Shop disc sander for small delicate work

One of my grandfathers was a patternmaker & I grew up watching him use 36" Oliver disc sander for almost every project.

I picked up a smaller one this week for those times when you just need to finesse the tiny, small delicate little things in the shop for about the same price they ask for one of those small Harbor Freight models!!! ;)

With a bit of creativity, it is amazing how much you can fit in the back of a prius, even if it looks like you are driving down the road in one of those low country hipster trucks that has been donk'd with a Carolina squat....

As long as you're working on small delicate things that should work out just fine. I'm trying to figure where I would even have room for that thing in my shop. :)

Puts my little 10" sander to shame!!

Bolt it down!
With a close-fitting table, useful for all sorts of things you didn’t think you needed to do.

Define "small(er)" please! I've never seen anything like that. (It looks like the kind of thing that could make your fingers smaller pretty quickly, to me!)

And, what kind of RPM does it run at, and how much does a sanding disk set you back for one of those things? Do you have multiple grits? So many questions...

My inner shop teacher comes out occasionally when I see these things. Please remember that a disc sander is designed to sand end grain and outside curves. It can on occasion sand edge grain but I wouldn’t try face grain. Edge grain sanding will leave visible radial sanding marks that can be difficult to remove. Keep your stock moving to prevent burning and always sand on the downward side of the table to prevent the stock from lifting up off of the table. Cut as close to the line as possible to keep sanding to a minus in. Keep a reasonable margin fo safety to prevent injury to your fingers.

That would have worked nicely with the 12”, 12’ (spindle to spindle) edge sander. Ran on 440 and scared me every time I turned it on. Full speed NOW.

But it could do a long, straight edge.

Race car builder friend once showed me that 20" disc with red semicircle that had once been half the first joint of his thumb. Slow and easy does it!

Man, those disks must be a pretty penny! I don't think I've seen 'em at Home Depot :))

Too cool, James! That thing looks like a beast. And now I want one.
Just picked up a 60s Powermatic floor drill press, and finally found a Unisaw. Need to take some pics and update the Old Woodworking Machines thread here.

You could do a ton of damage to both the object and the operator with that sander rev'd up at max speed.

I intentionally buy all of my sanders as three phase machines and power them with a VFD so that I can control the torque, speed, reverse directions, and run them off a single phase residential power source- my big Wysong edge sander, my big State spindle sander, and this big State 24" disc. Most of the time I run them in the 8-12 rpm range: extremely slow, controlled and methodical. The reverse direction is nice for different grain, but it is even better for cleaning the paper with a big rubber eraser.

Most of the luthiers I know have a very specialized shop that focuses on small delicate instruments. My shop is setup more like a traditional pattermaker's shop with many large tools that can accomplish any task, but I just chose to build instruments most of the time. Mandolins are small and relatively easy. The fact that I'm also an upright basses builder requires a completely different scale in terms of tooling.

VFDs really enable re-use of many industrial machines that otherwise are scrap, but I think are still not that well known, or at least not known as inexpensive. Precision, very high speed spindle motors with a VFD, also not expensive, could be used anywhere a Dremel or a laminate trimmer, or even a mill head provides solutions.
Anyhow, lately I’ve been using double-sided carpet tape instead of spray glue for (smaller) sander disks, including those self-adhesive ones that don’t really hold well-enough. I’m back to automotive this summer, sanding things even larger than basses. Air tools, though.

I was surprised at how roomy my mom's Prius was.
But in your story my mind jumped ahead to the image of the '49 Chevy making the loaded run from Hot Springs to Knoxville instead of the street rod pickup that is all-to-familiar today.

VFDs have really been a game-changer. Not long ago, you were stuck with either a mechanical phase converter (I had one) or a static phase converter. The static models robbed the motor of 50 percent of its power by nature of their design. VFDs are a beautiful solution, and you get very fine speed control.

If you want to use a VFD on a 3-phase motor, the Fuji FRENIC is an excellent choice. Trouble-free wiring and setup, but a good bit more expensive than the generic Chinese models that are all over eBay. As I found out the hard way with a couple of those, if you have a problem, you are on your own. Kiss your money goodbye.