redneck beltsander
A couple of years ago my brother had a little project on the go , it was a radio controlled boat. The whole project was a little rough and ready to say the least mainly beacuse he was trying to do it as cheaply as possible. It was to be a fairly large boat aprox 1400mm long.

The first job was to build the hull . Use expensive marine grade ply ?? i think not cheap packing grade ply thats much better just put a good coat of paint on it to keep the moisture out. So with the hull shapes cut out with a course cut electric jigsaw ,we ran into the first little problem. The edges had to be smoothed off to join up properly but we had no belt sander . As they say necessity is the mother of invention so with that in mind here was the solution.

roughly cut out a circle of MDF glue on some coarse sandpaper to one side. Drill a hole through the aproximate center (no need to measure my eyes are good enough). Next take one router and remove its blades and replace with the sanding disc bolt down securley. A workmate bench was to be the base to hold it. This proved to be a bit tricky as the body shape of the router meant it wouldnt sit very well. The easy solution was to strategically pack it out with plywood offcuts.

The trick is to turn the workmate over on its side so you have a veriticle sander rarther than a awkard to use horizontal sander. All that was needed now was a table to work the material from. After a quick look around it was decided that a recycling bin was the right height.A few empyy beer bottels to weigh it down and stop it mooving around with a few more as work progressed sorted. Clamp on another sheet of plywood and done.

The thing with routers is that they spin rarther fast and this thing was as unstable as a Zimbaweian economic policy. A couple of bricks helped out there. Safety cutouts ?? you are joking right? But blow me down this device would give a corrupt Nigerian health and safety inspector nightmares but it worked very well, just remember to keep your fingers clear.
I have some pics if anyone is interested.

As for the boat well thats another story.....

edit: pics avaliable here
picasaweb.google.co.uk/welgar101/102PENTX#5373985561870660754
(welgar, Tue 25 Aug 2009, 11:59, 8 replies)

Nice post mate
But a touch more racism than strictly required perhaps?
(Schrodinger's Goldfish, Tue 25 Aug 2009, 12:10, closed)

^^^
This
(hutchers, Tue 25 Aug 2009, 17:33, closed)

..
no racism intended here mateys its just conjuring up some mental images of the doggieness of the whole thing ok?
(welgar, Tue 25 Aug 2009, 19:09, closed)

What on earth?
Zimbabwean economic policy is laughable, Nigeria has few/no protections for workers.

Racism, sheesh. Trolling for a reaction, in my opinion...
(Scritty Bakerman., Tue 25 Aug 2009, 19:45, closed)

Agreed, completely.
Nothing wrong with this post.
(Pope Jamiroquai III, Tue 25 Aug 2009, 22:42, closed)

I want pics, and to hear about the boat.

(The Kwyjibo A big, dumb, balding North American ape., Tue 25 Aug 2009, 12:26, closed)

I second that
..
(Studentken is looking for motivation on, Tue 25 Aug 2009, 12:41, closed)

I like boats.
I also like well written stories, which this could have been if you'd taken time over the grammar.
Overall though this gets a B grade and a 'well done' sticker.
(Evilweevil is covered in bees, Tue 25 Aug 2009, 13:18, closed)