Bill Kirkley

I used the holder to make a blade. It worked great! The conveyer belt grips really well.

I made a mounting plate to eliminate the need for C-clamps. I have updated the drawing file in my Dropbox account.

Thanks!

I finished the holder. Thanks to all for your input. I addressed Vern’s safety concern and Alan’s post on being able to rotate the holder.

The pipe holder looks pretty simple. I guess to make one you would need a wood lathe to get a piece of wood that would fit the pipe. You’d also need a welder. The photos look like they used them to finish the handles. I have only made a few blades. I remember while doing the finish sanding thinner blades wanted to flex. The pipe holders don’t provide a way to support the end of the blade. Does it matter if the blade flexes while sanding? Maybe I don’t need the support.

C Craft, the second one is the one I found on the net. Mine is loosely based on it. The first one is pretty neat! It is a hole lot simpler than mine and definitely easier to make!

I think I will go with the design pictured below.

Vern, that’s pretty cool. Thanks!

Well now that I look at it I don’t think I need the inner ring. I think a single broken ring like the outer ring would clamp the holder. We’ll see.

Alan, I will be interested in seeing what you have. I don’t think I can make perfect rings so I may go with the design pictured. I’ll sit on it and start to work next week.

Alan, I like the idea of being able to rotate the holder. I’m working with the idea shown below. Something like that would give me a way to clamp the holder to a table or post vise, and allow me to rotate the holder. It’s going to be a week before I can get back to the shop. I’ll let you all know how it turns out. Vern, I’m not sure I follow where you are going with your suggestion.

In the past I clamped the blade to a 2X4 and wedged a small piece of wood under the tip of the blade. It works great. This is a more complicated way to do the same thing! :-)

I ran across a blade holder on the net I liked. It was a square tube with two rubber lined plates used to clamp the blade. The problem is it has no support for the blade to keep it from flexing while sanding. I enjoy designing and making tools so I came up with the holder shown below. I haven’t used it to work on a blade yet but it seems to do a good job holding the ruler so I am posting it as a work in progress. I haven’t decided how to clamp the holder to a work table or a vise. In the cad drawing I have two plates for the purpose of clamping it to the table. I haven’t added those yet. Below are some photos. Here is a link to a Dropbox account that has the plans that were created using Autodesk Fusion 360: www.dropbox.com/sh/v7ekzqtfym82z8w/AACbNLtL5eANCqGgQFrrLvUSa?dl=0 There are a lot of plans from other projects. The plans for the clamp are titled “Drawing Blade Clamp.” The front bolt is used to clamp the blade. The rear bolt goes through a threaded hole in the top plate. Tightening it jacks the back of the top plate up to keep it parallel to the bottom plate. The middle bolt passes through the two pieces of conveyer belt. This holds the rubber and top plate in place.

Jheinen You are right, I meant a Jacobs chuck, which I guess is a three jaw chuck :-)

I have a milling machine and love it. I guess you know that there is a lot of stuff you need to get in addition to the machine. Some things you may need to get include: 3 jaw chuck (Jacobs chuck), collets, machine vise, hold down clamps, caliper and or micrometer, end mills. These can add to your cost.