huskeric
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2016
Posts: 353 
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Post by huskeric on Aug 2, 2016 16:35:48 GMT -5
This is on Craigslist locally, and I wouldn't mind having this kind of capability. I wanted to check with the members here and see what your thoughts would be. They are asking $225 for this. What are the things I need to check if I go and look at it? It is a Star Diamond C-6.   I don't know what I don't know about this, but I don't see too many of these kinds of things come up for sale in my area. I mostly want a saw, but it would be awesome to have a grinder as well. |
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mloganrocks
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since May 2016
Posts: 153
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Post by mloganrocks on Aug 2, 2016 16:46:04 GMT -5
This is on Craigslist locally, and I wouldn't mind having this kind of capability. I wanted to check with the members here and see what your thoughts would be. They are asking $225 for this. What are the things I need to check if I go and look at it? It is a Star Diamond C-6. I don't know what I don't know about this, but I don't see too many of these kinds of things come up for sale in my area. I mostly want a saw, but it would be awesome to have a grinder as well. I woulpd just keep one of the grinders and install an expandable drum for your sanding and then move along to the polish...Good price on that unit... |
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Aug 2, 2016 16:50:31 GMT -5
Depends on the price. That would be an awesome machine for preforming cabochons or for cleaning up rough rocks before tumbling. I consider those silicone carbide wheels to be throwaways that would need to be replaced with 80 grit and 220 grit diamond hard wheels.
Chuck
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huskeric
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2016
Posts: 353
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Post by huskeric on Aug 2, 2016 17:02:20 GMT -5
Depends on the price. That would be an awesome machine for preforming cabochons or for cleaning up rough rocks before tumbling. I consider those silicone carbide wheels to be throwaways that would need to be replaced with 80 grit and 220 grit diamond hard wheels. Chuck Chuck- they are asking $225. |
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Post by deb193redux on Aug 2, 2016 17:22:25 GMT -5
if you can get it for $200 or less, and do not want to do more than rough out stuff for tumbling.
If you want to cab, it is not enough. Only two wheels, and hard to change. They are also SiC and you would spend about $100/wheel to upgrade to 8" course diamond grinding wheels. (Less if it is a 6" unit)
IF you want to do more, an open-ended machine that you could use belts on would be better.
But if you need a saw anyway, and want to put on nice grinding wheels, and will have another machine for finer gritts, it could be OK for $200 or less. Netter deal if the saw is 10". If it was 6", I would offer $150. It does have a motor and plumbing, and this is worth something. The blade seems to have life left.
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huskeric
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2016
Posts: 353
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Post by huskeric on Aug 2, 2016 17:32:52 GMT -5
if you can get it for $200 or less, and do not want to do more than rough out stuff for tumbling. If you want to cab, it is not enough. Only two wheels, and hard to change. They are also SiC and you would spend about $100/wheel to upgrade to 8" course diamond grinding wheels. (Less if it is a 6" unit) IF you want to do more, an open-ended machine that you could use belts on would be better. But if you need a saw anyway, and want to put on nice grinding wheels, and will have another machine for finer gritts, it could be OK for $200 or less. Netter deal if the saw is 10". If it was 6", I would offer $150. It does have a motor and plumbing, and this is worth something. The blade seems to have life left. It is a 6" unit. Appreciate the input. I like $150 much better than $225. |
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Aug 2, 2016 17:37:31 GMT -5
$200 or less if I really needed it $150 if I wanted to resell for profit. I would like to know why the saw portion is sitting in a galvanized tray. I do not believe that is normal on these.
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Post by captbob on Aug 2, 2016 17:37:53 GMT -5
I would offer $175 maybe 200 but pay their price if they didn't budge. Then upgrade the wheels for rough grinding as Chuck mentioned..
(would probably also move each wheel in towards the center a bit too once I had it)
An expandable drum wouldn't work in that you can't change the belt.
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Post by captbob on Aug 2, 2016 17:38:31 GMT -5
Good catch on the tray under the saw Chuck! Is the entire unit in the tray?
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huskeric
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2016
Posts: 353
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Post by huskeric on Aug 10, 2016 11:14:24 GMT -5
OK, I went ahead and bought this for $200. I will take some add'l pics to show what all came with it. I'm excited to do a little playing with this.
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Post by jakesrocks on Aug 10, 2016 11:38:30 GMT -5
My first saw was a Star Diamond. Good little saw. They do tend to leak where the table and tank meet. I suspect that is the reason for the catch tray under it.
Star Diamond made a gravity feed vice for those saws. If you keep an eye on Craigslist & ebay you may be able to find a complete saw going cheap to salvage the vice from. If you find one, I can help you with setup for the weight feed.
Star Diamond used a welded steel tank under their saws. Check to make sure it isn't rusted out.
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quartz
Cave Dweller 
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,359
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Post by quartz on Aug 10, 2016 13:19:21 GMT -5
I think $200 was a good deal. As said above, get a couple diamond wheels and move them in some, too close to ends as located. Personally, I'd move the motor switch out front where it's easier/quicker to get at if something goes wrong; I like waterproof toggle switches, take up lots less room.
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Post by Peruano on Aug 10, 2016 15:15:09 GMT -5
I can see why you were attracted to it. It's clean. The saw is practically pristine, but I do see the galvanized tray its setting in, and assume that Don is correct - to correct for a bit of leaking -- not a problem and based on the experience of some friends, its really a result of overfilling the saw and excess splash when functioning. Not a problem, but don't overfill.
Seeing the switch in the back and facing up reminded me of a weakness of my trim saw switch placement. Place it anywhere you find convenient, but consider making it waterproof, or turn it on its side so that some of the oil or water that's on your hand when you go to turn it off will run down and not into the switch. Historically I've kept a towel on top of my switch, because my hand is always dripping with oil when I go to turn it off. The towel catches the oil and I change it periodically - I can feel and operate the switch despite the towel covering.
You got a free buffing disc as well.
BTW there is really nothing wrong with silicon carbide wheels except you have to care for them (don't let them get waterlogged so that they tend to explode, and true them and remove sharp corners once in awhile so that they don't throw sharp pieces at you. Most importantly always spin them after you turn off the water to remove excess water. But if you are just interested in preforming rocks prior to going into the tumbler, those wheels might meet your needs. Me I'd go for hard diamond wheels as suggested (80 or 100 grit for coarse, and 200 or 280 for finer). Enjoy the ride. Someone set up that machine with love, vintage valves and handles to move it off the work bench when not in use.
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huskeric
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2016
Posts: 353
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Post by huskeric on Aug 10, 2016 22:21:55 GMT -5
Well, I got it home, and couldn't wait to try it out some... And then I discovered that I have some work to do before I play with it too much. The blade is eccentric, which I believe is just due to it not being mounted correctly. I also noticed that the motor is a bit cockeyed as well. I found some more information (Google led me right back to the RTH boards) and I found out that this is now a Barranca Diamond Cab Combo, so I have been looking through the manual for that device. I realize they are eons apart in terms of vintage, but the core is surprisingly VERY similar.
I am noticing some wobble in the whole works, and I don't know if it's due to the arbor being out of true or the motor having issues or what, but with any tool like this, the best way to see how it ticks is to take it apart (AFTER taking LOTS of pictures) check out the pieces/parts, cleaning the whole thing up a bit more and then putting it back together. I will also in all likelihood rework the wiring and at least move the switch to a new location, but I like the idea of a waterproof toggle. That would be smaller AND safer. The wheels that are on there, at least one of them, is pretty well shot, but there are some replacements that he gave me for it. They are vintage as hell, and I may just keep them for the cool factor vs. trying to use them.
Right now, I'm sitting on the hairy edge of the doghouse with my wife for buying this, so if I go out and drop what it would take to get nice new diamond wheels right now, it would be best to sell an organ or something first to pay for them. Anyone need a kidney? I can put it in the buy/sell/trade board if this isn't the right place. ;-)
For now, I think I'll spend some time combing the boards looking at everyone else's rigs and make sure I have what I need for mine. Right now, I don't know what I don't know, so trying to "improve" what I have would be a fool's errand. Thanks everyone for the input/insights!
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Post by jakesrocks on Aug 11, 2016 10:51:06 GMT -5
That wobble may be caused by an out of balance silicon carbide wheel. If you fire it up again, don't stand in front of it. Those wheels if out of balance have been known to fly apart.
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huskeric
spending too much on rocks
Member since May 2016
Posts: 353
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Post by huskeric on Aug 16, 2016 18:51:40 GMT -5
OK, I figured out that the saw blade was out of true, so that was at least PART of the problem. My bigger problem, how do I fix that? I would *think* that the arbor OD is the same (or really stinkin' close) to the ID of the blade, but this has at least a mm of play. Is there a way to center the blade on the arbor, or does it just have the wrong blade?
I am tearing it down/rebuilding it, and I want to do it properly. I am planning to make the table for it out of marine-grade HDPE so that I don't have to worry about water/warping. I also have some 3/8" rubber flooring left over from when I did our exercise room, and I will mount the saw/motor on that to help keep vibration down.
I am going to cut out some handles in the table that will also serve for hanging it on the garage wall when it's not in use. I have a stand for it built, and I need to procure the HDPE so that I can start laying out the rest of it. I found some online for about $40, which isn't too bad. I just have to get it right the first time because having to re-buy it would start to get spendy.
If anyone has pictures of their rigs that they are willing to share, I am looking for any/all great ideas to shamelessly steal. I will post pics of mine when it's completed so you can all see what NOT to do! =) Thanks!
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