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okay wow ..thanks Geoff .(great? ehh i dunno but its definately a job ) ..very nice and plentiful equipment there ..And thanks for the pics ... just trying to get ideas at the moment ... Probably mounting the motor in a few days . I am thinking of mounting the motor directly underneath the unit for now to save space ...anyone have any thoughts ??on how to do this? ...The hinged approach looks do-able but Iam concerned .Will it skip around being that is directly underneath ... The hole in the bottom of the h-p unit does not allow for much of an angle ... I could always make a hinged platform connected to the back of the unit that rises when i pull the unit out for use .kinda like a folding table ....This could add some vibration though and get loose in due time ......Just trying to collect thoughts ... Somehow I have a feeling someone will say Just align everything and bolt it right there on some wood ... My first guess ...Buts since its all new to me i wanna get advice first !!!and make no mistakes ....... Greg
Under the unit on hinges would work good. Just make sure the motor is square with the arbor, and that the pulleys line up with each other. Use a good straightedge across the face of the arbor pulley, and line up the face of your motor pulley before you tighten the set screw on it. Any misalignment, and the belt will try to climb out of the pulley. To keep your motor from bouncing around, drill a hole in the back of your mount and use a bungee cord to keep tention on the mount. Don
so i did a test run today and i have a question ?...i only had a sic wheel on the shaft ...according to the level the unit is just about level and the motor is mounted on the left and is very heavy ... I think this is making the motor very bouncey ...When i try and pull down like mentioned above that does not help ...what does help is if i lift the left side up a little bit but this makes the belt not very tight but no vibrations .... so my question is this ..Does the belt need to be tight or can it be on the loose side ....??
Post by jakesrocks on Jun 22, 2010 19:44:20 GMT -5
Sounds like your pulleys aren't properly aligned with each other. If the pulleys aren't aligned, the belt will try to climb out of one of them. That will cause the motor to bounce. Did you use more than one hinge on your motor mount ? If you only used one, the mount will try to twist, throwing things out of alignment. Don
maybe so ...but if i loosen the tension ...everything runs smooth .... I used two hinges but I just added one more to make 3 to make it more sturdy ...the motor is very heavy about 15-20 lbs id say ... and mounted on the left side which I think makes it bouncy since there is no weight on the right side ... ... if i take some pressure offf the left side the heavy side for the motor everything runs smooth ... I can easily do that with a screw or something ...My question is is it okay to be a little loose ... I notcecd when I opened my tumbler the belt is loosley fitted not like the belts on my car which are very tight .... so in this situation what should it be like the car or the tumbler ... I am hoping its oaky to be loose thats a quick fix ... Also the motor itselfs shaft has some play from left to right ... probably about an eight of an inch play ... this could be part of the problem as well ... Personally I dont think its a problem but if speed is an issue here I would like to hear about it if this changes things up for speed ...
Post by jakesrocks on Jun 22, 2010 22:41:21 GMT -5
Shouldn't change your speed, unless you change the size of one pulley. It won't hurt anything if the belt is a little loose. I always run my saw belts a little loose. That way if a rock shifts, it will stop the blade, hopefully without damaging it. Gonna be off line for a few days. Hitting the road at 4:00 AM. Hope to come back with lots of neat rocks and pics. Don
I recently refurbed an old HP unit. A friend offered to let me use his sand blast cabinet to clean up the parts. That's the best way to remove all of that hardened rock crud. Even at that it took many hours. To clean any other way would take even more time.
For water, I hang a 5 gallon bucket on a hook on the wall & run a single line that I move from wheel to wheel. That way I don't have to close a valve & open another one. I run hoses from all 3 trays to a junction & then to a 5 gallon bucket. I have to keep an eye on it so it doesn't overflow all over the garage. I wear a plastic apron that has a pouch in front. I don't see much water on the floor at all. Lynn
Thanks guys ... It runs pretty smooth now but I found a small miscalculation when I mounted thee motor ... when Im not working ill try and fix that and see if it makes things even better ..as well work on leveling the whole machine out even more ...Just put in my first order for a test wheel ... a 8 inch 100 grit galaxy from John (Johnsjems) hes throwing in a free disc guard as well and gave me a great price on the wheel ... much cheaper than anywhere else on the internet ... cant wait ... I guess my next question is any tips on not damaging my new costly wheel ?... I read above they can be damaged if?? what??? happens???
Post by johnjsgems on Jun 25, 2010 10:02:32 GMT -5
If you are using the motor weight for tension it will bounce at start up at least. I would use a bolt or threaded rod to adjust tension. You want a little belt deflection like 1/2" or so if checked in center between pulleys. Over tightening will wear out arbor and motor bearings. The motor end play is normal. There are thrust washers inside to keep armature centered. These can be damaged if motor is picked up by shaft and will wear over time causing more end play.
As far as damaging the new wheel, there are break in instructions that come with the wheel. Basically cut a few agates to knock down the diamond particles. All plated wheels cut very aggressively when new due to the surface application of diamond. As with any wheel try not to jam sharp edges into the wheel and work back and forth using entire width of the wheel.
how did you prep the unit for painting? did you sand all the old paint off and prime/paint the bare metal or did you just spray over the existing? looks like i'm going to come into a very similar unit next month and will be doing a similar restoration. don't really feel like sanding it all down so I'm looking for validation that it's unnecessary tedium
Well I sanded some of the old paint down off of it on one of the hoods i pretty much sanded half the hood right down to bare metal ....But then i did a really good job cleaning it with a pressure washer ... so i skipped all that sanding and just lightly sanded everything just to rough the old paint so that the new paint would stick better... I guess the only way to know which way will hold up is after a few months or years usage ...Which I am not anywheres near at the moment ... So I dont have a definate answer for that but the paint seems well with just a light sanding ....
New video... The motor is done ... Seems very sturdy ... Comments are very welcomed !!!Test run done with one sic wheel on ... First thing I try and show with my not so good recording job is the amount (about a 1/4 inch of washers) under the bushing under the right side ... This is definately a concern of mine ...Should I be taking the whole thing apart to make the legs on the right side shorter to compensate Or do you think the washers will hold up to the job My better half tells me to get down and start filing with my hand file ... Did I mention I have been using very limited hand tools on this project as I dont own anything more power than a drywall driver drill ... Yes I used a hand saw on all of this ...Okay second ..I show a possible mistake and another concern it seems that all the places that I have sanded down on the shaft with emory cloth are already rusting without even hitting water yet !!!! Kind of like I took off a special coating that I probably should not have .... Then I show the levelness of the unit and then at last I show the motor without any support because I aligned the motor better... The motor seems much better now and barely jumpy at all when I put my finger support on the left side because the motor there is heavier I get a little more vibration on the top of the unit ....This make me think the bearings on the shaft are taking the vibrations if I make the belt looser and support the motor a little ...Basically right now the only thing holding the motor up is the belt and everythings running smooth that way ..but the motor has a tiny bounce ..if i support the motor the unit gets a tiny bounce .. and maybe its just best left without any support ....?? Everyone comment please !!! Just looking for advice .... Also you cant really see it in the video because it came out dark but the motor wooden board is mounted with 3 hinges and the pulley on the motr can be easily removed with the set screw and be aligned very well with all 3 different pulley sizes for slower speeds on the shaft pulley with just moving the pulley on the motor shaft over ....
Okay I just modified post to show the motor pictured below PLEASE LOOK AT THE VIDEO LINK ABOVE THIS !!!
It looks good. Vibration is minimal but only one wheel so far. I would replace the small washers under the bearing with either large fender washers (outside diameter equal or larger than bearing mount). It will likely work as is but would look better. The pull out drawers in any hardware stores are fun to look through and you may find something to use as spacers there. Coat the shaft with grease or oil after removing surface rust.
Post by jakesrocks on Jun 29, 2010 22:19:37 GMT -5
Just got back from 5 days in the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands. Found 6 Fairburns near Railroad Buttes, and a whole bunch of prairie, black and bubble gum agates. Also pet wood and fossil material. Did a lot of high grading, and only brought about 50 lbs of material home. Don
50 lbs thats it .. I would have to keep things under 50 lbs as well because of the luggage limits..the units doing good ...working on it slowly but surely ...sometimes i only get a few hours a week ...got some pics?
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Welcome to the Rock Tumbling Hobby Forum where we share a love of rocks and a sense of community as enduring as the stones we polish.
The RTH Forum of www.RockTumbling.com is an Amazon Associate site and we earn money from
qualifying purchases you make after clicking on our links such as this
Rock Tumbling Supplies on Amazon
link for instance, or any of our various product ads and banners. By clicking our links every time you begin your Amazon shopping
experience, you are generating a bit of revenue for the forum which helps us cover our expenses. Thank you for your support!