Inland Machines.

Inland lasts a lifetime also. The lifetime of the unit. It is a very light duty unit suitable for a traveling or part time unit.

I also have a Swap Top and I've had to learn a few things about them. Now l don't want to sound like a commercial but I've learned quite a bit about mine to get the most of it. I've just started Cabbing the past 6 months and I bought one of these to start with. (Here is a link to some of the cabs I’ve done forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=ccabs&thread=34364 ) One thing I have as a benefit is I live 40 minutes from their main office in MI and I know someone who manufactures some of the parts. Here is some of lessons I've learned and maybe some of the reasons people have problems with these. Again this is only my opinion and if someone disagrees with me I gladly welcome their thoughts and or experience.
First I’ll mention the cooling system. If you try and use the screw to kink the hose as they have it designed you will never get the water to flow right. I bypass this and use an aquarium needle valve to control the water flow.
I’m not sure how old Shannon’s unit was but I know the original units came with a single speed motor. This caused a lot of problems for wear on the motor and the laps, grinders, and blades. I’m not sure if the old motors were under powered but I’ve had no problems with the power on mine.
As for the trim saw I agree something needs to be done here. My current solution seems to crank up the water floor. This makes it a little better but not good enough in my opinion. I’m going to try and plug the drain hole and use an oil bath to cool and lubricate the blade. Before I try this I want to know if the oil will cause a problem with the plastic the unit is made of. (I just made a call and I will have an answer to this tomorrow.) I’ve wanted to try this. This thread just motivated me to do it.
The Lap has a few problems which can be solved in my opinion. The first is the drain doesn’t drain fast enough. This can be fixed by drilling a couple more holes in line with the existing. Just make sure they are over the drain section in the base so you don’t get water in the motor. Another issue is you need to make sure the set screw on the arbor is tight and flat against the shaft. If you don’t it could shift and bind to the shaft. Also If you add a little grease (Get it from an auto parts store don’t buy it from inland) this will keep your motor lubed and help keep water out of the motor. Also I don’t think the laps provided with the system are enough. I bought a heavier lap to help shape and I also got the neoprene pad and a 1200 grit sanding disc to sand before polishing. This helps me get rid of the final lines because the sponge like disk forms to the Cab. I also picked up a 3000 grit lap and some of the diamond polish for difficult material.
I think the grinder is great it help me keep the preforms square. I’d love to discuss Fran’s process. I’m curious how many cabs you get out of a grinder. I’ve done over 150 preforms on mine and I’m still using the top half.
I hope this helps. Again this is some information I’ve gathered through my mistakes, talking to the manufacture and also talking with my local lapidary club which teach Lapidary 101 on these units. If anyone has questions I might be able to get answers too I’ll gladly try and get the answers. (I know I might get myself in trouble here. Oh well)
Don’t let me fool you I agree this is a cheap solution but it does work. Currently I am saving up to by a 6 wheel vertical system. I just didn’t have the patience to wait to get the vertical so I went with this. I think I will still use this system for some things once I get a vertical but I won’t be using it as much.

I started with a Swap Top and I too had problems with the motors (2 went bad in 6 months). However, they replaced them each time at no cost because they admitted they were having problems. This last one has lasted me over two years and I use it a fair amount. I did a few of the same things that Tom did to improve water flow and drainage. I also use the 60 grit lap and use it a lot for preforming and smoothing off the flat backs after the WF slab cuts. For the space I have had to work with it has been fine for learning.

I haven't used any of the laps past 170 because I have been using the Lortone Tumbler to finish my pieces.I sort of self taught myself with this unit and still use it.

If there had been some one to instruct me In the beginning and if I had the money, a Genie would have been Ideal to start out with. Next spring I WILL have the money and that is where I am headed - cabbin' crazy with the rest of these RTH Nut Jobs! LOL Don't ya just lovem?
Karock

Toad, I think they are a low cost choice for people that want a traveling (RV or Snow Bird) unit or people jumping into the hobby but not wanting to spend much. I know of several people that use them successfully but do warn people about the laps sliding down, the underpowered motor for sawing, the light duty nature, etc. I think I fall in the neutral category.

I agree that it is very portable. I too have upgraded any way I could to get better results. I have the 60 grit, the 100 grit and the 3000 grit laps as well as several mother laps that I have bought to add a layer of cork or rubber to put under the felt to add some diamond paste in the 14000, 50000 and 100000 grit. I am hoping to get some better results with that. When I first started, I ended up grinding a whole lot more material off of each stone than I do now so I would say the first few grinders only did about 100-200 cabs each. Now, because I trim them closer on the tile saw, I don't have to do as much grinding and the life has improved with each one. The last one has done about 300 at least but it is ready to be set aside and only used on soft stones. A lot of the preforms go into the tumblers or vibe but many I try to work all the way through.
Fran

Yup, the Ameritool is great, we also have one. When I was using the Inland, I also had to jury rig things to make them work better.........drainage etc. I just feel like you shouldnt have to spend your cabbing time trying to fix something to make it work just so so. The cabs I made from it looked great and it was my "first" machine. But by inexpensively jumping into the hobby as many try to do, I ended up spending more in the end. Yes, they did offer to replace my burned up motor for free. But why would I want another identical underpowered motor? I should have spent just a bit more and gotten something sturdier. As a flat lap, it will do. As a saw however......

Shan