Toothbrush sander

I am sure someone else must have thought of this, but I have gone back through about 50 pages of Tricks & Trips and I can't find it, so...

You can make an excellent power sander using a cheap (or old) electric toothbrush:

1. Remove the bristles from the head. The bristles are usually just press-fitted into the head, and can be removed easily with pliers;
2. Cut a circle of 1-2mm double sided foam mounting tape to the same shape and size as the head of the toothbrush, and mount to the head;
3. Mount your choice of waterproof sandpaper on the mounting tape and trim to size; and
4. Conveniently sand recessed knockout marks and mould lines in places too tight for fat fingers like mine!

I find that because of the frequency of the movement of the toothbrush head I can use a much finer sandpaper than I would normally, giving a smooth finish very quickly - you just need to keep rinsing the head in clean water mixed with a few drops of dish-washing detergent to prevent clogging.

The beauty of this method is that it is very easy to buy a few extra heads and mount varying grades of paper, so even heavy sanding is not a problem. As the paper wears out it can be used for progressively finer sanding (up to transparent canopy polishing), or simply changed by removing the mounting tape and replacing it.

Hope this helps - I find mine almost indispensable.

Aaron