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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 12, 2014 21:13:44 GMT -5
The first time I replaced mine, I probably didn't need to. I don't need to replace all of mine now, but the 280 is having a realllllllly hard time with agates and other very hard stones. It took forever to do amy sage and blood stone- both full of chalcedony. The wheel itself has a lot of wear left and it is doing the job, but it takes too long for my liking. It is really slowing me down. I think when a wheel is totally shot, it is visible. Then there is the case of how long do you want to take to finish a cab. Time is money, as they say. I am not happy about being slowed down. I'll probably use this through the season and try to turn it around and see if that helps, but after the winter, I'll need a new wheel. I sometimes wish I had a hard wheel between 220 and 280 or a hard 280. Some stones really need it. It would save wear on the 280 nova, too. I agree. My 280 nova wheel takes the brunt of the abuse trying to remove the scratches left by the 220 galaxy plus I find that I push harder on the 280 then any other wheel because that's the wheel where I try to smooth out the facets and ridges left after the hard wheels. For medium hardness stones that transition seems fine but when working with a Montana agate or a brazillian agate another wheel in between sure would help. The only issue there is the added time required to hit one more wheel. with my 8000 and 14000 wheels I am already hitting 8 wheels and then a canvas pad with 50,000 for every cab. Chuck Yeah, that would be a lot of wheels! I like what stardiamond said. I'll consider that. I only use the 220 hard to remove 80 scratches, since I do all my forming on the 80. Maybe a 220 nova instead of the 280 nova is the way to go. Being a newbie the with my first round of wheels, I thought it was me, but I was having the same trouble as I do now--- the 280 just slows me down too much.
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Post by mohs on Sept 12, 2014 22:13:26 GMT -5
so a Nova wheel is good until it wears through? is this what I'm hearing ? Thanks Ed
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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 12, 2014 22:18:12 GMT -5
so a Nova wheel is good until it wears through? is this what I'm hearing ? Thanks Ed Sorry, Ed... I got caught up and meant to get back to you. Yes, they are good until they wear through. However, they seem to cut slower the older they get. I'm gonna turn my wheel around and see if that helps.
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Post by mohs on Sept 12, 2014 22:28:52 GMT -5
Thanks Tela I understand my 600 1200 300 are all wore pretty good but I think they still polish well but who knows ? when I don't get a good finish I like to blame it on the wheels I think that soft 220 could be an extra kick I didn't know they made one do you think your hard wheels work as well after they wore from when they were new? roughing is my time consuming stumbling block can't be aggressive enough yet not so aggressive that it leaves deep nasty gouges in the rock
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Post by rockjunquie on Sept 12, 2014 22:42:44 GMT -5
Thanks Tela I understand my 600 1200 300 are all wore pretty good but I think they still polish well but who knows ? when I don't get a good finish I like to blame it on the wheels I think that soft 220 could be an extra kick I didn't know they made one do you think your hard wheels work as well after they wore from when they were new? roughing is my time consuming stumbling block can't be aggressive enough yet not so aggressive that it leaves deep nasty gouges in the rock I was blaming myself, Ed. Especially, on my first set of wheels because I didn't know better. They are polishing, just real slow. I enjoy the the first wheel more than all the others. For me the fun part is shaping. I'm pretty rough on my wheels, but they are holding up well. They can be turned, too, but ya have to swap their places. I'll do that when time comes. I really enjoy working fast. I get into a rhythm and just go with it. It really bums me out to have to slow down.
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 12, 2014 22:56:13 GMT -5
When I was working, speed was more important than cost. Free time was not a surplus. Whenever it took too long to cut, I replaced the wheel. The wheels that needed to be replaced first were the 80,220 hard and the 220 soft. Fortunately I can use jadecarver hard wheels on my stardiamond machine so I only need to pay $ for the 220 nova. One of the best thing I ever did was getting a Genie and going all diamond wheels. The very best thing was putting five 8" diamond wheels on my stardiamond machine. Once you start cutting with 8" wheels you don't want to go back to 6".
Back in the good old days you could occasionally snag a deal on a 6" nova wheel. I always tried to have new wheels in place for when the wheels I was using wore out. I keep my old wheels and they have a reasonable amount left on them. I've seen used wheels sell on ebay if they are still usable.
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Post by mohs on Sept 13, 2014 0:34:49 GMT -5
Yep I think all newbies are to hard on the wheels an expensive learning curve
those hard wheels a light touch is all it takes trying to press firmer to get them to cut faster is counter productive light touch w/ good contact is the best cost advice likely
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Post by pghram on Sept 15, 2014 9:19:51 GMT -5
Wow, what a set, couldn't pick just one but I especially like the amy sage, the oj, & the dry head.
Rich
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