Sanding table

The first thing I did was build a sanding table. Later I will need to sand off the edges of the body. For this I would ideally use a spindle sander but I don't have one. Instead, I will use a press drill with a sanding drum.

The table will have three functions. The first one will allow for better control of large wood pieces. Since the body of the guitar will be 1 1/2" thick and about 15"x18", it will be difficult to keep it level with the small work area provided by the drill press.

The second function will allow the sanded pieces of wood to be equally sanded across their thickness.

The drum is mounted on a bolt-like shaft. The head of the bolt leaves a gap between the bottom sanding area of the drum and the work table. If a piece of wood were to be sanded this way (flush on the table) a non-sanded area would be left at the bottom of the piece where the gap lies (the blue part). The table solves this by raising the work area and providing a hole through which the drum can descend lower than the flush level.

The third function will allow a round guide to be fixed. This guide will be the same radius as the sanding drum and is basically a poor man's RoboSander(tm). The wheel will stop the guitar body from being sanded further than the jig attached to it.