My Homemade Disk Sander 

This is pretty cool! Well thought out! I usually use 180 grit on mine because I find that that anything less removes too much material too fast on the types of projects I work on.

I enjoy videos where you show only images of you working, but i have to say i prefer the longer ones, like this, where you take time to explain why, the principals and the tricks your learned with your vast experience. Thank you for your videos.

You have a very interesting channel, John; lots of useful info, well presented. I find that a disc sander is a very often used tool in my shop for everything from trueing picture frame mitres to prepping broken band saw blade ends for welding. I beg to differ on allowing some flex to accomodate wobble. On my disc sander I mounted a hardwood block on the motor shaft and turned a hub with a perfectly flat flange to accept a bolt-on disc. Zero wobble!

Lovely work. Unfortunately we can not find such materials here in Cyprus

You just gave me a great idea... using a bench grinder motor to turn two plates for different grits (one very aggressive side with 36 or 60 and the other side with 80 or 100). Thanks for the videos.

Cool video John. I built a disc sander using an old cheapo hand held router for the power unit. Mine has a fixed table, but I like the idea of the tilting table. Keep 'em coming.

Wow John, seems one of my dreams will come true ... 2:00 a home made sander for metal working - thanks for that announcement, that makes my weekend! ;-) And of course thanks for the video - including the outtakes ;-) rgds, Robert

Klingspore Abrasives in Hickory NC sells 12 inch sanding disks at their woodworking store outlets called The Woodworking Shop. They have a website.

You could also fix the sander at 90 degrees and reinforce it so that doesn't change and is always precise on that matter, and if you ever need a different angle you can build a sled that can tilt... specially with the design you have there

Wish I'd seen your vid before I made mine. I might have to revisit my little sandy and upgrade! I might hold fire on my lathe case/ station in case you tackle yours first cheers john for your time. Simon from the uk

ciao John é sempre bello visualizzare i tuoi lavori sei un artista.

Good idea on the heat gun when removing the sanding disks. i'll give that a try in the future. Cool stuff!

try using a laminate roller to press the paper to the platen.

Must be mallet week in the youtube woodworking world. Great video as always John.

I have one that my dad built. it's around 20" in diameter. I hate it because it's very wobbly, doesn't have any kind of dust collection and I have to sand on it for a couple of hours sometimes. I need it this big because I sand big stuff on it. so I'm thinking about making one.

I hav a question: Is it better to round the edge that comes close to the sanding disc or keep it square? Thanks for your attention!

That's a nice twelve incher you have there. I plan to build a disc sander in the near future and I have several motors that have been acquired from various sources over the years with the hope of re-purposing them . Others have asked in the comments, but I haven't seen an answer to the question of what motor RPM would be recommended for this type of sander?

Great information on your sander. Thanks for the idea on changing the disk.

I would suggest laminated bending for the guard around the top of the disc. Still get the wood look, and it wouldn't be metal or plywood.

Very nice video john. I'm from Brazil and not yet seen this sander paper with glue. What is it's name and could you suggest where can I buy it on-line,

Great video. I just wish you would have demonstrated your Dickies dust mask again. I tried my Polo button-up and it's just too stiff and gaps between the buttons. At any rate, I'm just like you - safety first!

Thanks, John. I wonder whether a light coating of wax would help to prevent too much glue from sticking to the platten? This has helped me with the 6in discs on my WorkSharp 3000.

Why don't you use 12" velcro sanding discs? Here in Germany they are available in every hardware store. Would be a lot easier to replace ;-)

I'm not getting sick of the ULTIMATE SANDING BLOCK®*, because it's the ULTIMATE SANDING BLOCK®*. Therefore it's ultimate and interesting. :D *The ULTIMATE SANDING BLOCK® name and brand belongs to John Heisz.

thanks for sharing , but i advice you in the step when you replace that paper after remouving the old one, is to help to fix it with the same plastic you remouved earlier this kind of maner will help to remouve bubles, PS my english is not enough good, i hope you'll understand

in what home tools can i find a motor like that? i want to make a similar sander but doesnt have to be as powerfull, i want to use it for hobby modelling so no really heavy duty? Will a motor from a kitchen blender or similar do fine?

Nice machine. Can we get a look at the motor and pulley?

Nice I plan to build one in the future. I have a 3/4 motor 3450 rpm. Do you think I will have burn issues with the high speed?

Hello John, my name is Pablo, and i am from Argentina. First, let me said that i am a huge fan of your videos, watch them over and over many times. Ok, i am bulding one of these with a motor that i got from a broken centrifugaten dry machine (don´t know how you call that, is a machine that spin real fast a dry the clothes). I doing ok, but i have some problems centering the disc. Any advice for that? Thanks!

Nice review, really enjoying the behind the scenes clips you put at the end of your videos. They always crack me up. I'm looking forward to your video tomorrow morning, have a great weekend :)

I suppose one solution to the holes is buy no hole 5" sanding discs. Very cool sander.

How many rpms is that motor? I have an old drill press motor that I might want to do this with. But I don't know how fast it should go.

Thanks for sharing your tips John, Marcelo from Brazil!

Mine is built simularly. My table is a lot like your small disk table except I pinned (dowel) right above the slot that the bolt and knob uses. This keeps the table right up against the sanding pad. HOWEVER, I suggested that I was going to use a cutting board from Walmart for my disk. Well, I did, and I regret it. I couldn't get a melamine sheet big enough that didn't cost a fortune, so I went with the cutting board...DON'T DO THIS!!! I have to press the sandpaper back on each time because it falls off. I thought the cutting board would make it easier to change pads, but it's too easy. It will stay while in use, but the next time I need it, it's slid down onto my bench. Great design, and I might upload a video of mine that is very similar to yours.

Thanks for posting, John. Some good ideas there.

Were are you buy the sander paper

Do you have build plans available for the drill powered belt sander?

Your tools and machines! Good idea on the sanding

thanks for another good video! thinking on making a disk sander myself, just need the right motor for it. do you remember the specs on the motor that you installed? what the specs should be for a disk sander motor? (in terms of RPM and power) thank you!

Es genial, muy buena maquina, no digo que la haré porque aun no se lo suficiente pero es muy útil para desarrollar ideas. Me he suscrito con varios maestros por que tengo algunos proyecto para mi hogar. Así que gracias y que Dio te bendiga.

hey John what is the RPM for disk sander

will you make plans for the drill powered belt sander?

Jon go with unedited videos...might be way better. I love the out takes.

Thanks for the inside look at

wats the power of This motor? A washing machine motor would be good?

Damn great video :) You're so inspiring guy John. Thanks for another well made video. Regards, Greg

you should maybe make some of these projects and sell them. i know there are plans for things, but to the people who don't want to build or don't have the spare time to build... just a thought

Sanding block.. didn't You thought to attach vacuum cleaner to it ? :) Cheers.

Very nice! I'm going to build me one. Thanks. Hubert - Germany

4:12 , $1000 advertising slot doesn't go far on your channel. Poor Ron didn't get a word in. LOL

i love all your videos and your tips, ive learned alot from watching your videos. But if can offer a bit of criticism the echo is very distracting in your audio.

4:13 NLP advertising on your channel :)

Lol I love videos from you john

very cool

I build a small disk sander out of regular home fan. I made it small just to have a proof of concept.

Very nice build! At the next! #PaoloBradaDIY

that talking to ones self is catching

microwave steam bend a piece of bent wood instead

Audio and Video a bit out of sync :-/ Cool video though!

Hard to beat klingspor