There is a preamble to this blog post which discusses the use of bicycles as upcycling material - a link to it can be found at the bottom of this article. It will also take you to a copy of the film: Home-made Tools - Hand-powered Sander.
A whole pile of architectural drawings, patiently awaiting frames
Introduction
From
time to time I need to cut mitred corners for picture frames. This is
something I find impossible to do free hand - if I'm following my 45°
line I invariably do not keep the saw cut square to the upper face of
the wood. I have a mitre block to aid me in this operation but I never
seem to obtain beautifully butting joints. I've
seen mitre saws for sale but I dissuade myself from purchasing one as I
keep thinking of how little I'd use it. So, when I found myself with
the task of making frames, I thought about rough cutting the corner and
then achieving the final satisfactory joint by sanding the face to the
prescribed finished angle. I knew of powered disc sanders which could tidy up my cutting but I wanted something that would: 1) be difficult for me to 'over do' the sanding operation, 2) be accurate and 3) be cheap.
This led me to think:-
The Final Design |
2) a support table at 90° to the vertical face of the sanding disc and guides attached to this table at the mitre angle of 45° and
3) to make it myself out of recuperated materials.
Design
The first idea worked up to a point but highlighted a crucial error, it was impossible to mount the sanding disc to the shaft such that there was no wobble (I call it nutation in the film but that is not correct). This was a consequence of attaching a 230mm diameter disc to the hub face of about 40mm diameter.
Developing the design further I decided on using a more robust arrangement for supporting the disc, that is, using the crank assembly of a bicycle and attaching the sanding disc to the face of the pedal crank.
Most of my projects involve the use of untreated pallet wood. Sometimes on my pallet collecting 'runs' I find a pallet with a chipboard top. Now, I do not like this material because of the toxic bonding agents used in its fabrication, nevertheless, being manmade it normally has the property of being flat and the surfaces are relatively smooth. So, provided that the pallet has not been exposed to rain, or excessive loading, a chipboard pallet-top can be used for making the sanding discs.
Fabrication
Ready for deburring |
The crank levers connecting the pedals to the spindle were then cut, Iusing a grinding disc.
Crank wheel with crank removed |
From pedal to handle |
At the free end of the shortened lever I attached a wooden handle to enable the crank to be turned by hand.
The mechanism was then screwed to a small wooden pallet, ensuring that the turning handle was not obstructed. Onto this pallet I also attached a worktop of chipboard with a plastic surface (again recuperated from a pallet).
I had to have two chipboard discs on this sander. The chipboard sheet from which these discs were cut was checked for flatness by using the flat edge of a try-square, although the edge of a steel rule would work as well.
Once cut from the sheet, both discs' edges were 'cleaned-up' using a router.
I have received a few comments on the film regarding my use of power tools to produce a hand-powered machine. I do this because filming a project as it progresses, takes at least 4 times longer than if I was just making it and the power tools allow me to finish the projects in my own lifetime. Nevertheless, most of my projects can be undertaken solely with the use of hand tools. As a case in point instead of machine cutting a circular disc, it is possible to cut an octagon using a hand saw and having the same diameter, this would work just as well. As our plans for the future are to be completely off the grid, I intend to reduce the use of power tools but whilst I still have mains power I shall continue to use them.
The disc which was to be attached to the face of the crank wheel had a clearance hole cut in its centre to fit over the portion of the crank lever that remained. There already existed 3 holes in the crank wheel that I believed would be suitable for the mounting screws but, finally I drilled three more holes on the perimeter of the crank wheel to ensure the disc ran 'true'.
The second disc was fixed to the 'crank wheel disc' with 3 screws. Prior to the second disc being fitted I used a PVA glue to adhere a sheet of sandpaper to its outer face. The size of the sandpaper sheet set the maximum diameter for the disc i.e. 230mm.
Depending on the thickness of the chipboard it may be necessary to provide a clearance for any portion of the crank lever that protrudes above the outside face of the crank wheel disc. In my case it merely meant cutting a 5mm-deep recess in the centre of the discs' rear-facing surface.
I attached two guides on the worktop set at an angle of 45° to the sanding disc face.
Two guides were necessary so that the mitre face at each end of the frame piece could be sanded by the disc moving downwards.
Thus the sanding disc would rotate clockwise to sand one end and anti-clockwise for the other. If the workpiece were sanded with the disc moving upwards it would 'chatter' and be less precise
Left: Sanding disc rotating anti-clockwise.
Does it work?
The results were completely satisfactory. The finished mitre made a perfect corner for the frame
The film and a run down on bicycle upcycling can be found here
Thanks
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Cheers Andy
© Andy Colley 2014
wow! very nice post. I found it very useful. Love the final result. Thanks for the inspiration and the tips.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked the project, I use this machine on a regular basis but I believe my sawing is improving too!
DeleteThanks for your comment. Best wishes from Normandie, Andy.
Thanks for sharing this precious information. I like your concern in the post which is very useful for me as well others.
ReplyDeletewww.mitersawexpert.net
Thanks Pete.
DeleteCheers from Normandie, Andy.
great post
ReplyDeleteI just googled bicycle crankcase hand drill and found this build. I now have even more ideas for this application!
ReplyDelete