keith503
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since February 2007
Posts: 90
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Post by keith503 on Jun 21, 2007 10:56:04 GMT -5
Yesterday I bought a Hiachi belt sander that has 8" circular, and 4"x36 belt. I used Kingsley North to get silicon carbine 8" disks. The unit cost $149, will use it for sand t-eggs and other flat faces will let you all know how it works, when the disks come from Kingsley. The 1 that my local club has for sanding t-eggs, and ect costs $350, to get 1 made.
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Post by deb193 on Jun 21, 2007 13:52:09 GMT -5
Are you rigging some water drip or using spray bottole or somethign to catch toxic dust?
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keith503
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since February 2007
Posts: 90
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Post by keith503 on Jun 21, 2007 19:36:38 GMT -5
It is a dry sander and has a vacuum bag attachement built in with a bag.
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RockyBlue
fully equipped rock polisher
Go U.K.
Member since June 2006
Posts: 1,719
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Post by RockyBlue on Jun 21, 2007 21:00:42 GMT -5
Hey Keith!
I have the same unit that i got from Lowes all i do is plug in my vac. hose and it`s ready to go.I get all my belts and discs from Supergrit.com,there good people,Ginny is tops for service....Rocky
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keith503
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since February 2007
Posts: 90
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Post by keith503 on Jun 22, 2007 0:17:25 GMT -5
Thanks rocky I'll check them out. I got the 8" discs on the way from KingsleyNorth Lapidary INC,. but the don't have 4"x36" belts.
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Post by Tonyterner on Jun 22, 2007 9:53:30 GMT -5
Do the discs and belts hold up using them dry? I have a similar model (Delta brand) and have thought about using it since I already have a silcone carbide belt on it for sharpening tools but thought I needed to use the belt wet.
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Post by deb193 on Jun 22, 2007 11:21:15 GMT -5
I wondered the same thing.
For diamond bonds on metal or in resin, avoiding heat is important for not having the diamonds fall out. I wonder if SC is more heat tolorant then diamond stuff. I know my local glass shop does all the sanding up through 600 grit with dry SC belts. I also think the water helps clean out the grit and keep it agressive. And then there are some stones that may get surface fractures with too much heat. Agate and jasper should be pretty tolorant.
Still, with some care, this seems to be an option several folks are using.
I will be curious to see ongoing reports
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RockyBlue
fully equipped rock polisher
Go U.K.
Member since June 2006
Posts: 1,719
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Post by RockyBlue on Jun 22, 2007 11:34:42 GMT -5
Daniel is right,getting your rocks too hot can cause fractures on my sander i use a spray bottle even
if i`m doing a small job. I use the black belts and discs in 80 grit for shaping, then go gradually to finer grits, as my belts begin to wearout i save them and use them for the finer stuff if i`m out of belts.
Water helps prolong the life of your belts and helps the cleaning process,also the pink erasers will clean your belts,Hope this helps.............Rocky...PS if you sand wood it`s a must that you hook up a
vacum hose.
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keith503
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since February 2007
Posts: 90
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Post by keith503 on Jun 22, 2007 23:43:40 GMT -5
You guys are right getting the rocks hot will cause fractures. Look at this web page (www.richardsonrockranch.com/lapidary.html) scroll down till you see the high speed sander. This is what I use to polish t-egg faces, and other rock faces and slabs. It is 2700rpms, it is a dry sander (we have 1 at the lapidary shop at the rock club I belong to). I use a 7" siliconcarbide disks, starting at 100 grit going to 220 grit, then 400 grit. When what I'm working on is completely smooth and starting to shine it goes on a polish wheel til its done, The material needs to be rotated so I'll set out 10 t-eggs lets say and rotate them on 100 grit until they are ready to move to 220 grit. I have to make sure they don't get to got, thats why I work with 10 at a time. I've done 40 or so eggs since I started and it works great.
Keith
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keith503
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since February 2007
Posts: 90
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Post by keith503 on Jun 23, 2007 22:37:44 GMT -5
I have a conclusion... The sander does work, but I got 16 disks from KingleyNorth Lapidary at just under $50. I tried it on some t-eggs a thick brazilan slap, and some beach rock full of jasper and agate. For my opinion its not worth it!!! The machine goes thru disks way to fast ( I went thru 2 100 grit and am not even close to being ready to move to 220 grit.) the disks I got are siliconcarbide, but not the same as what i use on a high speed sander, but not of the same quality and they cost $1 more, like the 1 from richardsrockranch. I am going to return the non used disks, and the belt sander. I will spend the $350.00 to get a dry high speed sander and use it.
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Post by deb193 on Jun 23, 2007 23:01:11 GMT -5
www.richardsonrockranch.com/lapidary.htmlI wonder how the SC discs differ? DIffernt bonding method? They claim they are just floor sanding SC discs. I wonder how that is different form the lapidary discs? Or is the RPM of the machine the more critical issue? Keith, do you know hte RPM of the Richardson;s machine? What is the RPM of the unit you are returning?
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firewalker45
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since August 2006
Posts: 929
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Post by firewalker45 on Jun 23, 2007 23:06:49 GMT -5
Hi Keith, I bought my Richardson Ranch High speed sander on ebay. I paid $127 plus shipping. After I bought it I saw one sell on ebay for $85 plus shipping. So you might want to watch on ebay, they come up now and then. Daniel
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keith503
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since February 2007
Posts: 90
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Post by keith503 on Jun 24, 2007 9:07:52 GMT -5
Daniel: the rpms on the 1 are 2700, and 3000 on the lowes machine. Firewalker: I will watch for that. On the disks I'm not sure where the 1's from richardsons comes from or the 1's I get from a local rock shop but they are different, plus they cost $1.50/disk as opposed to $2.65/disk from Kingsley.
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Post by deb193 on Jun 24, 2007 12:35:57 GMT -5
The cost makes sense. If the Kingsley disks are optimized for lapidary, wet, and at a particular RPM, they would be in limited production. If Richardson is using floor-sanding discs, they are making zillions of those.
Can you elaborate on the difference? Different backing material? Different grit shape? Grit coverage?
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firewalker45
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since August 2006
Posts: 929
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Post by firewalker45 on Jun 24, 2007 13:31:35 GMT -5
Yes the Richardson uses the floor sanding discs.
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keith503
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since February 2007
Posts: 90
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Post by keith503 on Jun 24, 2007 14:08:37 GMT -5
I am not sure if richardson's are floor sanding disks? And if they are where are they coming from? Kingsley's are 8" with self ahesive backing. The 1's for regular high speed sander has about a 1" hole in the middle, they felt the same when I compared the 2, so I'm not sure. I would like the answer? I returned Lowes belt sander today.
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Post by deb193 on Jun 24, 2007 16:21:39 GMT -5
I read "floor sanding" on the Richardson's web site.
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Post by larrywyland3 on Jun 24, 2007 21:14:08 GMT -5
would a spray bottle and some wet/dry discs make a difference?
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Post by BuiltonRock on Jun 25, 2007 16:18:08 GMT -5
I looked at this machine and opted to buy a used arbor made for wet grinding.
John
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