DIY Dremel Sander Machine

In this Instructable I will show you have to make your own electric powered dremel band sander. It's remarkably inexpensive and easy to build!

It's really quite simple actually! Take an electric motor, a wooden dowel and attach some sandpaper. Connect it to a battery and you have yourself a sanding machine!

Your first step is to find a piece of cardboard and form it to a tube-like shape. The dimensions should be around 100x200mm, but this depends on the motor diameter and how long of a handle you wish to have. You could also cover it with colored tape (or even paint it), but that's optional.

Use a cylinder, or in my case a wooden dowel, to form the cardboard into a tube. Once that's done you can proceed to the next step.

Measure the length of you electric motor shaft, and mark a wooden dowel of equal length. Cut it off, and mark the centre. It's crucial for the performance and lifespan of your sander that you mark the exact middle. If you drill a hole too far from the centre you will experience a lot of vibrations.

Now you're going to drill a hole where you previously made the mark. The important thing to remember is that you want the wooden dowel to have a smaller hole than the actual diameter of your motor shaft. This is important to ensure a tight fit. A rule of thumb is to use a drill 0.2mm smaller than the shaft. For example, my motor shaft is 2mm and should use a 1.8mm drill.

Cut some double-sided tape and a piece of sandpaper the same width as your wooden dowel. Attach your double-sided tape by a circular motion, and trim of the access. Stick on the sandpaper and cut it off by using a plier.

If you wish, add some sandpaper on top of the wooden dowel. Preferably a sand paper with different grit.

Solder one of your motor leads to the positive side of a 9V battery. Solder the other motor lead to an electronic switch. Take another piece of wire and solder between the electronic switch and the negative side of the 9V battery.

Before you proceed to the next step, make sure you test it! Pull the wires to ensure a strong solder joint. My dremel sander is rotating counterclockwise.

Punch a hole in the middle of the cardboard for the switch to protude outwards, then glue it in place. Once the switch is in place you can go ahead and glue the motor and battery too. I recommend hot glue for these kinds of projects.

Cover the edge with some tape and you are ready to use it!

Use it to trim, grind, sand or even make sparks! By using different grits of sandpaper you grind harder things like a wooden dowel, but also corners or softer materials.

Here you can find the electronics (10$):

Motor: http://www.ebay.com/itm/DC-6-9V-4300RPM-2mm-Shaft...
Electronic switch: http://www.ebay.com/itm/10Pcs-Car-Truck-Auto-Boat...
9V battery: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Duracell-9V-Alkaline-Batt...

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