Drill Press Sanding Disc
This is one of the most useful tools I’ve ever seen, And I don’t know of any place that sells them. Running wood parts under the disk sands them down to any desired thickness with a greater degree of precision than any other method I know of. I use mine for nuts and saddles, peghead veneer, edge binding and purfling, interior braces, final thickness sanding of tops, backs and sides, and many other things.
It can take off as much as .030” in mahogany at a pass using 40 grit paper.
The dial indicator is a wonderful refinement, but not absolutely essential.
The magnetic base is available from MSC Industrial Supply (MSC Item #06581300 for $21.80), and the dial indicator from Harbor Freight (Harbor Freight Part #623-OVGA for 13.99, or if you want a dial indicator with a black face, Part #3365-OVGA, same price). All you need to do to attach the indicator is add a #8 washer.



High quality abrasive cloth lasts longest. I use cloth from 40 to 100 grit, the discs can be attached with contact cement (3M Spray Adhesive), and removed with Xylol (varnish thinner).
Cutting out the center makes them work a little better and this is easily done using a piece of pipe sharpened on the end (spun in your drill press).



For sanding wide pieces such as tops and backs the edge of the disk has a tendency to gouge the work, and this can be eliminated by sanding the surface of the disk out toward the edges by about 1/64th”.

The end of the shaft is recessed about 1/8” for a reason;
when sanding narrow strips, especially thin ones, if you put a dowel post on the drill press table sticking up into the recess it prevents the work from sliding under the center to the other side of the disk which is moving toward you. I broke a lot of edge binding strips before I thought of this solution.



It’s a good idea to spin the disk against a piece of abrasive cloth to dull the edge after putting a new disk on so that the edge won’t cut you if you brush against it.

 

Here's a simple jig for cutting the peghead angle.

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Routing Tower

 

This is my edge binding routing tower.  It's basically Tom Rebbeckie,s idea made with precision linear shaft and bearings.

I make them them for other luthiers for 200.00, less the laminate trimmer.