Bow Sander

A bow sander is a fantastic tool for sanding rounded contours, irregular surfaces, or radiused corners.

This design is very simple and easy to make, it uses a belt sander so you can quickly switch in and out the different belts when needed. Nice to hang on your tool wall and be ready for use  for a variety of sanding jobs

It is bow-shaped and has a long stroke which helps for fast sanding and comfortable to use. The narrow width strips lets you sand in tight areas.

To get started all you need is a piece of 2x4 and sanding belts. You don't need glue or screws or any other parts, you just have to make a few cuts on the table saw and band saw.

A slot was cut 1 inch deep in the 2x4. This will be for the belt to fit in. The 2x4 was long enough to make to bow sanders.

Here I roughly marked the bow and handle. The bow should be marked slightly larger than the length of the sanding belt. Later the ends will be sanded to fit the belt.

First I cut it on the bandsaw then hand sanded the piece smooth. I also sanded the handle and the ends round to get the right fit for the belt.

3"x21" belts are used. Of course larger belts can be used for a larger bow sanders. I would like to make larger ones and see how they work.



The sanding belt is cut  into roughly 1 inch wide  strips.  To do that the sandpaper is clamped down between a few blocks of scrap wood. Doing it this way will help so the belt won't kink or crease. 

 The belt is now ready to be put on the bow. There is a little flex on the bow but still needs to be worked on to get it in place. This is good because it will have good tension on the belt.

These sanders are so easy to make so  I made a second one. This is a good project for beginner woodworkers so I kept it simple. It would be nicer if hardwood was used. 

I tested my sanders out and they work great. One had more tension than the other so remember to cut the bow larger than the belt and slowly test the belt, sand a little and test again. Keep doing this until you get the perfect fit.

See Also:

                                                                                                                                     

             Moisture meter                                                   Make a Bevel Gauge                                                    

                                            

          

                                                                               

                                                                               

                   

Air raid siren

After I bought my cordless angle grinder I thought I would try  build an air raid siren. I looked on line but there wasn't very much information except for one built by Matthias Wandel. I used some of his ideas but changed a few things since I wanted to make a smaller and  portable version.

                         

                                                                       Air raid siren

The first thing to do is take apart the angle grinder and see how  to secure a base before I start building the siren.

I took off as little as I could and still had enough to work with.

I measured the inner flange  shown above. The wooden base  will fit into it. It is 2 inches and the depth is 3/8". With this kind of support I now have a good idea how to proceed building.

A 2 inch Forstner bit was used to drill a hole in a piece of 3/8" Baltic birch plywood .

                                     
The base fit  perfect on the inner flange of the grinder. The base will be trimmed down later after the siren is made.


                                     

A block is cut and a hole drilled for a bolt that will fit in the side handle thread. This block and the flange screw will make it very secure and safe to operate. Also, it  will be very easy to put it together and take apart.

After the bolt was attached the block was glued and clamped together. I let it sit overnight to ensure a strong joint.

                                         

 A circle was drawn and divided into 14 parts. Next I cut one blade and traced out seven more  blades on a 2x4. They were carefully cut with the bandsaw and then glued and clamped onto the base.

Note: the height of the blades were later reduced to 1 1/4".

My original plan was to use one set of blades and 2 stators but when I tested my first one it worked fine but it was rough. On my second attempt it exploded and blew the blades all over my shop. So I think 2 layers of blades with rings would work better. 

A jig was made for the table saw to cut circles. The rotor centre was put on a nail and turned slowly on the saw, this will help make a clean circle. 

A ring was glued onto the blades and again it was cleaned up with the table saw. After this was done another set of blades and rings were glued on. The bottom has seven blades and the top has eight blades.

The same jig used on the table saw was clamped onto the belt sander and was sanded smooth. This will help with the balance.

To make the balance better I tied a string from the rotor to my belt sander and gave it a spin. One end was off so I drilled a few holes in the blades on the heavy side. I spinned it again and it was balanced.

Seven blocks are carefully spaced and marked then glued onto the base, this will be the bottom part of the stator.  

The base can be trimmed at this time.

The same as the bottom , I traced the contour of the ring and marked curved blocks, they  are cut to make the stator. These blocks are a larger than the ends of the blades.

                                A  ring was glued on the first layer and the top part of the
                               stator was ready  for the 8 blocks.

A spanner wrench would not work to turn the lock nut so I had to make my own tool. I used two nails,  put them in a block  and spaced them to match the lock nut.  By holding the spindle lock I was able to sufficiently tighten and loosen the lock nut.                                                                                          

Conclusion

The siren turned out and just in time for halloween. It was easy to build and it did not cost anything to build.  It was made from scraps in the workshop and 1 bolt.  

I will do some testing outside and check the sound levels. 

  See also

                            

                    Zombie weapon                                                                   Marble spring gun

How to make hex drivers

Hex screws or bolts are found in many machines and tools, and if you make jigs they can come in handy. Whether it be set-screws or bolts they are great for securing objects together.

Hex drivers work good for initial loosening and tighten but what I don't like about the common hex drivers is when you have a large bolt with lots of thread it does not turn fast. A t-handle is better or you can cut an Allen key and fit it in a drill, and this will go really fast. 

The wrenches with handles are not readily available at my local hardware store so instead of buying online I decided to make my own. I have collected many wrenches over the years so I decided  to make some handles. 

I will be making the sizes that I use the most around my shop. I will stick with Imperial for now, if I have to make more that will be easy enough.  Sometimes Imperial works on a metric fastener. For example 4 mm keys are the same size as 5/32",  8 mm will work on 5/16" and 19 mm are close to 3/4".   This is good for use on consumer products because the end user can use imperial or metric on fasteners or keys and vice versa without stripping.   

              


Let's start building

A piece of oak will be used for the handles, I like the look of oak and being a hardwood it will do well in the shop and last a long time.

                               To make a clean precise cut I used my  feather board, this keeps the 

                               board tight against the fence and ensures a better cut.

 After a strip was cut I turned the blade to 45 degrees and ran it through the saw 4 more times. This will make an octagonal dowel. I think this will give the handle  a nice look.

With a sled and a stop block set at 4 inches I cut the dowel into smaller pieces. To figure out a good length  I measured a couple of different screwdriver handles in my shop and they were all 4-5 inches. 

                           

To find the centre of the octagonal dowel I cut a small block a tiny bit smaller than half the width of the dowel and made a mark. As the dowel is turned it can be marked anywhere and the intersecting lines will give you the centre.

A simple jig was clamped to the drill press. This was made with a 2x4, it had a v-groove cut in the middle and the ends were cut out for the clamps. After the  jig is lined up to match the brad point bit to the dowel  it can be clamped.  Now the  dowel will sit in the v-groove notch and just by holding by hand the dowel centers can be drilled very fast.

                                Everything lines up. 

After the holes were drilled the ends can be tapered. I will do this using my new belt sander. To do this another simple jig was made. This one has a block that swivels and a screw as a stop. The taper angles can be changed depending on how you set the stops. 

 The Allen keys can be cut either with a hacksaw or an angle grinder. I recently built this angle grinder holder and I find I am getting a lot of use out of it. 

 Epoxy is used to glue the wrenches in the handles. After plenty of glue was applied the wrench was placed in a wooden vise  and tapped in the hole.  Any glue squeeze out was cleaned up right away.

After the glue was dried the driver was put in a drill and the other end was sanded a small amount giving it a nice round edge.

Conclusion

If you work with a lot of hex screws these hex drivers with come in handy. They work great for long screws since they are more comfortable to handle and will turn faster. You will still need a second set for the initial loosening and tightening.

Making the handles octagonal and using the simple jigs for shaping helps create a nice looking tool.

I have always enjoyed making jigs and tools, what kind of tools have you made?

You may also like these:

                    

                 

   Pocket gauge                                                Dead blow mallet                                  Wood caliper   

                                                                       

                                                                                   

                                                                                                                               

7 Wood Joints You Can Make With Your Bandsaw

Joining pieces of wood together is a part of woodworking. Different joints and techniques are used to meet different requirements of what is being built. Wood type, strength, and appearance should all be considered for the purpose of the joint.

I will show you 7 different joints and with some practice these are all quite easy to make and require very few tools. A few tools are used for marking and measuring and a bandsaw for cutting. Fir and cedar are used for a nice contrast. I will show you a few instructions for some of the joints and the rest use the same technique.

Tools

There are many fancy tools and machines on the market but I wanted to make nice joints with few and simple tools. They can  be made using a handsaw but I like to cut fast so I will use a bandsaw for all the joints. 

I also made a jig to cut some angles but there are other ways to do this, such as tilting the bandsaw table. Here are a few tools that you will need.

           caliper       clamp       pencil        bevel    small square       bandsaw   

           glue     sandpaper   

How to make

To make these joints here are some important tips. Always keep a sharp pencil, carefully make your marks and cut slow and precise. Make sure you cut on the correct side of the line. Softwoods are easiest to work with. 

Bonus Tip
When the pieces are glued and clamped the wood compresses a bit. When the glue is dry you can sand the joints and they will look flawless. 

                                                                               

I will show you the steps I used for a couple of the joints. 

Dovetail Joint

This joint looks great and is a signature of craftsmanship. It is very popular in furniture making. To start  a bevel gauge  is used to mark some angles on the cedar. The angle degree or length was not important, just what looked nice. 

A piece of fir is positioned and clamped to the cedar. Now with a sharp pencil you can mark the tail that has to be cut. 

The tail is cut with the bandsaw in four cuts and ready to test.

Using a wooden mallet, the pieces are tapped together. It was a perfect fit, I took it apart and put on some glue.

Cross halving joint

Of all the joints I have made here this is the easiest one to make. Again make some marks on one piece similar to the photo. After you cut the block the second one can be placed square on top and mark that piece.

Cutting the blocks. It doesn't matter which one you cut first since both blocks should be identical.

                      Bingo, a perfect fit!

Half lap dovetail joint

This is a good looking joint and a bit more difficult to make. You can always tilt you table but I wanted to try make a jig that swivels quick so I had to modify my small bandsaw sled. I added some pins to the ends of the base to act as a stop for a swivel table. It worked out but this jig can always be refined. It may be a future project.

A sliding fulcrum and the table top are added and now I can cut any angle. The cedar is cut first then the fir was clamped and traced out the same way as the dovetail joint. This was the only joint I had to use a chisel and clean out the cedar a bit.

For the rest of the joints the same techniques are used. They all turned out clean and tight fitting. 



                              Bridle joint

                               Framework dovetail

                             I did not know the name for this so I called it an arrow                                     joint.

                                         Angle bridle joint

Conclusion

When it comes to making wood joints always start with easy ones and work your way up to the more difficult ones. Start with softwoods and experiment with different colours.

 Softwoods such as cedar and fir look great together. With  some practice you can make your own beautiful  joints. 

Do you have any experience making joints? What kind have you made? Share your feedback in the comment section. 


See also:

              Mini speed square                           Impossible dovetail

            

                         

                Make a mini hacksaw                                                           Angle drilling jig