woodworking plans for furniture

Made of plywood, hardboard, and scrap hardwood, and custom-cut to fit your portable belt sander model, the jigs and fixtures to a workshop are the best choices to allow square edge sanding.

Start with a piece of V plywood large enough to fit your sander, allowing space for clamping at the bottom and the sides. Lay your sander on its side on the plywood and trace its profile, then cut along the line drawn.

Next, place the cutout plywood on a piece of V hardboard the same size and mark the cutout outline. Be sure to leave a ledge to support one side of the sander. After cutting the hardboard to fit, glue it to the plywood and allow the jigs and fixtures assembly to dry.

Lay the sander on the jig so that you can measure the sizes of the two clamping blocks - one for the body and one for the handle. Cut and assemble the hardwood clamps using wing nuts on bolts inserted through the base. To aid in sanding short pieces of material, make the stop fence. It attaches to the jig with V dowels.

How to use the Jig for nice jigs and fixtures
For square-edge sanding of plywood or edge-joined pieces, clamp the jig and sander to your workbench top. Make sure that you don't restrict the motor cooling cutouts, and that you don't turn down the sander clamps so tighl they'll distort the hardboard backing. When sanding edges, lay a piece of hardboard or other material under the stock in order to raise it slightly above the bottom edge of the sanding belt.

Short pieces become easier to sand, too, when you clamp the jig so the belt sander rides in its upside-down position. The stop fence keeps the material that's being sanded from running off the belt. Now you can try jigs and fixtures for your own purpose - enjoy!