Sanding disc for tablesaw

[Jerry Bruette]

Anyone use a sanding disc on their tablesaw?

I'd like to make a jig for sanding round discs and I don't have room for a dedicated disc sander so was considering a disc for the tablesaw.

Do they work and where would I get one?

[Lee Schierer]

If your saw blade turns faster than 1750 rpm, it may be too fast to use as a sander.

[ChrisA Edwards]

I know you could do this on a Shopsmith, but that had a variable speed motor and you had to turn it down to less than half the speed used for the table saw blade.

Don't see that happening on a regular table saw unless you put the motor on a VFD and still not sure that would be good for the tablesaw components.

[james manutes]

30 yrs. ago my father would buy 10"blades w/ sandpaper applied to them . I have no idea where he found them . He was sure they left a smoother piece than a standard blade . He was a salesman for a tool and die company , that probably was his source . Mike Farrington is offering a sanding disc ( no teeth ) that he has shown on his Youtube channel .

[johnny means]

I bought one years ago. The problem with it was the small diameter. You only get about three inches of blade height from a tablesaw, of which only the very front is moving at a downward trajectory. Your left with less than a couple of inches of usable sanding area that still wants to kick your material out to the side.

[Bradley Gray]

If you have a lathe it is a better option

[Jamie Buxton]

If your saw blade turns faster than 1750 rpm, it may be too fast to use as a sander.

Where does this 1750 rpm limit come from?

[Jerry Bruette]

I know you could do this on a Shopsmith, but that had a variable speed motor and you had to turn it down to less than half the speed used for the table saw blade.

Don't see that happening on a regular table saw unless you put the motor on a VFD and still not sure that would be good for the tablesaw components.

I knew Shopsmith had a disc but I didn't know about turning the speed down.

[Wayne Cannon]

I've had a 10" aluminum sanding disc for 40 years. One face is vertical and the other face has a 2-degree offset from vertical. When tilted 2 degrees, the sanding disc only touches the work at one point, like a poor man's edge sander. It works quite well for edge-sanding, especially for making fine width adjustments.

Mine was probably from Craftsman, but I found this one;
https://woodworker.com/woodtek-tapered-edge-10-sander-disc-mssu-95-430.asp

[Pete Staehling]

If you have a lathe it is a better option
Yeah, I made a 12" disk for my lathe and love it. I have a "real" dedicated 12" disk sander, but like the one on the lathe much better for many tasks. It has a plywood disk with velcro attached abrasives. I absolutely love the ability to control the speed that the lathe offers.


Where does this 1750 rpm limit come from?
I actually find the 1750 speed too fast for many tasks in my shop. I run my lathe disk at 300 rpm for many tasks. This isn't to say that for some abrasives, on some species of wood, for some tasks you couldn't get by with the speed of the table saw. Some species burn really easily even at 1750 rpm.

Shaping musical instrument parts, especially small ones, is a joy at 300 rpm compared to trying to do it at 1750.

I though it would be a pain to swap modes, but I made the disk with a metal ring that chucks up in my most used chuck so if there is no work in the chuck it takes seconds to mount the chuck. The table takes less than a minute to mount too.

[Jay Kepley]

Mike Farrington (YouTube and now Fine Woodworking contributor) uses these discs regularly. In fact, he now sells a version. The results are very impressive.

[Bruce Wrenn]

For a disk plate, you can get a steel, 100 tooth, plywood blade,and grind the teeth off. Disk will be about 9 3/4" diameter. Sanding disks can be cut using drywall circle cutting tool, and cemented to disk plate. That's how it was done prior to PSA sand paper.

[Tom Paulley]

I built the drill-powered sander from One Minute Workbench. For a few dollars in parts, (I already had an old drill) it works quite well. Very small and easy to store. https://oneminuteworkbench.com/2018/08/14/drill-powered-disc-sander/

[Brian W Evans]

Where does this 1750 rpm limit come from?

Much faster than that and wood will start to burn. I have a Grizzly belt/disc sander that I bought used. I didn't know at the time that they made essentially the same machine for metal working as for wood working, with the difference being the motor speed. Of course, I ended up with the 3400 RPM version. I use it but it requires a light touch. I also really only use the disc for rounding things off or other small tasks. If I were going to be putting something between a fence and the disc, no way I'd do it. There would be smoke and black wood.

[Jamie Buxton]

Much faster than that and wood will start to burn. I have a Grizzly belt/disc sander that I bought used. I didn't know at the time that they made essentially the same machine for metal working as for wood working, with the difference being the motor speed. Of course, I ended up with the 3400 RPM version. I use it but it requires a light touch. I also really only use the disc for rounding things off or other small tasks. If I were going to be putting something between a fence and the disc, no way I'd do it. There would be smoke and black wood.

Hmm...I have a 4" right angle grinder. Among other things, I run sanding discs on it. For instance, I use them as part of making tractor-seat style chair seats. I haven't noticed any burning. That grinder runs at 11,000 rpm. If I have my math right, that would be 138 thousand inches per minute at the edge of the disc. A 10" saw disc at 1750 rpm would be 55 thousand inches per minute at the edge of the disc. So my experience differs from the general advice. Maybe the guys who sand on a regular 10" tablesaw are okay.

[Pete Staehling]

If you have a lathe it is a better option


Where does this 1750 rpm limit come from?


Hmm...I have a 4" right angle grinder. Among other things, I run sanding discs on it. For instance, I use them as part of making tractor-seat style chair seats. I haven't noticed any burning. That grinder runs at 11,000 rpm. If I have my math right, that would be 138 thousand inches per minute at the edge of the disc. A 10" saw disc at 1750 rpm would be 55 thousand inches per minute at the edge of the disc. So my experience differs from the general advice. Maybe the guys who sand on a regular 10" tablesaw are okay.
There are lots of factors that come into play one of the biggest is wood species, but things like grit, adhesive and backing type, sanding pressure, and technique all come into play. I have found that for me at 1750 some species are fine, but cherry requires a lot of care or it scorches a dark red. That means light pressure and keeping it moving across the disc so it doesn't heat up by staying in one spot. Ideally I'd run the 12" disk sander a good bit slower for much of my work. I do just that with the lathe disk attachment, but don't have the option on the dedicated disk sander. I wish the dedicated one had a VFD.

[Brian W Evans]

Hmm...I have a 4" right angle grinder. Among other things, I run sanding discs on it. For instance, I use them as part of making tractor-seat style chair seats. I haven't noticed any burning. That grinder runs at 11,000 rpm. If I have my math right, that would be 138 thousand inches per minute at the edge of the disc. A 10" saw disc at 1750 rpm would be 55 thousand inches per minute at the edge of the disc. So my experience differs from the general advice. Maybe the guys who sand on a regular 10" tablesaw are okay.
Don't know what to tell you. I definitely get burning if I don't keep things moving.