How to Make a Paper Shredder
Paper shredders can be unreliable and costly to replace. Making one of your own--a hand crank model--can save you money and electricity, and is a good use of an old, broken shredder. Using a hand-made paper shredder is also a good option for people who don't use paper shredders very often and don't want the expense or need the heavy-use capacity of an electric one.
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Instructions
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1
Salvage the drive shaft, or spinning teeth portion, of an electric shredder. Strip it of everything but the drive shaft and bolts that were holding it in place. Take a few minutes to clean the blades, bolts and other components that you will be reusing. This can be done simply with some metal cleaner or a damp cloth. Allow to dry completely before continuing.
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2
Find a crank handle that can be attached with a bolt. A handle from a meat grinder or a peddle and crank from a bicycle would work. If the handle doesn't have a hole from a pin, drill one that will line up with the hole in the drive haft. Pound a pin through the two holes once you have them in place and lined up.
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3
Encompass the drive haft in a housing. If the drive shaft was in a housing to begin with, you only have to incorporate the handle. If it was the over-the-trash-can type, you will need to secure it in a housing in order to mount it to anything. This can be an empty metal casing or anything with three sides. Mount the drive shaft, teeth up, in the empty side and attach the handle to the outside, as explained in Step 2.
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4
Mount the hand crank paper shredder to something for easy use. This could be the underside of a desk, by simply mounting the housing to the underside of the desk and using it there. Or, you can adapting a set of drawer slides to create a paper shredder you can slide out from under the desktop when needed.
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