Sandpaper Dispenser for Woodturners

**Tim Pettigrew** · Feb 16, 2017, 01:01 PM

Have just made myself a sandpaper dispenser for sanding lathe work which both makes the various grades accessible and dispenses by using tear-off plates made from old hacksaw blades. Adapted from an original idea which once appeared on the Laymar Crafts website. Click HERE for construction details.

**Paul Alciatore** · Feb 16, 2017, 04:02 PM

That's neat. I made one for use at my lathe but had fewer sizes with larger 1" wide rolls.

Sandpaper Dispenser for Woodturners-p1010028.jpg

and

Sandpaper Dispenser for Woodturners-p1010030.jpg

It is all metal (aluminum) and the spindle is just a scrap of electrical conduit. Assembled with pop rivets. Since I use cloth backed sand paper in it, I did not see any need for a tear strip. The cloth tears straight across with no problems. I have made a nice trimming device with a hacksaw blade for sheets of sandpaper. Sorry, no photo is presently available.

I am wondering about your photo. The right section seems to show some kind of holders for the sand paper rolls. Is that factory packaging? Or did you improvise something?

**Tim Pettigrew** · Feb 17, 2017, 02:50 AM

Hi Paul, the left parts of the picture are drawings showing the front and side views of the dispenser whilst the right part is a photograph of the dispenser as constructed. I think that THIS movie clip of the dispenser in use will perhaps clarify the details. Let me know if not.

I like your metal one but I do tend to use many intermediate grades of paper when I'm sanding on the lathe, particularly if I want to get a very fine finish before the final buffing and waxing.

**Paul Alciatore** · Feb 19, 2017, 05:22 PM

Tim, I can totally understand a desire for many grades when working with wood. I do a lot of metal work and find that a combination of natural wear on the abrasive plus a few drops of oil on the paper allows a coarser grade to do the work of a finer one. I can put a real nice finish on aluminum with a 480 grit that has been oiled and with 2000 grit with oil it is almost a mirror. This is, of course, in the lathe where there is some speed involved. It is a little more difficult by hand.

From the side view in the video, it looks like the holders for the rolls are something like PVC or some other plastic pipe or tubing that has been slit for the sandpaper to come out. But your video clip seems to show that they are somewhat awkward in use. Have you thought of making that slit bigger or possibly bending the plastic with a heat gun to make it easier for the paper to come out?

Originally Posted by Tim Pettigrew

Hi Paul, the left parts of the picture are drawings showing the front and side views of the dispenser whilst the right part is a photograph of the dispenser as constructed. I think that THIS movie clip of the dispenser in use will perhaps clarify the details. Let me know if not.

I like your metal one but I do tend to use many intermediate grades of paper when I'm sanding on the lathe, particularly if I want to get a very fine finish before the final buffing and waxing.

**Christophe Mineau** · Feb 17, 2017, 02:13 PM

I like both of them ! I think if I one day invest in the full set of sandpaper rolls, I would do one like Tim.
Thanks !

**j.bickley** · Feb 17, 2017, 06:51 PM

Tim, very clever idea in keeping your sandpaper inventory within easy reach for each grit. The picture shows that the grit size goes down (increasing grit numbers) for each succeeding sandpaper. Is there a reason for that? I would put a fine grit above a coarse grit; there would be a lesser chance for loose coarse grits to cascade down and contaminate the fine grit. Anyway, thanks for the idea.

**Christophe Mineau** · Feb 18, 2017, 01:44 AM

Yes, maybe we could suggest two improvements :
_ something like a pin, colored magnet to point out where you stand (its so true that the grit numbers printed behind the paper are so much spaced that you often cannot say what grit is the little chunk you have in the hand)
_ a clip or maybe a nail (thought dangerous) to store the already used but not worn papers, should find a place somewhete to have it near to each roll of new paper

**Tim Pettigrew** · Feb 18, 2017, 03:24 AM

Very many thanks for your suggestions. Is the J for John Bickley?, anyway yes you are quite right to suggest that the coarser grits should of course be at the bottom to minimise the risk of cross contamination. I guess that the arrangement I came up with reflects my training as a geologist where, in tables of strata, the oldest layers with the highest number (in millions of years) are always placed in descending order beneath the younger (newer) layers with the lowest numbers ;-)

Christophe again you are quite right about the difficulty of finding which grade of paper as the grit sizes are very sparsely printed. The idea of the coloured magnet is one I am already using and they attach neatly to the metal of the hacksaw blades. See photo below

Sandpaper Dispenser for Woodturners-img_3466rotcr.jpg

Thanks again,
Tim

**Tim Pettigrew** · Feb 20, 2017, 05:02 AM

Hi Paul, The holders are as you have deduced, made of plastic pipe or ducting which in this instance are 54 mm outside diameter. The crucial measurement is the thickness of the pipe wall. The thickness I used was 1.5mm which means that the slit opens widely very easily (I was fumbling a bit in the movie clip, but that was just me being clumsy and not a difficulty opening the slit in the pipe). I tried using thicker plastic pipe and found that anything above about 2mm was too inflexible. All the tube is doing is supporting the 2 metre long roll and as long as the pipe opens easily along the slit there is no problem.

**Jon** · Mar 6, 2017, 09:18 PM

Congratulations Tim Pettigrew, your Sandpaper Dispenser is our Best Documented Build winner for February 2017!

Not the most complex tool, but what really stood out among the detailed documentation on your website was the interactive 3D scale animation.

Some other nicely-documented builds from February: an Adjustable Laser Cutter Platform by scorch, a Valve Holding Collet by tonyfoale, a Sheetmetal Bending Brake by Tuomas, an Engraving Pantograph by brianhw, and an Air Compressor Water Trap by jniolon. There were also two nice builds from Metaler: Lathe Back Stop and Small Boring Head. Be sure to follow the links to Metaler's site for additional documentation and technical drawings.

Tim - please confirm your email address via PM to me, and I'll get your $35 award sent out, via your choice of PayPal, Amazon, or bitcoin.

Congrats again!

Here are all of our previous monthly Best Documented Build winners: