Anyone build a big hand-held sander?

[Nil]

I've seen threads for building your own wide belt sander, and while those look quite nice, they seem like a lot of work, and you have to make them as wide as the widest piece you want to send through.

Now if you want to flatten something using a hand-held tool, your only real option is a belt-sander, possibly with a guide to keep from digging into the surface.

What if you took an existing hand-held sander (sheet, orbital, or random orbital) and mounted a large MDF base to it and applied sand paper to the bottom of that base? It seems like you'd have a much bigger sanding area making it go faster and less likely to gouge the area being sanded...

I think my main question is whether the weight of the MDF base would be more than the sander's motor (or your wrist) could handle... Thoughts? Has anyone done something like this?

[Richard in Smithville]

I think a stroke sander would be the way to go if you plan on sanding large areas on a regular basis. A number of years ago, Canadian Home Workshop magazine published plans for building your own stroke sander. The only downfall is that you need the room to dedicate to a stroke sander.

[poolhound]

If you are doing this as a science project it might be an interesting experiment but if you just have an occasional need to sand large panels, contacting a local cabinet shop and renting time on one of their widebelt sanders would be much easier.

[drumpriest]

"Now if you want to flatten something using a hand-held tool, your only real option is a belt-sander"

I think there are a lot of hand plane users who would disagree with that statement.

As for your sander idea, how large a piece of MDF are you talking about? I would think it would wear on the motor, for sure, or just burn it up, depending upon the size of the MDF. You have to consider both the additional weight of the MDF, the surface area of the sandpaper on the bottom creating significant friction, etc...

I have a drum sander, 16-32, so it can in theory sand 32", even though it's only 16" wide. I've done some stuff over 16, but you usually have to deal with the smallest of ridges. For really large jobs I've done exactly what Jon suggests, I found a cabinet shop willing to rent me time on their time saver 43" wide belt sander.

One more thought... I have never seen a post here suggesting building an actual wide belt sander, but rather drum sanders, there is a difference. Drum sanders are typified by a 3-4" strip of sandpaper being wrapped around the drum with an angle cut so that it doesn't overlap. A wide belt sander is just that, a really wide BELT sander. As in it's 1 continuous loop that is 43" wide, and runs with tension on 2 cylinders rather than the 1 that drum sanders use.

btw, the cabinet shop I use charges under 1$ a minute, so for the rare case where I'm doing a large table or desk, it's really worth it.

[Carlos]

Every action causes an equal and opposite reaction. If you are trying to move a huge piece of sandpaper attached to a big board, you're going to end up moving the sander and your hands instead. This is why big heavy sanders work better than light plastic ones.