The Basics of Making Homemade Belt Sanders

Believe it or not, homemade belt sanders are more common than you might think. If you want to forgo buying a belt sander and want to attempt to make your own, this article can introduce you to the procedure. It's important to understand what you're getting into before undertaking this task. Making any sort of sophisticated tool such as this can be difficult and time consuming, which is why so many people buy a belt sander rather than make one.

The first thing you'll need are detailed plans to follow. You can often find free plans online if you do a little searching. There are four basic parts to a belt sander that you will need, and they are the motor that contains driver roller, belt support, the idler roller with bracket and the base plate. As far as a motor is concerned, you have some room to be creative with your choice. Most people think that the bigger the motor is, the better off you'll be. It's a matter of preference so just choose what you like best. A totally enclosed frame is preferable to an open frame for the purposes of cutting down on dust so keep that in mind.

You might have a hard time locating rollers. If so, there are online specialty shops where you can purchase them to your specifications. They are most often made out of aluminum and come in sizes like 1/2 or 5/8 inch. Once you've got everything ready, you can start building the frame. For this, you'll need to refer to your detailed plans and will need basic tools like a drill, miter saw and chisel. After you have constructed a satisfactory frame for your belt sander you can get on with the business of assembly.

First, notch the belt support and round the idler bracket, then attach to the base plate. Slip the idler roller over the threaded rod which is attached by bolt to the bracket. Large sized washers can be helpful in stiffening the joint. After you install the motor and finish building the belt support fasten the shelf with drywall screws or another type of appropriate fastener. Finally, install the switch for powering on the motor, just make sure it can handle the type of motor you are using. The final part of making homemade belt sanders is adjusting the tracking. Once you do that, you're good to go!

Copyright 2007 James D. Sterling - All Rights Reserved

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