# Lathe Disc Sander



## Glidden (Dec 2, 2010)

I've wanted to find a way to quickly and easily sand segemented rings for glue up, but haven't wanted to invest in something like a drum sander I decided to try and come up with something that would fit on the lathe. What I used was just a peice of 1x8 pine that I mounted to a faceplate, and trued up up to be as flat as possible, then put adheasive backed velcro on the face. This was the perfect size to use the hook and loop 7" sanding discs found at HD or Lowes. Now I just need to build something that I can use to hold the ring so I can keep my finger tips away from the spinning sandpaper. I took a chance and did a little testing last night on my slowest rpm and it does a nice job of removing material evenly, which was my goal from the outset. Total cost is around $10 for the velcro and sanding disc, I already had a faceplate and the wood was just some old scrap.


----------



## tcleve4911 (Dec 16, 2006)

Nice idea, Glidden.
Mind if I steal that one????


----------



## robert421960 (Dec 9, 2010)

nice idea!
love the velcro :thumbsup:


----------



## john lucas (Sep 18, 2007)

That is exactly the way I used to flatten rings when I first started doing segmented work. I had a shopsmith and it came with a 12" disc. I would sand one side flat and then glue it to the bottom segment or other segments already on the lathe. Then I would true up the part that was on the lathe and now it's ready for the next segmented ring. 
since my glue ups weren't very good back then I often had rings of slightly different thickness's so when I glued them on the existing vessel I would take care when truing up the surface to also make each ring the same thickness.
If you glue up on a freshly waxed board and tap each segment with a mallet after you install the clamp you can get one side really close to flat. This saves a lot of sanding which in turn also makes the rings closer the the same thickness.


----------



## Glidden (Dec 2, 2010)

This is a simple idea that I will use until I can get a drum sander, though right now the next tool will be a planer, followed by a router table. I can usually afford about 1 major tool a year, so I need to be pretty selective. 

John, you've basically described how I do my segmented glue ups now, and so far it works great for my budget, though this should help speed up the flattening of one side of the ring, doing it by hand wasn't bad, but I think I'll be able to get nice tight glue lines faster this way. Hopefully now I can find some time to do some segmented work!


----------



## sawdustfactory (Jan 30, 2011)

There was an episode of the Woodturning Workshop (2 episodes actually) on recently where Tim visited a segmented turner and he had an interesting method. He would glue his segments up on a 1/4 or 1/8 plywood board. When dry, he would mount the plywood to a faceplate and turn one side flat. Then glue that to the existing piece (I think, lost interest at that point :thumbdown and then turn that off. Maybe you could use this idea using some double sided tape to attach a backer board so you have something to hold on to.


----------

