Edge sander table elevation handwheel

[Cary Falk]

Here is a simple and cheep solution for all of you that wished you had a table elevation wheel. I have a Jet Oscillating sander and sometimes I could use a 4th hand to raise the table and lock it down. If you are in a hurry you can still raise it up quickly like normal. It also balances the table and holds it in place when you are unlocking it.

Take a cheap HF 8" C clamp and cut the handle and clamp off of it leaving the screw and the tapped metal part of it.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/DSC_0098.jpg
Take the tapped part of the clamp and true it up on the grinder and then flatten one side. Turn a 5 1/2" handwheel and bore a hole in the center the diameter of the tapped opart of the clamp. Make a wedge to fit the flat side of the tapped metal part.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/DSC_0099.jpg


Epoxy the wedge and the tapped metal part into the wheel. cut a block of wood tu fit under the table of your sander and drill a hole the diameter of the screw. Countersink the business end of the screw into the block so it is flush with the top of the block. Mine just so happened to rest on a rib of the table so I had to countersink it down to this point.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/DSC_0100.jpg
Epoxy the business end of the clamp into the block.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/DSC_0101.jpg

Make a wood block that looks like this ot of something 1 3/4" thick.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/DSC_0102.jpg
Assemble, add a lock knob, and use silicone to adhear the block to the bottom of the table. This way it can be removed in the future easily.And there you have it. The screw in the picture looks crooked but it is a an optical illusion.

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/DSC_0103.jpg

http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/DSC_0104.jpg

I wish I chuld have made the wheel bigger but the table is off center of the supports. I needed to put the screw in the centerpoint of the table for balance. It works plenty good. Gravit does all of the work. I submitted this to a magazine about 6 months ago and haven't heard anything yet. I though I would share in case it gets rejected.

Here is a rough sketch with measurements if anybody wants to build one.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q297/caryincamas/sander.jpg

[glenn bradley]

Very cool Cary. Thanks for sharing that.

[Steve Kohn]

I'm not super mechanically inclined (my degree is in Electical Engineering) however could you do the same thing with a threaded rod and a nut?

[Cary Falk]

That should work also. It was cheaper for me at the time to get the c-clamp. I couldn't find a short piece of all thread.