Editing Palm sander fixture for scale slabs

While working on my first restoration, I hit a small stumbling block - the 1/8" thick slab of scale material I ordered was actually somewhere around 3/16" to 1/4" thick. Rather than trying to sand the slab down by hand, I made the following fixture -- for under $12 -- in order to be able to take advantage of the time and energy saving benefits of a palm sander. 

Parts needed: 

*One 1/2" thick, flat piece of hardwood with its length and width sized to be 1" wider than the size scale slabs you like to work with.&nbsp; For example, I don't plan on making scales longer than 6" and wider than 1 1/2" from the base of their arc to the top of their arc.&nbsp; I went with hardwood for two reasons: 1) durability against use and repetitive screwing/unscrewing, 2) it's important the piece be flat.&nbsp; I don't have of milling a piece of wood to ensure it's flat.&nbsp; So I did the next best and easiest thing - I went to Home Depot, grabbed a 4" wide by 1/2" length of red oak from the aisle with wooden flooring stairwell materials, and had them cut me an 8" piece.&nbsp; Unlike all the rough cut lumber, the pieces in this section are pre-milled to be flat.&nbsp; (Cost: ~$1)<br> 
*One piece of 1/2" x 36" x 1/8" steel bar stock from Home Depot (~$3)<br> 
*One 1/4" carbide drill bit.&nbsp; You'll be drilling steel with this so it MUST be <u>carbide</u>. (~$2)<br> 
*One 1/8" carbide drill bit.&nbsp; Again, you'll be drilling steel with this so it MUST be <u>carbide</u>. (~$3)<br> 
*One packet of #8-1/2 flat head wood screws (8 screws total needed). (~$2)<br>

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Steps:<br> 

#Cut the bar stock into 4 pieces:&nbsp; 2 that are the same width as you piece of wood, and 2 that are the same length as the wood '''MINUS 1"'''.&nbsp; SEE&nbsp;PICTURES&nbsp;BELOW<br> 
#Using the 1/8" bit, drill two evenly spaced holes in both short pieces of bar stock, two evenly spaced holes in one long piece of the bar stock, and 4 evenly spaced holes in the other long piece of bar stock.&nbsp; NOTE: To drill the steel A) use a hammer and nail to tap indents where you plan to drill so the bit has something to bite into and won't 'dance' across the surface, B) put a drop or two of oil - camellia, motor, WD-40, whatever - on the indent to provide a little lubrication and cooling. C)&nbsp;drill on LOW&nbsp;speed (the lower the better), the bit will cut MUCH more quickly and effectively at low speed whereas high speed can heat up the bit, degrade, and dull it<br> 
#Use the 1/4" bit to countersink all of the 1/8" holes you just drilled.&nbsp; Be careful - it goes quick and if you're not carefull it can go all the way through and ruin the hole (i.e. you'll notice one of my long pieces have 5 holes instead of 4).&nbsp; SEE PICTURES&nbsp;BELOW<br> 
#Arrange the bar stock pieces on you piece of wood as shown below.&nbsp; Mark the holes on the wood.&nbsp; FOR&nbsp;THE&nbsp;4-HOLED PIECE&nbsp;OF&nbsp;BAR - <u>only mark TWO&nbsp;holes</u> on the wood.&nbsp;<br> 
#Use the 1/8" bit to drill the marked screw holes in the wood<br> 
#Screw the bar stock pieces to the wood<br>

The reason for 4 holes in piece of bar stock:&nbsp; If you want to work on a wider slab in the future, unscrew the two screws holding down the 4-holed bar, slide it out to the desired spot.&nbsp; Mark and drill holes in the wood for the TWO bar holes that WERE NOT&nbsp;used in the last postion.&nbsp; By staggering the holes from one position to another (e.g. zig-zagging between sets), you can set positions for many small, incremental width changes without each new set of holes overlapping/widening the previous set of holes.<br> 

That's it.&nbsp; Rubber cement you slab into the fixture. Let the cement set.&nbsp; Then pull out your palm sander and go to work thinning down you slabs to 1/8 of an inch thick.<br> 

While this is not so exact as to assure a perfect, even, absolute 1/8" thickness on a slab, it'll get well withing the ballpark.<br> 

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[[Image:Palm Sander Slab Fixture 2.JPG|left|Figure 1]]<br> 

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[[Image:Palm Sander Slab Fixture 1.JPG|left|Figure 1:]]<br> 

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[[Image:Palm Sander Slab Fixture 4.JPG|left|Figure 3]]
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−	~~[[Category:Scale Making]]~~
	While working on my first restoration, I hit a small stumbling block - the 1/8" thick slab of scale material I ordered was actually somewhere around 3/16" to 1/4" thick. Rather than trying to sand the slab down by hand, I made the following fixture -- for under $12 -- in order to be able to take advantage of the time and energy saving benefits of a palm sander.		While working on my first restoration, I hit a small stumbling block - the 1/8" thick slab of scale material I ordered was actually somewhere around 3/16" to 1/4" thick. Rather than trying to sand the slab down by hand, I made the following fixture -- for under $12 -- in order to be able to take advantage of the time and energy saving benefits of a palm sander.