Keeping the Cord Safe From the Sander
Use a bungie cord to keep the sander cord out of the way of the belt.
While it is a powerful and useful tool, a belt sander also has many ways of bringing out some of your most colorful language. One of the most annoying ways is when, in spite of a constant struggle to keep it out of the way, the machine’s power cord makes brief contact with the spinning belt and gets sucked up into the belly of the beast. Stopping to repair or replace a chewed-up cord is not helpful for hitting deadlines. Plugging the sander in behind you and keeping as much wire as possible off the bench helps, but the last foot or so where the cord enters the sander has to be free to move, and it is therefore the most vulnerable to damage. To keep it moving with the sander out of the way, I just lash the cord to my arm near the elbow using a short bungee. It slips on and off easily when it’s time to walk away from the bench, and it keeps the cord right where it’s needed.
—Gary Williams, Campo, Calif.
Edited and illustrated by Charles Miller
From Fine Homebuilding #266
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I like it
With hedge trimmers, I've been known to run the cord through the back of my collar and down my sleeve. A bit of a hassle, but you don't have to remember the bungee cord.
If you're right-handed throw it over your left shoulder, or right shoulder if your left handed...if you can't keep it on the shoulder your sanding with. Never a good idea to tie cords or anything to any part of your body...bungee cords or otherwise. Not a good idea to wear long sleeves, rolled, or shoved up.