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Matthew Kenney, senior editor

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In his early days as a professional woodworker, David Kuznitz of Mammoth Lakes, Calif., found himself with more time than money. In need of a wide-belt sander, an item far beyond his means, he built one. Six months of part-time effort and $2,000 later, he'd created the technical wonder you see here.

Photo: Fine Woodworking Archives

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Update - May 3, 2010: We've added a couple of new plans from some vintage magazines that useres might enjoy.

Not too long ago I wrote a blog about many of the woodworking machines that Fine Woodworking has shown you how to make. And by machines, I mean machines: a tablesaw, a 6 in. jointer, a bandsaw, and drum sanders (to name a few). At the time, none of the articles were available online. But that thanks to our great web produces (Gina and Ed), we're now able to put six of them up. Take a look and enjoy. If you feel particularly adventerous and build one of them, let us know. And if you just can't get enough, check out this blog about a shop-built bandsaw of more recent vintage.

	Building a Thickness Sander Back in December of 1990, William "Grit" Laskin teamed up with David Wren to author an article on a homebuilt thickness sander built from a simple motor, V-belt and drum. Laskin and Wren, guitarmakers by trade, came up with the concept after realizing that stationary thickness planers simply couldn't plane a guitar back or top down to the necessary 1/10 in. or less.
	Shopmade Bandsaw If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck . . . William Corneil's homemade bandsaw looks, and works, just like the real thing. Perhaps the only real difference between Corneil's bandsaw and a commercially manufactured model was the price. At $72 (in 1987 dollars of course), the price point just can't be beat!
	A Shop-Made Crosscut Saw Why move the blade when you can slide the bed? Sure, radial arm saws have their place in woodworking history but T. H. Ralph's stationary crosscut saw is cheaper, and probably more sturdy than its average radial arm counterpart. Built from angle iron, a 2-HP motor, and particleboard, Ralph's homegrown invention made its Fine Woodworking debut in 1986.

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Comments (7)

trashpicker writes: i have an 18" bandsaw made from a Gilliom kit that i've been using for 18 years. It works very well!
Posted: 8:58 pm on May 13th

trashpicker writes: i have an 18" bandsaw made from a Gilliom kit that i've been using for 8 years. It works very well!
Posted: 8:56 pm on May 13th

tom8021 writes: I wrote a blog on making a foot powered scroll saw. If anyone is interested follow the link http://lumberjocks.com/Tom8021/blog/10054 .

Thanks,
Posted: 4:16 pm on May 5th

epirnik writes: Hello everyone: I've just fixed the link to the Treadle Lathe PDF. It should be working for you. Glad to hear the material was appreciated!
Posted: 2:26 pm on April 28th

youn188 writes: Matthew, there is another excellent article on shopmade lathes by Carlyle Lynch in FWW #57. Included is a plan for an excellent wooden bed lathe. I've used one like for 20+ years- Ron

Posted: 1:58 pm on April 28th

Dean7 writes: Oh, one other thing. Would it be possible to put the single picture (with text) of David Kuznitz Wide-Belt Sander in a pdf file as well? Thanks much, Dean
Posted: 1:22 pm on April 28th

Dean7 writes: Matthew, thank you very much for posting the wonderful pdf's on the 6 machines. Please thank Gina and Ed for me also for their time and effort to make these available. Too bad there is no further information on how David Kuznitz built his amazing belt sanding machine!

Also, thanks for making Matthias Wandell's video available. I saw the earlier videos of his on the initial build but not the final results. I can only hope that I could become as capable as Matthias is.

By the way, I did notice that the Treadle Lathe article did not have a pdf available.

Posted: 1:18 pm on April 28th

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