Printable View
I've got a motor and want to make a 12" disk sander. How do I make the faceplate? Is there someone who manufactures them out of aluminum? I though about making one out of MDF but it seems like if I could have one machined it would be better. Any idea on the cost of that?
I took a big pulley and drilled a few holes in the arms where they flared out to the rim. I cut a piece of solid core door into a rough circle and screwed it on, centered as best I could. Used some lathe tools and files to turn it round under power.
Bill D
Eric, you might try doing some google searches. You'll find a lot of info. Here is a smattering of it:
1. Youtube videos. Here is one the seemed reasonable: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl3U7warbks
2. There are some old threads on sawmillcreek. One fellow suggested buying a faceplate for a Grizzly disk sander. IIRC, the cost was around 50 bucks. This is one of several approaches: http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...ot-disc-sander
3. The google search came up with a Sears part: Sander Disc Plate Part #: 15904501 $13.28 and in-stock
4. You might take a look at ebay using the word "faceplate". I did and came up with a seller with an 8-7/16" aluminum faceplate. It has a 1-1/16 bore, which may be bigger than your motor spindle. It is a "buy it now" for $7.99 plus shipping.
So, there is a wealth of info out there. If you are handy and have the tools, this could be an easy job. No matter what approach you take, it is likely that you'll need to either shim the sander disk or true it up. Do you have a wood lathe?
Bill DuFour's suggestion of using a pulley as the basis of a faceplate is a good one. Some pulleys are very appropriate for that and some other ones (stamped metal) may not be. Another approach would be to buy a faceplate for a Shop Smith. The have a decent thickness plate (typically aluminum). The spindle diameter on the older (and perhaps newer ones) was 5/8 diameter. If your motor has a larger shaft, it should be easy to drill out on a drill press (don't try it by hand). But, check the drill press ahead of time for being plumb and trammed. If your motor has a smaller shaft, perhaps you could put in a bushing of some sort. Just some thoughts....
ShopSmith still has that disk, it is steel, about 1/8” thick and fits a 5/8” Shaft. Currently listed for 59.95
If the OP (original poser) checks on Fleabay :D it is not unusual to see them for around 20 bucks.
If the OP has access to a lathe (either wood or aluminum), it would be easy to make an aluminum faceplate to fit whatever diameter shaft that is on the motor.
I'm hoping that the OP comes back and shares their thoughts with us.
To answer the OP's question, my guess is that the hourly machine shop rate is probably in the range of $80-120. For a "one off" job, you are not likely to get the shop's top machinist. So may it would take an hour or hour and a half billing time. This is just an estimate on my part.
Most machinists want to work from a drawing that includes tolerances. If you don't put on tolerances (an art in itself), you may indeed end up with a 12" disk but where you have unacceptable runout or the hub is either too small to fit on the shaft or is sloppy and wobbles. If you don't have a good micrometer or a good dial caliper to develop the specs, I don't think that you can adequately spec the job. If you have a very understanding machine shop, perhaps you could hand them the motor and tell them to make a 12" disk that somehow attaches to the shaft with no more the X radial runout and Y axial runout (measured at the outside diameter).
Using some sort of hub attached to a disk of wood (MDF for example) and the wood "turned" to zero runout is a much more forgiving approach.
I use the Shopsmith 12" sanding disc mentioned above on my lathe. Beall Tool Company (makers of the Beall buffing system) sells a 5/8" shaft on a #2 Morse taper. I use it to attach the disc to the lathe. The Beall adapter is internally threaded on the tapered end so you can use a "draw bar" to hold the adapter securely on the lathe.
Here's a link to the adapter, $9.90 from Beall: http://www.bealltool.com/products/turning/tapers.php
I posted a while back about making sanding discs for my lathe.
http://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.p...net&highlight=
I bought some scrap .25 thick aluminum at the local scrapyard.
The trick is to face off whatever you mount the disc to on the motor/spindle it will be running on. Then it is just a matter of truing up the edge. HSS gouges work well for cutting aluminum BTW.
I made three of these for a total cost of about $30. That way it is easy to switch grits. You might want to think about picking up a used headstock to use as your spindle.