Vertical Disc Sander/ Grinder

this is something i made completely out of stuff i had lying around in the garage, the only thing i bought was a new disk for my grinder, the tools and materials required are as follows:

• angle grinder with abrasive disc
• some 5/8" shelving (16mm)
• a little piece of scrap, anywhere around 1/2"x1/2" to 1"x1" will work (12 to 25 mm square or rectangle)
• some 1/4"plywood (6.5mm)
• random hardware
• hand saw
• drill with assorted drill bits
• saber saw or a coping saw

*optional but highly recommended*

• skill saw or router

this model is for a cheap harbor freight grinder and may have to be modified for other grinders. here's the file if you want to play with it

ok first your going to need a base and some support/ spacer things to jack your grinder up high enough to clear the wheel, i did most of my cutting with a hand saw but i had to use a saber saw for the little recess on the base, a coping saw would work aswell

mark and cut your 2 side supports, then go ahead and secure them with screws, its a good idea to pre-drill them first (dimensions may vary to no harmful effect)

ok now find a bolt that fits the handle hole for your angle grinder, mine was a 3/8" bolt about 1 1/4" long and i think they're pretty universal, if you need to remove the supports made in the previous step for this it might make it easier the bottom hole is optional, i didn't put it in but it could be convenient, after you get all that put in take four 1 1/2" grabber screws and mount the whole thing you could turn it on and try it at this point but i wouldn't recommend it

now your going to need 2 sides like the ones shown, adding rabbets will make it stronger but if you don't have the tools it will work without them

there are several ways to add these and im gonna show you 2 of them, the easiest would be with a table saw, but i don't have one so this is how i do it (these techniques can be used to make dadoes and groves as well)

method 1

mark out where you want your rabbet, clamp your piece down and using a skill saw carefully cut on the waste side of the line if you want to make this easier you can take a piece of scrap wood and put it up against the side of your saw to make a fence. once you have made the grove you can keep making cuts along side each other till you get to the end then chisel out what remains

this way is much quicker and more accurate, if you have a router you can make a little table for it and there are plenty of instructables out there that will show you how to do that. i slapped mine together with some old scrap wood and it works pretty well, take a strait bit preferably the same size as your board but if you need you can do this in multiple passes as well, set your fence out to the same thickness as your board and carefully push it through making sure your piece is against the fence at all times, you should come out with a nice little rabbet in your wood

now mount your 2 sides and measure for your top, cut it out and mount it, your almost done

one bolt is not enough to hold your angle grinder, it will destroy the threads on it in a hurry, so find some strapping material, duct tape will work if you have absolutely nothing else, i just used a little strip of metal

this is wood and grinders produce sparks, grinders by themselves are potential fire hazards, but if you want to this can be modified to be used as a grinder all you need is aluminum tape. cover the areas most hit by sparks, once you've done that turn it on and watch for any places you missed, an occasional spark isn't going to start a fire, that said i am not responsible for any fires started, i have taken a ferrocerium rod to it and have had no problems with the heat created. anyway i hope you have enjoyed this thanks for reading