Lathe tool

[rleete]

Somewhat cryptic title, so you guys can guess what it is!

The parts:

   

The ball bearing is magnetic, and it goes into the small rod on the left, followed by the bronze bushing.  There is another set in the end of the handle.


Have you guessed?  It's a self-powered sander.  By holding the mandrel (the yellow thing, below) against a spinning workpiece, it rotates, helping to eliminate sanding lines.  The mandrels (I have a set of 5) have Velcro on the face, allowing for different grits of sandpaper.  It takes just seconds to change it out, and the sanding discs are dirt cheap.  Putting the mandrel in the end of the handle allows for easy sanding of straight pieces, like pens.  Putting it in the adjustable head makes it easy to get inside bowls and the like.

   

   

   

Rockler sells something like this, and it's $90.  I wasn't about to pay that much, so I spent the entire day making one.  I actually made the handle several weeks ago, once I ordered the bushings, magnetic balls and mandrels online.  Thumbscrew was 3D printed while I made the other parts.

[EdK]

It isn't entirely clear to me how this is used on the lathe, I'm dumb. I'd like to see it in action.  

Ed

[Highpower]

Clever idea. Similar to putting a non-directional finish on disc-brake rotors.

[rleete]

Ed, check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myBwALrpYeM Skip to 9:10 to see it in action. This is actually the video I saw that inspired me to make one in the first place. I also saw this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1DR3Ptv1QQ and decided to combine the two ideas.

I bought the bushings and ball magnets through Cap'n Eddie Castelin (YouTube), but he doesn't appear to be selling them anymore. I'm sure they are available somewhere online. Mandrels were obtained from Amazon.

[EdK]

Ed

[rleete]

I used this to complete a pen I had started a long time ago. Sanding was such a chore, that I stopped making turned items.

Well, I'm happy to report that this works VERY well. Much less effort involved and sanding out radial lines takes much less time and effort as well, because it doesn't leave as many marks, and they are much less pronounced. I should have made this years ago. If you do woodturning, this is as important as sharp cutting tools.