Sandpaper cutter - Own design

[tdubnik]

While making some of my Christmas projects this year, I found myself making some custom sanding tools. This required me to cut custom pieces of sandpaper sometimes out of cloth backed sandpaper which doesn't tear well with the normal "hacksaw blade" cutters. I tediously cut the pieces with a straight edge and xacto knife. This takes some time and wasn't always accurate. It also got me thinking that there has to be a better way.

This is what I came up with. The base is 16" square 3/4" MDF. The fence and cutting rail are white oak as is the cutting sled (except for the sides which are 1/4" walnut left from another project).

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I routed the base to accept the T-track leaving it 1/4" higher than the MDF base. These have to be absolutely parallel as they are the track for the fence. The fence has dados routed on the underside that ride along the tracks and lock with t-bolts and knobs.

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The cutting arm is hinged as you can see in the photo and raises to make positioning the paper easier. When it is lowered it holds the sandpaper in place. The cutting sled rides on the cutting arm. By keeping the cutting arm in a fixed position and allowing the fence to move, I don't cut up my base.

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This is a close up of the cutting sled that rides the cutting arm. The small holes are for locating pins that position the single edged blade I use for a cutter. The socket head screws secure the clamp block.

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The last picture shows the cutting blade, locating pins and threaded inserts for the screws. I relieved the body and clamp for the spine of the blade so it would clamp securely when tightened.

This was the first project I completed after Christmas and it is working very well.

[wlhayesmfs]

I like this design thanks for sharing it

[Lodgepole]

Slick! I like the ideas of the straight arm and the replaceable blade.