How to safely sand a small, thin item with a belt/disc sander

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I have small, thin items measuring roughly 4"x2" with a depth of only .33". I need to sand the back of them down evenly, and have been using a belt sander to do so. However, I'm a little nervous about how close my hands are to the belt while sanding such a small item.

What can I do, or use to maximize my safety while sanding such small and thin items with a belt or disc sander?

Best Answer

Make a piece of board that looks like the following with some small 0.1 to 0.2 inch thick strips glued to it. This board would be long enough that you can hold it safely near the belt sander. The pocket in the middle will be the periphery size of the small item that you want to sand.

Stick a piece of double stick tape into the cavity bottom to hold your piece in place. Now you can hold the part up against the belt sander with ease. The length of the board will also help to eye the angles and keep it straight to the sander.

It may even be possible to use the double stick tape alone on the board without the containment cavity.

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Is it worth spending extra to get a nicer circular saw

I wouldn't worry so much about blades flying out, even when using a cheap harbor freight saw. What is more likely to happen is the motor will burn out quicker than a quality tool. I've bought many harbor freight tools for "time to time" use. I've got a drill press that's lasted quite a long while ... granted I only use it a few times a year so I got my money's worth.

I think you'd be fine with the cheap saw as long as you're not going to use it all that often. The blade won't come flying out but the motor will probably burn out and fail long before the DeWalt motor would.

Wood – Good technique for squaring-up hardwood edges

You don't say what saw you used to cut the wood, but if you use a tenon saw you should get a cleaner cut in the first place that requires less sanding. This is because the saw has finer teeth for a smoother cut and a stiffening spine that means you get a straighter cut.

Clamping a second piece of wood to use as a guide is another alternative.

Alternatively you could use a plane to remove the excess wood - but make sure that you clamp a piece of scrap wood to the end of the plank to avoid it splitting:

------> direction of plane
+---------+---+
|         |   |
|    ^    |   | <- Scrap
|    |    |   |
|    |    |   |
  direction of grain

Best Answer

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Is it worth spending extra to get a nicer circular saw

Wood – Good technique for squaring-up hardwood edges

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