.

However, any motor with a power of 200 to 300 W is suitable for assembling the grinding unit. It is desirable that its design be compact in size.

If it is necessary to obtain maximum efficiency indicators, you will have to find asynchronous motor, capable of delivering 1500-3000 rpm.

Drum

This structural element can be made using all kinds of leftovers building materials. Sometimes, to assemble a drum sanding machine for wood, it is enough to take a pipe covered with old linoleum, rubber rings glued together or cylindrical bars mounted on a metal axis. Let's look at the first of these options.

To make a drum, it is enough to use a piece of PVC pipe, a metal rod, a strong board, screws, glue and linoleum. Plugs are cut out of wood corresponding to the cross-section of the existing tube, in which holes are drilled for the rod. Such locking elements are inserted into the pipe and secured with screws.

A metal rod is passed through the plugs and seated on epoxy glue. A layer of dense linoleum is glued on top of the polyvinyl chloride pipe. As alternative option You can use rough rubber. This shell will act as the basis for securing the sandpaper. You can fix the latter on the finished drum using double-sided tape or staples for a stapler.

Frame

To make a case where a homemade wood grinder will be placed, regular one will do plywood. You can make a design of a rather unassuming structure. All you need to do is install the side panels, work table and additional reinforcement struts. If desired, you can make a metal shell.

Installation

The engine is securely mounted statically established basis. The rotating axis is threaded through a pre-prepared hole in the housing wall. The grinding drum is installed in the upper part and rests on bearings in cages that are fixed on the side walls of the structure.

Pulleys are attached to the axis of the drum and engine. The drive belt is being tensioned. Wiring and switches are connected. Clamping bolts are screwed into the sides of the housing, and adjustment bolts are screwed into the lower part.

To give the structure a complete and attractive look, you can treat the surfaces with paint. Naturally, it is necessary to undertake such work before assembling and installing the unit. To increase safety during operation of the device, the design can be supplemented with a protective casing placed above the drum.

In conclusion

Thus, we tried to consider the main classes of grinding machines, their scope of application, and also gave an example of self-assembly of the unit drum type. Ultimately, the decision to purchase a factory device or assemble it from existing materials depends on the size of the budget, goals, available funds and the needs of each individual user.

A do-it-yourself sanding machine is made from actually very necessary “trash” that is found in every workshop or pantry. The tool is used for final processing of parts, grinding, and rounding corners.

There are several types of such devices. The most common is a grinder with a vibration operating principle. One of its main elements is a flat sole attached to the base. It transmits movement from the motor to the abrasive surface. The harder you press the device, the more powerful the vibration movements will be. This type of machine operates at a low speed, it is noisy, and your hands get tired quickly, but at the same time, such a tool is cheap and compact.

A subtype of such a device is a device with a deltoid sole, which is moved forward.

Grinding machines types and purposes

Tape devices. This machine works on a different principle. A belt of abrasive material (sandpaper), glued into a ring, rotates on spindles. When working with it, you do not need to use much force, since the rotation of the tape is quite fast. Such machines have speed control functions and a soft start system. For more precise work, tape machines have a support frame. When operating such a tool, a lot of dust arises, so they often have a dust collector or the ability to connect to a vacuum cleaner. Various attachments can be attached to the spindles.

Eccentric device. This is the most versatile type among sanders. It can process almost any surface and material. This device is ideal for curved planes. It has a round platform. The rotating abrasive is attached special clamps or Velcro. The sole of the machine performs both rotational and vibrating movements at the same time.

Angle grinders. They are electromechanical and pneumatic. Quite versatile, they can cut, grind, and clean stone and metal surfaces. The device is very similar to an angle grinder, basically it is an angle grinder, but with special circles.

Polishing machines differ from angled ones only in the polishing attachments.

Straight grinders perform small jobs with high accuracy processing. The spindle is parallel to the frame, like the shaft of a pen. Such machines are light in weight and small in size, and can be manipulated with one hand. Their main purpose is grinding corners, processing edges and small surfaces, such as planks and lintels. They look like a thick pen and are used to engrave, cut and polish small objects.

Multifunctional sanders. They can combine several types of devices in one device, for example, a vibrating and tape machine, using replaceable attachments.

Do-it-yourself grinding machine video

Tools and materials for assembling a sander

wooden blocks, metal elements for the base table;
sheets of plywood, chipboard;
old motor, computer hard drive, power supply;
bolts, screws, bearings, self-tapping screws;
screwdriver, screwdrivers, drill;
spring, steel, metal, textolite plate;
welding inverter, if such work will be carried out;
abrasive tape, circle, glue.

Making a grinder from a hard drive

Now it’s not a problem to get a broken hard drive from a computer (but the circle must spin up) and an old computer power supply. If there is no home, then any repair center will sell them for pennies.

Such a device will be oversized, for small parts. It is done simply: the disk is disassembled, an abrasive is glued onto the rotating plane, connected to the power supply - the device is ready. It must be mounted on a workbench for stability; it can be equipped with a regulator, a servo tester for adjusting the speed and a switch.

A do-it-yourself angle grinder is made from an angle grinder; all you need to do is make the necessary wheel attachment from an abrasive. You can, of course, make it from scratch by choosing the required electric motor, placing it in a casing, and attaching handles. But you need to remember about the safety of working with such a tool.

Belt grinding machine, machine. Such devices consist of:

working body: abrasive, two drums, leading and driven. There may be more drums in the machine;
electric motor;
casing, machine base, frame, table.

The machine is equipped with a speed change function; the belt can be placed both vertically and horizontally.

Stages of manufacturing a belt sander-machine

Preparation;
equip a frame base for the machine, it is rigid and stable;
select a tabletop; the larger it is, the more large-sized parts can be processed;
fix the racks with tension parts and rotating drums;
fixing the engine and drums, installing an abrasive belt.

To process large parts, a large machine is made. To do this, take an electric motor, well suited from used, quite powerful household appliances like a washing machine.

The frame is made from thick metal sheet.

You do not indicate the dimensions of the sheet, since in any case they depend on individual preferences and the availability of materials, maybe, for example, 500x180x30 mm, more or less. A cutout for the motor is milled into the sheet, everything is attached to the frame, the necessary holes for fastenings are drilled. All parts, and especially the engine, must be tightly mounted so that there is as little vibration as possible.

The motor does not need to be equipped with a gearbox if it is powerful enough. The machine is created with your own hands from two drums, one is firmly fixed on the shaft, the other is tensioned and the degree of tension can be adjusted.

The frame is created from thick wooden parts, but it can also be made from metal ones. If there is suitable metal and a welding inverter, it can be welded. The support plate is made from thick plywood, I take several sheets, textolite is also suitable.

The second shaft is beveled, so the tape will smoothly touch the table. For the drums, take several sheets of chipboard, glue them together and grind them to the required diameter, make them a few mm thicker in the center, so the tape will hold well. Single row ball bearings are used for drum spindles. The abrasive belt moves along the frame on which it is mounted.

Often there is a need to perform various types of finishing work on wood surfaces.

The use of such a unique tool as a wood grinder helps to significantly speed up the execution of this kind of work, as well as improve their quality.

It is in quite high demand among buyers. That is why I would like to dwell in more detail on the features of this instrument, as well as its varieties.

The popularity of such equipment is due to its fairly wide area. By using a wood sander you can perform the following types of work:

Polishing a curved plane
Alignment flat surface, which is located on a stationary work table or by means of its mechanical movement manually
Processing the edges of various parts or their ends
Preparing a wooden surface for painting, etc.

All these and other types of work often have to be performed in a country or private residential building.

In addition, a wood sander is simply an indispensable tool for craftsmen who work with wooden surfaces and preparations.

In addition, when choosing equipment, you need to pay attention to such an indicator as the grain size of the abrasive belt. In order to be able to perform different types of work, experts recommend that when buying a machine, take several types of tape with different grain sizes.

Vibrating

The design of this type of equipment consists of a body and an abrasive element, which is secured using durable clamps.

Grinding occurs as a result of frequent oscillatory movement of the working tool.

The master can set the amplitude of movement independently in manual mode.

This indicator ranges from 1 to 5 mm.

The smaller the amplitude, the more accurate and finer the working surface will be processed.

Delta sander

A distinctive feature of this is the presence in its design of a working sole, the shape of which resembles an iron. Using this equipment, the master has the opportunity to work with all types of surfaces.

Of no small importance is the presence in its body of a small acute angle. Thanks to this, using this tool it is possible to process surfaces or parts that consist of one or more hard-to-reach corners.

Different machine models have different speed work. The popularity of such a tool among buyers is significantly increased by the fact that its working surface can be rotated in different sides as necessary, and also replace different nozzles. Thanks to this, the use of equipment increases several times.

Eccentric

The main difference between this type of tool and others is that it is intended for performing jewelry processing of the working surface. The abrasive surface has a round shape.

The master can independently choose the degree of surface grain. The subtlety of the work performed depends on this indicator. The sole of the equipment is equipped with small holes through which dust is removed.

Thanks to this, working with such a tool ensures the safety of the master. It is also of great importance that the master can choose the speed at which the sole of the machine with the abrasive surface attached to it will rotate.

Renovator

This tool is used by craftsmen as an analogue of a grinding machine. His distinctive feature is multifunctionality.

By using a renovator you can perform the following types of work:

Making slits different diameters and shapes in the work surface
Clean the reverse side tiles or any floor covering
Trim various communication lines

Such a variety of functions is made possible thanks to the many attachments that are included with the equipment.

A wide variety of wood sanders greatly increase the range of jobs that can be done with them. In addition, craftsmen have the opportunity to choose the most optimal equipment, which is designed to perform a certain type of work.

Making a sander with your own hands

It's no secret that home handyman It’s quite difficult to do without such unique equipment as a wood sander.

Despite the apparent complexity of the tool, a do-it-yourself wood sander is a reality.

It is possible to simply manufacture a tool from regular block power supply to a computer that has already failed.

First you need to prepare all the parts and tools necessary for the work:

power unit
Old computer disk
Abrasive surface
Bolts or screws
Speed controller
Switch

The assembly sequence is as follows:

Disassemble the power supply so that only its rotating part remains.
Attach a computer disk with an abrasive surface attached to it using glue (the abrasive material can be attached permanently, or large clamps can be made. Thanks to this, the master will have the opportunity to change the surface as it wears out)
Connect the power supply and speed controller.

This is how you can make a simple grinding machine at home. With its help you can work with small work surfaces.

Such equipment can also be made from a simple grinder. It's easy enough to change abrasive wheel. But it is worth considering that the rotation speed of the abrasive element of such a machine will be quite high.

Therefore it is worth paying special attention to comply with safety precautions when working with such a tool.

Craftsmen often adapt a conventional drill in such a way that it can be used as a grinder. To do this, you need to use a special nozzle.

An emery board is attached to its working part. And on the opposite side a small shank is inserted.

It will be necessary in order to be able to connect this attachment and the drill chuck. Using such a tool, you can process fairly large surfaces not only of wood, but also of metal or plastic.

How to choose the right equipment

In order for a wood sander to work at full efficiency, it is necessary to pay special attention to the following indicators when purchasing it:

Type of work performed. Different types and equipment models are designed to perform various operations, as well as to work with different working surfaces. These indicators can be found in the technical data sheet of the tool, which is included in the kit.
Centering mechanism. This element is designed to fine-tune the abrasive surface. If the design of the machine has such a mechanism, this means that working with it will be much easier, and the quality of the operation will increase by several points.
Speed controller. Thanks to this mechanism, the master can independently regulate the speed of the tool. This is especially important if you do not have the necessary work experience or the working surface https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eE7j2vOW8gg is uneven.
Abrasive grain size. This is an indicator that affects the quality of the work performed. If precise surface processing is planned, the grain size should be very small. For regular cleaning of tiles or linoleum, a coarse-grained abrasive surface is also suitable.

Wood sanders are a unique type of tool that you cannot do without in your household. You can find several types of such equipment on the tool market.

In addition, a grinder can also be made, and how to make it from a fan is shown in the video:

I have been making knives for several years now and always use 2.5 x 60 cm and 10 x 90 cm belt sanders in my work. For a long time I wanted to buy another one, with a tape width of 5 cm, as this would simplify my work. Since such a purchase would be expensive, I decided to make it myself.

Problems when designing a future machine:
Three limitations had to be overcome. Firstly, there was no 10 cm wide tape available locally; it could only be ordered online. This didn't seem like a very viable option to me, as there is no greater disappointment than discovering that the tape has worn out and needs replacing, and you have to wait a week or two for a new one to arrive. Secondly, there was a problem with the rollers. I searched but couldn't find any tape suitable for 10cm. Thirdly, the motor. A belt sander requires a fairly powerful electric motor, and I didn't want to spend too much money on this project. The best option for me it was using a used motor.

Solutions to design problems:
The first problem with the tape had a simple solution. Since the belt 20 x 90 cm was on sale in construction stores at a reasonable price, I could make two 10 cm from it. This imposed restrictions on the size of my machine, but due to price efficiency, this option was the best. The second problem was solved using a lathe. To do this, I watched a video on the Internet and realized that I could make the videos I needed myself. With the engine the task was more difficult. I had several electric motors in the garage, but for some reason I had to give them up. Finally, I decided on an old tile cutting machine that had a 6-amp electric motor. At that time, I realized that this power might not be enough. But since the work was at the experimental stage, I decided to first achieve a working version of the machine, and the motor could be replaced later. In fact, the motor is suitable for small amounts of work. But if you're going to be doing more intensive sanding on it, I'd recommend the 12 amp minimum.

Tools and materials

Tools:

Angle grinder with cutting discs.
Drill and drill bits.
Wrenches for 11, 12 and 19.
Lathe.
Vise.

Materials:

Electric motor (6 A minimum, or 12 A recommended).
Various bearings.
Nuts, bolts, washers, lock washers of various sizes.
Metal corner.
Sanding belt 20 cm.
10 cm pulleys.
Powerful spring.
Steel strip 4 x 20 cm.
Beam 2.5 x 10 x 10 cm made of wood or MDF.

Electric motor for machine

I had a choice of several motors, but the electric motor that was on the tile cutting machine had a more suitable casing. To some extent, working on the machine was like an experiment, because I was not sure that the motor had enough power. Therefore, I settled on a modular solution with the frame for the belt mechanism as a single element, which can be removed and rearranged on a more powerful base. The rotation speed of the motor suited me quite well, but I was worried that 6 A would produce weak power. After a little testing, I saw that this electric motor was suitable for simple work, but for more intensive work, you need to choose something more powerful. When designing your machine, pay attention to this point.

As I mentioned, the motor casing was very suitable, as it allowed the creation vertical machine, which will be easy to move.

First you need to free it by removing the work table, saw, protection, water tray, leaving only the electric motor. Another advantage of using this motor was that it had a threaded core with a nut to hold the saw in place, allowing the pulley to be installed without using a key (I'll explain what a key is later).

Since I had a pulley that was too wide, I decided to use the large clamp washers that are usually used to secure the saw, turning one over so that there was a wedge-shaped groove between them. I found the space between them to be too narrow, so I put a lock washer between them to widen it. The advantage of this method is that the pinch washers have a flat edge that locks with the flat edge to rotate with the core.

Belt

I used a 7 x 500 mm drive belt. You can use a standard 12 mm, but a thin one is more flexible and will put less strain on the motor. He doesn't need to rotate the grinding wheel.

Device of a belt grinding machine

The device is simple. An electric motor drives a belt, which rotates a 10 x 5 cm “main” pulley, which drives the abrasive belt. Another pulley 8 x 5 cm is located 40 cm above the main one and 15 cm behind it and is mounted on a bearing. The third 8 x 5 cm pulley rotates on a lever and acts as a tension roller, holding the abrasive belt tightly. On the other side, the lever is attached to the frame by a spring.

Determining the drive type

The main question was to rotate the main pulley directly with an electric motor or with the help of an additional pulley and drive belt. First of all, I chose a belt drive because I wanted to have the option of replacing the engine with a more powerful one, however, there was another reason. When you do intensive metal processing, there is a risk of encountering some problems. The belt drive in such cases will slip, while the direct drive will create big problems. With a belt, the device will be more secure.

Frame manufacturing and installation

It is important to mention that using metal corner as a frame can have both advantages and disadvantages. The obvious advantage is that it is convenient to assemble, like a construction set in childhood. But the main drawback is that it is strong only in two directions, but weak when twisted. This means that we need to take this weakness into account and calculate what torque can be transmitted from the pulleys to the frame, and compensate for it using additional jumpers.

Cutting:
You can use a hacksaw to cut the corner, but an angle grinder with cutting disc they will do things faster. After cutting all the pieces, I would recommend sanding down all the sharp edges to avoid cutting yourself during assembly. Holes can be drilled using conventional drill and cutting fluid.

Main video

The main roller is the most important part of the project, as it receives torque from the motor and transmits it to the belt. I used an old bushing to secure it, but I recommend using a bearing instead. The bushings do their job, but they constantly overheat and require regular lubrication. Moreover, they can scatter dirty lubricant, which can be annoying during operation.

Shaft:
On the sides of the shaft there is a thread with in different directions so that the mounting bolts do not unscrew when rotating. If you cut off one threaded side like I did, leave the one that goes counterclockwise, otherwise you'll have to make a locking bolt (I'll describe how to make that later) and a cotter pin. The main pulley will be placed on the cut edge.

Pulley:
Continuing the topic reuse, I found an old pulley from another project. Unfortunately, I prepared it for the threaded pin that it was supposed to be held on, but, in fact, this is not a problem. I made a rectangular cutout in this pulley. I then used an angle grinder to cut a groove on the end of the shaft. By placing the key in the hole formed by the shaft groove and the rectangular cutout of the pulley, I securely fixed them relative to each other.

Making rollers for a grinding machine

I made the rollers from several pieces of 2.5 cm thick hardwood. But you can use MDF, plywood or other material. When laying layers, you need to make sure that the fibers are perpendicular, this will give the rollers additional strength and the layers will not crack.

It is necessary to make three rollers: the main roller, the top roller and the tension roller. The main roller is made of two 13 x 13 cm pieces of 2.5 cm thickness. The top and tension rollers are made of two pieces of wood measuring 10 x 10 cm.

Process:
Start by gluing together pairs of 13 cm and 10 cm pieces of wood, clamping them together with clamps. After the glue has dried, trim the corners with a miter saw, then find the center of each piece. Mount them in the lathe and turn them until they measure 5 x 10 cm and 5 x 8 cm.

Upper and tension rollers:
Next, you need to install bearings in rollers measuring 5 x 8 cm. Choose a core or spade drill, and drill a recess in the center to the width of the bearing. The inner race of the bearing must rotate freely, so you need to drill a hole that goes through the roller through the inner race of the bearing. This will allow the bolt to go through with a minimal hole.

Main video:
This part is done a little differently. There are no bearings on it, but if the shaft extends less than 5 cm from the roller, you will need to grind the roller down to width. Measure the diameter of the shaft and drill the same hole in the center of the roller. Try to insert the shaft, it must hold tightly, otherwise the roller will shake.

Bolting the rollers

Next, you should fasten the two halves of the rollers with bolts; do not rely only on glue. Remember that the bolt heads need to be recessed into the wood, since the roller rotates in close proximity to the frame.

Tension lever

The lever is made of a metal strip measuring 10 x 30 x 200 mm with rounded edges. It requires some pretty large holes to be drilled, so I recommend using a drill press and lots of lube for this. A total of 4 holes are needed. The first is at the pivot point. It is not in the center of the bar, but 8 cm from its edge. The second hole will be located on the edge closest to the rotation point. It will serve to attach the spring. Two additional holes need to be drilled at the opposite end, approximately 5 cm apart. They need to be a little wider in diameter as they will be used for tuning, which I will talk about next.

When all the holes are made, you can attach the arm to the vertical angle between the upper roller and the base. The end on which the spring will be attached is directed towards the main roller. It should rotate freely, so I recommend using two nuts for fastening, not tightening the main one completely, and using the second one as a locknut.

Installation of rollers

The upper roller is attached statically and must be clearly in the same plane along with the tension roller and the main roller. You can do everything by eye, but I recommend checking everything well with a level. To align the roller, you can add a washer, or, if it is not enough, a bolt. They are inserted between the frame and the roller.

There is no need to install the tension roller completely. We still need to make a stabilizing device.

Belt stabilization

Wear on the rollers or their uneven surface can cause the abrasive belt to gradually come off during operation. The stabilizing device is a device on the tension roller that allows it to be at an angle that keeps the abrasive belt centered. Its design is much simpler than it looks and consists of a locking bolt, a slightly free-playing tension roller and an adjusting bolt.

Drilling holes in bolts:
For this purpose, I made a device in the form of a wedge-shaped cutout in the board, which will help hold the bolt in place during drilling. You can do this manually, but I don't recommend it.

Fixing bolt

The retaining bolt is a simple bolt with a hole drilled in it and is installed on the bar through a wide hole that is located closer to the pivot point of the lever. Since it is located between the lever and the roller, its head must be ground off so that the roller does not catch it. The bolt must be secured as shown in the picture.

The bolt on which the roller is attached

It needs to be loosened a little so that the tension roller has a slight play. But to prevent it from unwinding, you need to make a castle nut. To do this, you just need to make cuts on the edges of a regular nut so that it looks like a crown. There will be two drilled holes in the bolt itself: one for the adjustment bolt and it will be lined up with the locking bolt hole, and another for securing the castle nut with a cotter pin.

Bolt for setting:
Once the tension roller is in place, you can install the adjusting bolt, which will pass through the holes of the retaining bolt and the bolt on which the tension roller rotates. The system works when you tighten the adjusting bolt, causing the axis of rotation of the tension roller to shift its rotation angle outward, thus causing the belt to move closer to the mechanism. A spring at the other end of the lever adjusts the tension in the opposite direction. I recommend securing the adjusting bolt with a locknut as vibrations can loosen it.

Note: It is possible to add a spring to the back of the idler pulley, but I have found no reason why this should be done. A small advantage will be that in this way the roller will have less play. But I will add that I did not do this, and I did not have any problems.

Completing the work of making the machine yourself

When everything is done, you need to check all the bolts again and make sure that the stabilization mechanism is assembled correctly. Then you have to turn the device on for the first time, which can be scary. It's like driving a car where the steering wheel and transmission don't work. I recommend turning the motor on and off for very short periods of time to prevent the machine from spinning at full speed.

In fact, the hardest part for me was adjusting the spring. If you pull too hard, the tape won’t be able to rotate... Too loose and you can’t hold it, it will fly off, which is dangerous in itself.

Ready!

That's it. You should end up with a decent, medium-power belt sander that can be converted to a more powerful one if desired.

I hope you enjoyed this master class. Thank you for your attention.