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Post by sandsman1 on Jan 15, 2005 15:19:26 GMT -5
i have a friend that might be able to get me some sanding belts for a good price but there aluminum oxide not silicon carbide can anybody tell me the dif,, will they wear out extra fast ? im gonna be useing them for the higher grits like 1000 or over im not going to be shaping with them
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joanna
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2004
Posts: 385
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Post by joanna on Jan 15, 2005 17:24:54 GMT -5
Aluminum Oxide is what I use for wood working. And just from my little experiment they don't hold up long at all for rocks... even softer rocks. About one rock and it's done. Had to try it you know . What size belts do you use? I was just looking at the place I order my woodworking belts (1"x42") and see that they also carry metal and stone working belts. (Hmmm ..never saw that before - I think I need some supplies.) The place is call supergrit.com, out of Gettysburg, PA. Good prices, super fast shipping. I have a catalog to go by because I believe everything they carry isn't listed on their web site.
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Post by sandsman1 on Jan 15, 2005 17:33:22 GMT -5
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Post by docone31 on Jan 15, 2005 18:20:05 GMT -5
Sands, I do not believe Aluminum Oxide will take water. Perhaps the ones you are going to use might, but I have my reservations. Corundum lasts ten times longer than Aluminum Oxide.
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Post by sandsman1 on Jan 15, 2005 19:40:43 GMT -5
thanks you two i wasent sure but i fig there was something i should know before i bought any --if there not gonna last there not gonna be a deal at any price
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Post by BearCreekLapidary on Jan 15, 2005 21:32:52 GMT -5
Hey Sands,
My experience with Aluminun Oxide belts in high school were not worth my time at all. They do not take water at all and are best avoided.
Enjoy,
John
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Post by sandsman1 on Jan 15, 2005 22:39:11 GMT -5
hi john i just got an email from him a bit ago and he said my old work is carrying mirka,3m.and norton paper he grabed me some catalogs im gonna see if they offer silicon carbide im sure they do --where i worked we carried anything to do with auto repair and painting when i was there 3 yrs ago we had just opened our 5th or 6th warehouse across the country and we had just got mirka paper and now they added norton so one of them has to have what i need---but after what all three of you said stay away from al. oxide im gonna hahaha
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WarrenA
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2003
Posts: 1,530
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Post by WarrenA on Jan 16, 2005 0:41:39 GMT -5
John, I have ordered from supergrit.com many times and have always been very satisified with their products they ship right away and have always had what I wanted in stock. I use a lot of the mirka 5" DA sanding discs for my woodworking day job. good products at good prices
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MichiganRocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
"I wasn't born to follow."
Member since April 2007
Posts: 154
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Post by MichiganRocks on Jan 16, 2005 15:26:26 GMT -5
Hey John, I bought mine from this site and have been very happy. Supergrit wants $2.75 a belt and this place only wants $2.25 per silicon carbide belt. Ordered twice and had belts within three days both times. Ron www.barbkat.com/
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Post by docone31 on Jan 16, 2005 19:25:42 GMT -5
What is the question?
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Post by Cher on Jan 16, 2005 19:32:34 GMT -5
Here's one for you doc, how do you tell exactly what size of belt you need. The book I got with my grinder is very poor to say the least. The belt is 2 inches wide, should I just take it apart and measure end to end? Also, is Silicon Carbide the best kind for stones? Hey Ron, that link you put up, they have 3 inch belts on sale for, I think it was $.75 cents each, you should check to see if they have your size. They had a ton of 'em on sale, of course, no 2 inch belts. Cher
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Post by docone31 on Jan 16, 2005 19:38:20 GMT -5
Cher, diameter times 3.1417. When you order lapidary belts, it will be for a rubber drum. THe order would read, 3 X 6, or 3 X 8. If you order by running inches, you probably do not have a belt you can really use.
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Post by Cher on Jan 16, 2005 20:00:03 GMT -5
Ok, color me confused so I took some string and went and measured it. It's 2 in wide x 28 inches long. I've just been browsing around looking for belts and the only 2 inch belts I've found were like 2 x 42 or 2 x 48. I think this grinder is more of a headache than it was worth.
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Post by docone31 on Jan 16, 2005 20:17:01 GMT -5
Are you trying to put the belt around the grinding wheel? I hope not. You will damage both the wheel, belt, and the stone if you can find a belt to fit. You can make a plywood wheel to use belts. You must make a disc, the diameter of the wheel X 3". This will recquire gluing multiple plys together to make the disc. The arbor is the diameter of the shaft of the grinder. With this, you can use strip stock for sanding. You must fill the voids with 2 ton epoxy, and use epoxy for laminating the plys. You can use fiberglass cloth between the plys with the epoxy. Screws must be used to hold the laminations untill they cure, then they must be backed out and the holes filled with epoxy. This unit must be made circular. The final shaping can be done on the grinder with the disc spinning. To secure the sanding strip, cut into the disc two inches. Epoxy the exposed wood. Drill the bottom of the slot you cut 1/2". This to hold the paper at that end. Next, drill another hole at the bottom of another slot next to the first slot you cut. The closer the better. Get an 1/2" galvanized machine bolt, five inches long. Home Depot has these. Cut off the threads. Cut a slot down the middle of the machine bolt to the head. The wood dowel will hold the first part of the strip of paper, the machine bolt will hold the back part. The thickness of the paper acts as a wedge to hold the paper to the disc. The machine bolt can be turned to take up the slack on the strip. I have also seen them done with two strips, splitting the disc in two equal parts. You will also want to radius the leading edges of the slots cut into the disc. The wood is soft enough to take the impact in sanding cabs. Much easier and safer to use a rubber drum. Kingsly North has them. About 50$, and they last forever.
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Post by Cher on Jan 16, 2005 20:33:49 GMT -5
OMG Doc ... lol I'm not a complete idiot. ;D ;D I got this grinder for Christmas that has a belt sander on one side. I'm trying to find better belts for it so I can use it to work on stones.
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Post by docone31 on Jan 16, 2005 20:47:12 GMT -5
Gotcha. If it were me, I would modify the unit to take a pulley on the motor end, get an arbor, and run from that. One of the difficulties with Chicago electric tools, they take unusual size belts, saw blades, discs etc. I ran into this issue with the dry wheel, wet wheel grinder I first started with. It worked great on steel but didn't do squat with stone. Kingsley North will probable have the belt size you need for lapidary. Other wise, you might consider using the motor for a drive motor for an arbor. Chicago Electric is low tech and their motors last like a Mack Truck. Might work well as a drive motor. Arbors can be ordered from Ace Hardware for about 25$. THe same unit sold as Lapidary is about 150$ A picture is worth a thousand words. Indeed. You can make a slave arbor unit for much less than buying one. You will also get more versatility.
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Post by Cher on Jan 16, 2005 20:56:10 GMT -5
I've got the router speed reducer coming, is it possible to replace the belt sander with an expandable drum? *sigh* Sorry to be such a pain, this is just so disappointing. Thanks for all your help Doc.
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Post by docone31 on Jan 16, 2005 20:59:21 GMT -5
Yes, you can replace the belt sander with an expandable drum. You can also keep the parts and interchange drum for belt sander. All it recquires is taking off the belt sander, and the outer hub for the sander. The drum will bolt right on using the main nut for the sander assembly. It should show the schematic on your owners manual. It is fairly simple. You can also add a water drip without ruining the motor.
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MichiganRocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
"I wasn't born to follow."
Member since April 2007
Posts: 154
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Post by MichiganRocks on Jan 17, 2005 12:52:14 GMT -5
Hey Cher, if you emal Barb at B Snyder she will email you back a price for silicon carbide belts in any size width or length that you want in most any grit size as well. Ron barbkat@zoominternet.net
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Post by Cher on Jan 17, 2005 14:22:50 GMT -5
Thanks Ron, I'll check into that. Didn't want to have to put out any more $$ right now when I'm so disgusted with the grinder anyway.
Cher
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