roQhound
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2023
Posts: 104
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Post by roQhound on May 14, 2024 17:36:14 GMT -5
So I've only been using my cabbing machine for 2 months at this point, and I did a proper break-in for all the wheels. I love the Nova wheels I got, and I'm happy with the 220 Galaxy hard wheel, but the 80 Galaxy hard wheel is already struggling to remove material. I feel like the 220 is more aggresive at this point. I do like to cut agates, but I think I've only done close to a hundred at this point and not all hard materials. I'm not sure if I got a defective wheel, but I feel like I'm doing everything correctly and I take care of my equipment. I did reach out to Kingsley North to see what they might have to say, but has anyone else been disapointed in the life of their Galaxy wheels lately? I'd like to buy a sintered wheel, and DP has some aggresive looking hex wheels that might be better than a standard Galaxy wheel, but those are more than I can afford right now. I'm going to try one of the BAT textured hard wheels to see how that works. They look fairly aggressive and people seem to like their hard wheels. Maybe I'll be able to get the Galaxy wheel replaced, but I have to say I'm pretty disappointed that it already appears to be dead.
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gemfeller
Cave Dweller 
Member since June 2011
Posts: 4,070 
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Post by gemfeller on May 14, 2024 18:23:57 GMT -5
Sadly, that's pretty much the story for plated wheels IMO. Frustrating -- and expensive. Save your pennies for a sintered 60 grit. They're initially expensive but boy, do they save money in the long run! I run a metal 60 on my Genie and it works fine as long as it's balanced.
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Post by rockjunquie on May 15, 2024 4:25:15 GMT -5
Yes, they do wear quickly. However, you can get more life out of it by dressing it. There are a lot of ways to do it. I use a 220 dressing stick and run it against the wheel while it's spinning. It helps ungaze the wheel esp after you have worked a lot of hard stones- like agates.
I went through a lot of them, too. I spend a lot of time on the 80. I still have the old ones because they still have life. However, they slowed down to a maddening crawl. I now use the 60 sintered. It has lasted a long time. It is much slower now than when it was more fresh, but not nearly as slow as a worn 80.
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Post by rmf on May 15, 2024 11:04:33 GMT -5
@roqhound you did not say if it is 6" or 8". Not knowing that I would tell you my experience is with 8" wheels. I have question if you are running enough water on the wheel? That said after 100-150 cabs (about 40x30 size) on an 8" galaxy wheel the cutting speed goes down. However there is still a lot of diamond/life in the wheel but it should still be much faster than a 220 grit. The 220 grit may appear faster because it is "fresher" in that the 80 grit ground off more stuff and the 220 only grinds out the previous wheels scratches. I have tried the galaxy, a turbine wheel and the Galaxy Hex wheels all in 80 grit. All slow down after the initial 100-150 stones. My best results have come from a 80 grit Hex Galaxy over the other designs. I also have a 60 grit hex galaxy. The 60 grit chips a lot when new but now it cuts fine. Since both my 60 grit Hex and my 80 grit hex are coming to end of life I have tested a 60 grit sintered. My experience with it does not match rockjunquie experience. I have used a SiC on it but it cuts more like a 120 grit. I ordered a 30 grit sintered wheel from Baltic Abrasives and it cut 11% faster than a new 60 grit Hex plated wheel. It causes a lot of chipping that you have to manage. This is a good hogging wheel. I have more that 500 stones from it and it cuts like new. If anyone here has a sintered 40-45 grit wheel I would like to hear from you. I think that should be about equivalent to a 80 grit plated wheel. What I have been doing lately is rough out on 30 grit sintered as close to the line as possible so that chipping does not affect the line. dome the top then go to a well used 80 grit plated wheel to finish preform. After the 80 grit I dop and finish as usual. |
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roQhound
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2023
Posts: 104
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Post by roQhound on May 15, 2024 13:33:02 GMT -5
Thanks everyone for your comments. And sorry I didn't specify it's a 6" machine. It sounds like a sintered wheel is going to be in my future. Also, thanks for mentioning dressing the wheel. I'll make sure I do that to see if I can squeeze some more life out of it. My fingers are crossed that the BAT textured wheel will be a pleasent surprise and I'll make sure to share here.
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gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 4,070
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Post by gemfeller on May 15, 2024 13:49:42 GMT -5
Thanks everyone for your comments. And sorry I didn't specify it's a 6" machine. It sounds like a sintered wheel is going to be in my future. Also, thanks for mentioning dressing the wheel. I'll make sure I do that to see if I can squeeze some more life out of it. My fingers are crossed that the BAT textured wheel will be a pleasent surprise and I'll make sure to share here. I forgot to mention dressing your plated wheel. Also, reversing direction can sometimes improve cutting speed for a while. Re: 60 grit sintered: they also chip a fair bit. They can also be dressed. I just dressed mine and it's cutting much better after lots of heavy use on hard materials. |
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on May 15, 2024 15:21:17 GMT -5
Thanks everyone for your comments. And sorry I didn't specify it's a 6" machine. It sounds like a sintered wheel is going to be in my future. Also, thanks for mentioning dressing the wheel. I'll make sure I do that to see if I can squeeze some more life out of it. My fingers are crossed that the BAT textured wheel will be a pleasent surprise and I'll make sure to share here. When you do get a sintered wheel I would recommend getting one with an aluminum hub. On my 8" HP machine I have both aluminum and steel hub sintered wheels and much more prefer the aluminum hub. The aluminum hub wheels are much lighter weight than the steel hub wheels and no matter how long I spin-dry the steel hub wheels the steel hubs still rust. And I don't want to coat them with oil after each use. So from now on I will only buy aluminum hub sintered wheels. Inland, Johnson Brothers, BAT and I believe Covington all have aluminum hub sintered wheels available. |
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roQhound
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since March 2023
Posts: 104
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Post by roQhound on May 15, 2024 16:59:14 GMT -5
Thanks everyone for your comments. And sorry I didn't specify it's a 6" machine. It sounds like a sintered wheel is going to be in my future. Also, thanks for mentioning dressing the wheel. I'll make sure I do that to see if I can squeeze some more life out of it. My fingers are crossed that the BAT textured wheel will be a pleasent surprise and I'll make sure to share here. When you do get a sintered wheel I would recommend getting one with an aluminum hub. On my 8" HP machine I have both aluminum and steel hub sintered wheels and much more prefer the aluminum hub. The aluminum hub wheels are much lighter weight than the steel hub wheels and no matter how long I spin-dry the steel hub wheels the steel hubs still rust. And I don't want to coat them with oil after each use. So from now on I will only buy aluminum hub sintered wheels. Inland, Johnson Brothers, BAT and I believe Covington all have aluminum hub sintered wheels available. Yes, I'll need to go for the aluminum just for the weight. I think the weight of the steel would be too much for the motor on my machine. |
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Post by Starguy on May 16, 2024 13:03:46 GMT -5
With an aluminum hub, you may want to apply a small amount of lithium grease between the steel shaft and the aluminum hub. Electrolysis between the metals can make the wheels hard to remove in the future. With a sintered wheel, it may be a long time before you need to remove it again.
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Post by Rockoonz on May 16, 2024 16:35:24 GMT -5
Sadly, that's pretty much the story for plated wheels IMO. Frustrating -- and expensive. Save your pennies for a sintered 60 grit. They're initially expensive but boy, do they save money in the long run! I run a metal 60 on my Genie and it works fine as long as it's balanced. Any recommendations on where to buy? As soon as the current textured 80 on my Cabmate is finished I want to try the sintered 60 there. I use the 1 wheel unit for all the initial material removal since it runs with fresh water, makes the genie stay clean a lot longer that way. |
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gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 4,070
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Post by gemfeller on May 16, 2024 17:02:54 GMT -5
Sadly, that's pretty much the story for plated wheels IMO. Frustrating -- and expensive. Save your pennies for a sintered 60 grit. They're initially expensive but boy, do they save money in the long run! I run a metal 60 on my Genie and it works fine as long as it's balanced. Any recommendations on where to buy? As soon as the current textured 80 on my Cabmate is finished I want to try the sintered 60 there. I use the 1 wheel unit for all the initial material removal since it runs with fresh water, makes the genie stay clean a lot longer that way. If you're asking me specifically, I got Newsints through Kingsley but they've changed brands. They're the only ones I've had experience with so I really have no recommendation. |
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Post by chris1956 on May 16, 2024 17:39:08 GMT -5
Is there a concen with the weight of the sintered wheels and causing an imbalance on your cabbing machine? Assuming you only got one sintered wheel.
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gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 4,070
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Post by gemfeller on May 16, 2024 18:08:07 GMT -5
Is there a concen with the weight of the sintered wheels and causing an imbalance on your cabbing machine? Assuming you only got one sintered wheel. I run 1 metal sintered and 2 plated on the left side of my Genie. No imbalance problem if they're properly balanced to begin with). Can't speak for any other machine brand. I've also run 2 metal sintered on it simultaneously with no problem. It might cause wear on the bearings eventually but after about 3 years of use I'm not having a problem. |
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ctxtumblebug
having dreams about rocks
Member since August 2023
Posts: 65
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Post by ctxtumblebug on May 16, 2024 23:21:04 GMT -5
Kingsley-North has the Heirloom 6 inch sintered diamond wheels for less than $200 each. These have 6 millimeters of diamond grit which is way more than any of those plated wheels and they will last much longer than a DP Galaxy wheel.
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Post by Rockoonz on May 17, 2024 0:04:02 GMT -5
The Kingsley heirloom wheels start at 80 grit, too bad because the price is right.
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iamchris
has rocks in the head
Member since June 2023
Posts: 722
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Post by iamchris on May 17, 2024 21:50:13 GMT -5
I have nothing else to compare it to besides my club's very worn plated wheels, but I've been happy with my HP 8" sintered wheels.
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Maybe you can post some pictures here