Thread: Method for blade sanding with a drill press

I'd agree that this is not the safest of setups, but using it is not the mark of Cain set upon anybody's forehead. There are some ways I think it could be improved.

The vertical drum isn't the most natural of positions in use. A lathe would be easier, but you need a paper or sheet-metal guard to keep sanding grit from the bed and saddle, where it will cause abrasion.

Wood-turners do indeed apply stain, wax or polish to spinning objects. They take great care that the pad used has no projections that can grab, and for this purpose an edge is a projection. I would expect that pad to go flying at least once in a lifetime, and nobody remembers. But with a straight razor (and razor-dull is unlikely to be dull for other purposes) you are playing in the big league.

Side loading on a bench drill is not advisable, and yet people do it with greater loads than this, and all that happens is that they may, after a long time, noticed progressive looseness of the bearing. I can't see any reason why the spindle needs to be wood, or of a diameter as small as 5/16in. A four-bolt flange beaaring, with a sealed ball race,could be bolted to the four slots in the drill table.