Post by johntumbles on Apr 1, 2024 11:40:06 GMT -5
Hi all,
Please direct me elsewhere if this conversation already exists. I found discussion for saw blades but not sic belts.
I'm very new to lapidary work. I have tumbled for three years, but nothing else until now.
I just built out an NS8 Lortone arbor with 8x3 expando wheels. I'm using Kingsley North's agglomerate silicon carbide belts. I have grits 80-1200. And then I have a 3,000 covington belt and a 14k and 50k from Johnson Brothers.
I've only just started using the first belt, the 80 grit sic belt. The first stone I tried was a Mozambique agate. I wanted to "break in" the belt a bit. I'm running it with water dripping from the hood above the belt.
The agate is sparking quite a lot. More than I expected and more than I've seen on any cabbing videos online. I can smell it sparking and I can see small sparks at its edges. And the whole agate glows a bit when I polish it's face. I put the agate aside, and I tried out a cladaphora fossil (I think they're around a 3-4 in hardness). This wasn't sparking. This felt more like what I've seen in videos online.
I went back to the agate after awhile and it was still sparking. I increased the water by a lot, and the only way I could really reduce the sparking was with a ridiculous amount of water and a super light hand.
Am I making a beginners mistake somewhere obvious? Has anyone dealt with this? More water? RPMS? Agate too hard for these belts?
Thanks in advance!
John
Please direct me elsewhere if this conversation already exists. I found discussion for saw blades but not sic belts.
I'm very new to lapidary work. I have tumbled for three years, but nothing else until now.
I just built out an NS8 Lortone arbor with 8x3 expando wheels. I'm using Kingsley North's agglomerate silicon carbide belts. I have grits 80-1200. And then I have a 3,000 covington belt and a 14k and 50k from Johnson Brothers.
I've only just started using the first belt, the 80 grit sic belt. The first stone I tried was a Mozambique agate. I wanted to "break in" the belt a bit. I'm running it with water dripping from the hood above the belt.
The agate is sparking quite a lot. More than I expected and more than I've seen on any cabbing videos online. I can smell it sparking and I can see small sparks at its edges. And the whole agate glows a bit when I polish it's face. I put the agate aside, and I tried out a cladaphora fossil (I think they're around a 3-4 in hardness). This wasn't sparking. This felt more like what I've seen in videos online.
I went back to the agate after awhile and it was still sparking. I increased the water by a lot, and the only way I could really reduce the sparking was with a ridiculous amount of water and a super light hand.
Am I making a beginners mistake somewhere obvious? Has anyone dealt with this? More water? RPMS? Agate too hard for these belts?
Thanks in advance!
John
