Attached are some photos of a fixed edge sanding machine I made with scraps of Baltic birch to help with sanding the edges of sticks. I have found most fixed machines to be too aggressive for the work I do and I have difficulty sanding narrow workpieces with handheld power tools. It has been some time since I made this so I don't remember my procedure exactly but I think the photos give pretty much all the information necessary.
The table is composed of two strips of 3/4" Baltic birch glued up with another small piece glued on one end. The purpose of that piece is to correct a mistake I made in the process. I needed to drill a precisely aligned 1/2" diameter hole to accept the 1/2" lag bolt on which the table pivots to allow sanding disk changes. I realized after gluing up the table that the only way to drill that hole accurately was to first rout a 1/4" groove, cap it with more birch and then drill the square hole open with a 1/2" bit.
The lag bolt is around 8" long and when buried in solid Baltic birch makes a very rigid pivoting axle.
This machine works very well and is very portable and compact
The table is composed of two strips of 3/4" Baltic birch glued up with another small piece glued on one end. The purpose of that piece is to correct a mistake I made in the process. I needed to drill a precisely aligned 1/2" diameter hole to accept the 1/2" lag bolt on which the table pivots to allow sanding disk changes. I realized after gluing up the table that the only way to drill that hole accurately was to first rout a 1/4" groove, cap it with more birch and then drill the square hole open with a 1/2" bit.
The lag bolt is around 8" long and when buried in solid Baltic birch makes a very rigid pivoting axle.
This machine works very well and is very portable and compact
