Make your Palm Sander into
A Mini-Sanding Station

When I saw this palm sander holder, in one of the popular woodworking magazines, I thought what a great idea,,,,,I'll have to have one of those for me. The information in the book was kind of sketchy as to a plan, and of course it would be, because each different type of palm sander, will require it's own custom holder.

Here's how I made mine, and the same general principles will apply to all makes of palm sander and these are the things you will need to make one for yourself.

1 piece of 3/4" plywood for the base and some 2 x 6 wood of your choice. I had some 2 x 6 pine in my scrap box and I decided to use it because pine is easy to work with. Attach a length of 2 x 6 vertically at the rear of your base. The height of this piece, as with all pieces of this sanding station, should be cut sufficiently long to allow for clearance of whatever type of palm sander you have. Then cut another piece of the 2 x 6 wood sufficiently long, so that when it's attached to the top of the rear piece, your palm sander (when mounted in the unit) will not be touching the back.

Prior to mounting the top onto the unit, you will need to drill a 3/8" hole lengthwise through the top to accept the 3/8" carriage bolts which will ultimately be securing your sander in the unit. You will also need to crosscut it about 2 1/2" from the front of the top. The positioning of this cut is shown in the photo to the left and above - the resulting pieces can be seen,,,one is attached on top and the other is the piece you see leaning against the unit in the photo. Plan carefully the size of aperature you will need to cut and using your scrollsaw or jigsaw, cut 2 half circles in either side, making sure not to cut too much off at first. The fit should be snug against the sides of the palm sander but not so tight as to do any damage. Judicious sanding and trimming may be necessary to accomodate your shape of palm sander, like on the top of my unit in the photo above around the circular hole to allow the sander to sit nicely in my unit. (see the bottom photo for the clipped corner on the right side of the top piece to make room for the sawdust collection bag).

ASSEMBLY: With glue and 1 1/2" countersunk wood screws, attach the plywood base to the bottom of your back. With glue and 3" countersunk wood screws, mount the rear part of the top to the top of the back. Insert sufficiently long 3/8" carriage bolts from the back, through the 3/8" holes you previously drilled, place your palm sander in the unit upside down, thread the carriage bolts through the holes in the front end of the top, put 1 washer and wing nut on each bolt and tighten firmly but not so as to damage your sander. Clamp the base securely to your bench, plug in the sander, and you are ready to sand small pieces at your custom built sanding station.

NOTE: The hole drilled in the front of the base is for easy storage on my pegboard storage unit, when it's not in use.

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