khara
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,686
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Post by khara on Sept 23, 2022 11:31:32 GMT -5
I have a 600 grit hard wheel that I swap out for my 220/280 soft wheel once it’s really slowing down, that allows me to wear out the rest of them so that I can replace all at once. Works great and it might even cab quicker than the setup with four soft wheels. How are you identifying that the 600 hard wheel can work in place of the 220/280 soft? Are you just feeling it and comparing surface texture, then giving it a try?
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Post by roy on Oct 14, 2022 16:47:06 GMT -5
As far as I know, Johnson Bros is the only one who has it now. It's not DP. It's their own brand. OK. I read that you aren't "supposed" to mix and match brands, like Johnson Bros mixed with Nova. I also read if you replace one wheel you should replace all so they have the same level of wear. Are these guidelines true? Or just someone trying to sell their wheels? news to me
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Post by stardiamond on Oct 14, 2022 17:24:26 GMT -5
I spend 80-90% of my time on 80 grit hard; an aggressive Lithuanian top 80 and a worn but usable DP 80. The top 80 leaves significant scratches that are too much for a 220 hard but cuts very fast. The DP 80 removes the scratches and fine tunes the shape. I treat every subsequent wheel as a sanding wheel, spend very little time on each all prepping for the final polish. 220 hard, 280 soft top, 325,600,1200, 3000,14000,50,000 soft all JB. I have a Genie with 3 right side adaptors. When my 600 and 1200 wear out, I will consider buying the wider HP wheels to try them out. The only time I swapped out a bunch of wheels was on my 8 inch Star Diamond machine because it took more than an hour to disassemble and reassemble. I replace the top 80 frequently because I like speed and the rest at the end of their life.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,621
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Post by QuailRiver on Oct 14, 2022 17:27:28 GMT -5
And there's nothing wrong with using a 360 hard wheel prior to sanding with a 600 belt or soft wheel.
Back in the 70's when man-made diamonds were still really expensive, the larger the diamond particle (grit size) the more expensive it was. Which made the coarse grit wheels really costly compared to smaller grit wheels at that time. So a lot of cabbers used 180 grit diamond hard wheels for their first grind, followed by a 360 diamond hard wheel for final shaping before going to 600 diamond paste on a canvas resin or leather belt. I know that sounds like drudgery today, but after having had to use 100 and 220 grit SC wheels back in the day, a 180 diamond wheel was a vast improvement and time saver.
I still keep a 360 grit diamond hard wheel in my line-up for cabs that have stubborn scratches on the dome. No point in spending a lot of excess time and wear on a 280 soft wheel trying to remove stubborn scratches when a 360 hard diamond wheel will make quick work of them.
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Post by stardiamond on Oct 14, 2022 17:36:33 GMT -5
And there's nothing wrong with using a 360 hard wheel prior to sanding with a 600 belt or soft wheel. Back in the 70's when man-made diamonds were still really expensive, the larger the diamond particle (grit size) the more expensive it was. Which made the coarse grit wheels really costly compared to smaller grit wheels at that time. So a lot of cabbers used 180 grit diamond hard wheels for their first grind, followed by a 360 diamond hard wheel for final shaping before going to 600 diamond paste on a canvas resin or leather belt. I know that sounds like drudgery today, but after having had to use 100 and 220 grit SC wheels back in the day, a 180 diamond wheel was a vast improvement and time saver. I still keep a 360 grit diamond hard wheel in my line-up for cabs that have stubborn scratches on the dome. No point in spending a lot of excess time and wear on a 280 soft wheel trying to remove stubborn scratches when a 360 hard diamond wheel will make quick work of them. I wore out a lot of 280 soft wheels because I was misusing them and that is a mistake a lot of people still make. A 280 soft is a crutch because it cuts and feels safer than a hard wheel. Mistakes are fixed on a lower grit wheel not overusing a 280.
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,621
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Post by QuailRiver on Oct 14, 2022 18:09:34 GMT -5
And there's nothing wrong with using a 360 hard wheel prior to sanding with a 600 belt or soft wheel. Back in the 70's when man-made diamonds were still really expensive, the larger the diamond particle (grit size) the more expensive it was. Which made the coarse grit wheels really costly compared to smaller grit wheels at that time. So a lot of cabbers used 180 grit diamond hard wheels for their first grind, followed by a 360 diamond hard wheel for final shaping before going to 600 diamond paste on a canvas resin or leather belt. I know that sounds like drudgery today, but after having had to use 100 and 220 grit SC wheels back in the day, a 180 diamond wheel was a vast improvement and time saver. I still keep a 360 grit diamond hard wheel in my line-up for cabs that have stubborn scratches on the dome. No point in spending a lot of excess time and wear on a 280 soft wheel trying to remove stubborn scratches when a 360 hard diamond wheel will make quick work of them. I wore out a lot of 280 soft wheels because I was misusing them and that is a mistake a lot of people still make. A 280 soft is a crutch because it cuts and feels safer than a hard wheel. Mistakes are fixed on a lower grit wheel not overusing a 280. Everybody cabber occasionally has scratches from grinding that aren't apparent until the sanding stage. It would seem counterproductive to me to go all the way back to a coarser grit to remove the scratches, and then have to re-sand the cab all over again from a coarser grit when if you have a 360 hard wheel the scratches can be removed quickly on the 360 and then the cab can be just touched back up on the sanding wheel. Plus a 360 hard wheel is very nice to have around for turquoise and opal.
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Post by stardiamond on Oct 14, 2022 18:40:20 GMT -5
What caused the scratches? Go to the next finer wheel. Material makes a big difference. Gem Owyhee and Montana scratches aren't going to go away with a 360. Why spend the time and adding wear. Soft material like Morgan Hill is easy. Scratches will go away with a 280 or 360. What I have seen is that wheel choices are very individual. I know of two expert cabbers who start with or go right to a 60 soft.
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rockbrain
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2022
Posts: 2,487
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Post by rockbrain on Oct 14, 2022 19:31:41 GMT -5
I'm now another vote for the 220 Super Nova. I love it. Of course it's also the very first brand new soft wheel that I've used. I don't just bounce between brands on wheels, I often start on one machine and finish on another. Brand new 8" wheels on one machine and very worn 6" wheels of a different brand on another.
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,647
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Post by Tommy on Oct 15, 2022 15:14:02 GMT -5
I wore out a lot of 280 soft wheels because I was misusing them and that is a mistake a lot of people still make. A 280 soft is a crutch because it cuts and feels safer than a hard wheel. Mistakes are fixed on a lower grit wheel not overusing a 280. I've been just kind of following along with this thread without chiming in yet but I can't let this go by unnoticed. I thought I was the only one who was abusing the crap out of 280 Nova wheels - and I also burned through a bunch of them. Way more than any other wheel. I finally figured out that I needed a solution between the flat spots created by metal wheels and the jump to 280 and since I was never able to find a Nova 220, I started using an 8" expando drum. An SiC 220 grit belt is much more aggressive/effective than a 280 diamond and the perfect bridge out of metal in my opinion. I follow that up with 600 and 1000 SiC belts before bringing it to the Nova 280. Wish I had discovered this a lot sooner before I got my arms so worn out haha
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Post by rmf on Oct 16, 2022 3:33:03 GMT -5
This past weekend I went to a rock show in Huntsville AL and talked to a guy about diamond wheels. He had a guy named Don who works for Diamond Pacific on speed dial and called him. Don is in charge of the diamond wheel area. He said the 220 grit Nova wheel was originally built to make a lower cost Titan back in the day and it was later (the Titan) discontinued but the Nova wheels hung around. They have been hanging around for a long time and they are/were a low volume seller. They are now dead and they do not plan to make them anymore. They should have been killed off long ago. I told him of the forum interest but I don't think that changed his mind.
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khara
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since September 2022
Posts: 1,686
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Post by khara on Oct 16, 2022 13:34:27 GMT -5
This past weekend I went to a rock show in Huntsville AL and talked to a guy about diamond wheels. He had a guy named Don who works for Diamond Pacific on speed dial and called him. Don is in charge of the diamond wheel area. He said the 220 grit Nova wheel was originally built to make a lower cost Titan back in the day and it was later (the Titan) discontinued but the Nova wheels hung around. They have been hanging around for a long time and they are/were a low volume seller. They are now dead and they do not plan to make them anymore. They should have been killed off long ago. I told him of the forum interest but I don't think that changed his mind. Just the 220 is dead, right? They aren't stopping ALL Nova's... right?
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Post by rmf on Oct 17, 2022 12:47:34 GMT -5
This past weekend I went to a rock show in Huntsville AL and talked to a guy about diamond wheels. He had a guy named Don who works for Diamond Pacific on speed dial and called him. Don is in charge of the diamond wheel area. He said the 220 grit Nova wheel was originally built to make a lower cost Titan back in the day and it was later (the Titan) discontinued but the Nova wheels hung around. They have been hanging around for a long time and they are/were a low volume seller. They are now dead and they do not plan to make them anymore. They should have been killed off long ago. I told him of the forum interest but I don't think that changed his mind. Just the 220 is dead, right? They aren't stopping ALL Nova's... right? Correct Nova's are full steam ahead. Just the 220 grit Nova had under performing sales and has been killed off.
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