Straight edged sanding on a spindle sander?

[Craig Richmond]

Has anyone made a jig or put a fence on their spindlesander to sand straight edges? Pictures?

[Roy Harding]

I haven't done this - but it seems to me that split fence, like those found on router tables, would be the beginning of a solution.

However - your feed rate will have to be rock steady to avoid sanding grooves in random spots along your straight edge.

[Craig Richmond]

I was thinking the same thing. You would either have two independent planes so one could be moved back to take the material off you wanted (like a jointer bed) or just move the whole fence back to take the material off.

[Adam Diethrich]

I would think, "no reason in the world this shouldn't work quite well."

A.W.D.


Has anyone made a jig or put a fence on their spindlesander to sand straight edges? Pictures?



I haven't done this - but it seems to me that split fence, like those found on router tables, would be the beginning of a solution.

However - your feed rate will have to be rock steady to avoid sanding grooves in random spots along your straight edge.


I was thinking the same thing. You would either have two independent planes so one could be moved back to take the material off you wanted (like a jointer bed) or just move the whole fence back to take the material off.

[glenn bradley]

I have done it and it is deceptively simple. Let me see if I can find a pic . . . . no dice but, it is about like this:

273100

Allow the abrasive to just slightly protrude out of the opening. If you want to do serious stock removal, plane a bit off the infeed side of the fence and set the outfeed side of the fence to be TDC with the drum. This provides a sort of jointer effect.

[Andrew Fleck]

No pictures from me, but you can just clamp a fence behind the spindle and feed your workpiece between the fence and spindle. I do this on occasion for narrow parts like glass stops.

[Art Mann]

I am reluctant to feed a workpiece between a horizontally rotating cutter, like a router bit or spindle in this case, and a fence because it creates a potential for binding and kickback.

[Dave Zellers]

I am reluctant to feed a workpiece between a horizontally rotating cutter, like a router bit or spindle in this case, and a fence because it creates a potential for binding and kickback.
Me too. Feather boards fore and aft would help and be the only way I would do that. It has the advantage of sanding to thickness tho...

[Andrew Fleck]

I am reluctant to feed a workpiece between a horizontally rotating cutter, like a router bit or spindle in this case, and a fence because it creates a potential for binding and kickback.

I've never had a problem with that. I wouldn't even think of trying it on a router or shaper.

[Craig Richmond]

I could see if we were talking spinning blades, but this a sander and only taking a little off each pass. Of course the fence or guide would have to be secured.