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So, I finally got time today to set the dish sander up. Works like a charm! Maybe not every floor sander would work for this conversion, but it looks like this one will do the trick. Fair warning, I don't build my shop equipment to be showroom furniture! Pretty is for the house, functional is for the shop.

So here was my original downdraft table. When I built this thing I had the bright idea of putting a backdraft on it, too, hence the panel on the back. In my old shop, I had the dust collector drop in from overhead to catch it. Not a bad idea, necessarily, but it left me crowded for real estate on the table. The base unit is powered by four JennAir downdraft cooktop fans.



So I ripped the back panel off and reworked the rails to catch the body of the floor sander.



Here it is flipped over on the rails. I just drug the panels off to the side to make room. You can see the platen, which I modified to give clearance for the dish over the body of the sander. You can also see the two bolts sticking up as dowels to locate and center the dish. All of these parts came from the sander itself, so the total cost is still zero!



And the result. Just a stick of mahogany, but sanded to a 15' radius. The router speed controller did the trick great. I ran it at its lowest setting which I think will be just about right for sanding a rim set. I could have cranked it up a little bit for this task.



I also took the remnants from the back panel and added shelves on the side for sanders and supplies. It always scared me keeping that stuff up on that back panel, anyway. Just an accident waiting to happen.




So there it is! Nothing fancy, but I'm happy!

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Wes McMillian
Santo, TX
http://www.wesmcmillian.com

Looks great Wes!

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"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Wes, that is some clever stuff!
You are to be commended.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Wes, that is fantastic thinking, reminded me of a military adage I learned in the Marine Corps.



We the unwilling, led by the unknowing,
Have done so much, with so little for so long,
We are now capable of doing anything with nothing.

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Joe

My wife asks me "How many Guitars do you need?"
I reply "When I die count them; thats how many I needed".

Nice job!

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Brad
Avon, OH

That's really awesome. You, sir, are a genuine Mad Scientist.

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David Morris

Thanks, guys! I had already been studying on plans and parts to build one for a little while. My ol' tore up right shoulder just can't handle "driving the bus" much any more - anything to take a little load off the body! Hopefully the idea will help someone else. Yeah, it wouldn't be that hard to actually build one from scratch, but this thing was ready to go - and FREE!

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Wes McMillian
Santo, TX
http://www.wesmcmillian.com

That's terrific Wes!

I'd call it "Yankee Ingenuity", but since you're from the South I'll just call it great creativity.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."