Prop-Nut project for keepin' it cool

I first addressed the issue of having to do a lot of sanding about a decade ago. I built a sanding machine from two windshield wiper motors, an arduino and some switches. The piece to be sanded sat on a turntable that was slowly rotated by one of the wiper motors. The second motor drove a threaded rod to which the sander was attached. The sander would travel from the outside edge to the center and then reverse direction while the piece it was sanding slowly turned beneath it. My sander was gravity-held then so while I contemplated doing something different with the S03, I decided that experience was telling me I could trust gravity. I’d love to see someone come up with a great design, though. As a side note, if you’re using the through-pad vacuum dust holes, check out the line of abrasives that are on a mesh backing. Mirka sells them, and I just bought some of another brand from Home Depot. They are more expensive, but they last longer, don’t seem to load up as quickly and appear to handle dust better. https://www.woodcraft.com/products/abranet-5-net-grip-disc-4 .

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@Boothecus I use those sanding nets already, so I’m with you buddy on that! They’re great.

Whatever you do: don’t print in PLA and also be careful of your clamps when machining. I printed one of these ages ago for my shapeoko 3 (I have a 3 phase spindle with er11 collet) and it was great for aluminium when using a small bit to keep things cool and free from chips!

I made the mistake of using PLA however and after a few hours of use the collet fan spontaneously exploded during a job… Luckily I had a spare which also exploded as it grazed one of my clamps!

I have never been more glad to have nice Polycarb doors on my cnc enclosure, those bits of plastic shrapnel hit the doors with quite a lot of force!

the file I used: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2207950
Also, I have found that using a collet fan when cutting wood on the shapeoko ends up with chips blown all over the rails and I have had my z axis jam because of this mid job.

I machined mine from HDPE and they have held up very well. I have had no problems with chips/dust in the S03 mechanics. Perhaps the design I used (originally a bitfan from othermachine) doesn’t blow as hard as other designs. I find the chips and all but the finest dust blow to the outside edges of the wasteboard.