Disc Sander From Old Tower Fan - DIY Power Tool-Updated

Hi! I have been bored this summer and teaching myself woodworking. One tool I wanted was a disc sander. A decent one can cost around $100 (Way out of my personal budget for the kind of things I was making). So when I was replacing an old fan, I decided I would make my own disc sander.

(Keep in mind the fan measurements were in metric so I just put everything into metric)

Drill

Philips Head Screwdriver

Hole-saw attachment for drill

Flat Head Screwdriver

Super Glue (Or hot glue wood work fine)

Sandpaper

Jig Saw

Wood Glue

Hammer

Leatherman Multi-tool (Or Knife And Pliers)

Safety Glasses

KN-95 Mask (For Dust)

Sheet Of Sandpaper

Old Fan

Wood

(Above are the different parts of the fan)

The first step I needed to do was to dismantle the fan. Surprisingly this was harder than expected, considering the fan was almost 12 years old. Everything is densely packed in. I first removed the front panel. As soon as I lifted it off, dust shot up into my face from years of... fanning?

After getting a KN-95 mask and safety glasses for the dust, I started unscrewing the different sections of the fan. There were three main parts underneath the main cover. The interface for power, timer, etc, was easiest to remove only being attached by 2 screws. The fan blade and motor assembly was next with about 8 screws. Then I had to remove the fan blade from the actual motor, which would have been easy if the screws holding it were not stripped.

Eventually I was able to remove the electronics and see what I was working with. This would let me start designing

I sat down for the afternoon looking at disc sanders. I looked at what made them work and what they had in common.

They all have:

Spinning disc

Sturdy mount

Sanding table to rest item on

To recreate these machines, these things are what I want to have on my disc sander and using these criteria I figured out a unique design with a disc measuring 9cm.

I started off by building a disc for the sandpaper to sit on. One problem I encountered was that the plate that I needed to mount the home made sanding disc to has a ridge in the center. This meant that I had to create a ring with a hollow center, then attach a disc to the top that I could mount the sandpaper to. I resolved this by using a hole-saw attachment to the drill and cut out a hole large enough to fit the ridge. I connected these with wood glue and let it sit over night with a variety of clamps.

Dimensions:

9cm Diameter

5.5cm Inner Ring Diameter

5mm Plywood

The next day I opened up the clamps and the wood was fused perfectly together. The next step was to glue this to the motor plate. I used super glue and again put it into clamps for about a hour.

Before I could start I needed to find out the dimensions of the wood I needed to cut. I made a few revisions to the original design because of the amount of wood I already have, and cut them to size.

Dimensions:

Sanding Plate 2x9x30.5cm

Tall Wall 2x9x44.5cm

Short Wall 2x9x6.8cm

Mounting Plate 2x9x12.5cm

Base Plate 2x18x65cm

I began building the base by taking the short wall and screwing it to the sanding plate. I then screwed the tall wall to the assembly and made sure it was level using the patio floor. Then I mounted the motor to the mounting plate and wedged it in-between the walls. I then screwed this in and I thought it was done. It turned out the motor was mounted about two centimeters of center. I had to redo the mount. While it was out I jigsawed holes out of the walls to allow for cables and sawdust movement. Then I had to drill new holes in the back of the wood and then re-screw it in.

To finish up with the build I needed to attach three things. The base, the sandpaper, and the control board. I first attached the assembly to the base. I put two screws into the corners on both walls, mounting it to the base. Then I took 2 screws and used the pre-cut holes on the control board to mount it to the base. Lastly I used superglue to mount the sandpaper circle to the disc. While it was drying I did some cable management on the back of the tall wall. Once I made sure it turned on, I went to start testing.

I plugged in the power and turned it on. My goal was to remove a ridge on a chunk of scrap wood from the wall. Then something happened that has never happened before... it worked on the first try! I was ready to move on to the real test! I used a pencil and blacked out another piece of scrap wood. I held it to the sander and it took it off with a spew of sawdust!

Link: https://youtube.com/watch?v=lNxIM2mG4j0

Features:

Easy To Use

Three Speeds To Choose From

Recycles Old Fans That Would Be Trash

Back Wall Allows You To Slide Objects In

Can Attach Any Type Of Sandpaper