OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 88
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 7, 2018 18:26:54 GMT -5
I bought a Lortone 2 wheel grinder from a guy and he threw in 2 Richardson Ranch grinder attachments with the rubber pads. I also came across a 3/4 HP Craftsman 3450 motor from a table saw at Habitat for Humanity, so I will be making a DIY Richardson sander from them with wood. My model is more or less like this one in the attached photo. I am thinking of making it horizontal instead, and adding a complete cowling around the sander disk with a shop vac exhaust port. Any reason that they are all upright like this? A horizontal motor mount would be more sturdy and grind from the side instead of from the bottom. Torque plane might be an issue here. I am not sure though.
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Post by johnjsgems on Jul 11, 2018 10:33:48 GMT -5
No idea why. I had a neighbor that used his without a vacuum. Looked like his garage was on fire with the big cloud of rock dust blowing out the door. Can't imagine what his lungs looked like. I guess they work fast but always looked too dangerous to me. Maybe vertical is easier to hold rock in place? Seems to me horizontal overhead design could launch rock right at the operator.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 88
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 14, 2018 16:36:13 GMT -5
Rocks could fly out at you from any orientation if you are not careful. The only thing I can think of is torque plane of the motor, which is vertical instead of horizontal. I am building a motor mount so that it can be used flat on its back or upright. I will test both orientations. I have an old shop vac to hook up to it that has a broken on/off switch, so I will rewire it to a manual cord switch. I have no interest in getting silicosis, and I have several industrial dust masks as well.
They have two Richardson Ranch dry sanders set up at the local Mt Hood Rock Club lap shop here in PDX. They seem to not have injured anyone since they have reopened the shop. At least not that I am aware of. I was looking to buy a used Richardson sander, but was given the attachments with the grinder and found a motor to drive it with. All it needs is the frame/mount woodwork.
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Post by johnjsgems on Jul 16, 2018 13:19:06 GMT -5
Sounds like some classic car ads "car is complete, only missing motor and transmission".
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 88
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 16, 2018 14:50:05 GMT -5
Actually I have the motor and transmission (and shop vac), all I need is the body!
But I have seen several home made dry sanders for sale at various rock sales and shows here. Simple enough to bolt up a frame. I have a melamine drawer that I got for $1.50 at Habitat that I am using as a base for the frame. The motor is freak'n heavy, so I added plywood to make the drawer stronger. If that does not work, I will upgrade to using 2x2 or even 2x4 framing.
The guy that sold me the dual wheel Lortone grinder thought that the 2 buffer ends attached to the ends of the grinder. They were not his though, they were from his brother's rock tools. When I got it home I realized these were not attachments for that machine (which works fine), but for a dry rock sander. So I went looking for a motor, and whallah! Habitat had one. Larger than the Richardson ones, 3/4 horse from a Sears table saw. Bullet proof. Spins like a Formula E racing engine.
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Post by johnjsgems on Jul 17, 2018 9:25:50 GMT -5
Unless the motor was built to mount in any position it will last longer bolted horizontally (not shaft down or up).
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Post by Rockoonz on Jul 17, 2018 10:50:00 GMT -5
Rocks could fly out at you from any orientation if you are not careful. The only thing I can think of is torque plane of the motor, which is vertical instead of horizontal. I am building a motor mount so that it can be used flat on its back or upright. I will test both orientations. I have an old shop vac to hook up to it that has a broken on/off switch, so I will rewire it to a manual cord switch. I have no interest in getting silicosis, and I have several industrial dust masks as well. They have two Richardson Ranch dry sanders set up at the local Mt Hood Rock Club lap shop here in PDX. They seem to not have injured anyone since they have reopened the shop. At least not that I am aware of. I was looking to buy a used Richardson sander, but was given the attachments with the grinder and found a motor to drive it with. All it needs is the frame/mount woodwork. Actually the hs sanders at the club's shop have been removed. There was never a serious injury but we went through lots of bandaids.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 88
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 17, 2018 16:22:18 GMT -5
Rocks could fly out at you from any orientation if you are not careful. The only thing I can think of is torque plane of the motor, which is vertical instead of horizontal. I am building a motor mount so that it can be used flat on its back or upright. I will test both orientations. I have an old shop vac to hook up to it that has a broken on/off switch, so I will rewire it to a manual cord switch. I have no interest in getting silicosis, and I have several industrial dust masks as well. They have two Richardson Ranch dry sanders set up at the local Mt Hood Rock Club lap shop here in PDX. They seem to not have injured anyone since they have reopened the shop. At least not that I am aware of. I was looking to buy a used Richardson sander, but was given the attachments with the grinder and found a motor to drive it with. All it needs is the frame/mount woodwork. Actually the hs sanders at the club's shop have been removed. There was never a serious injury but we went through lots of bandaids. Good to know. I have not been there in a while, obviously. I have my own rock shop at home now. And a supply of BandAids.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 88
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 17, 2018 16:29:26 GMT -5
Unless the motor was built to mount in any position it will last longer bolted horizontally (not shaft down or up). Good point. I had not thought of that. This motor that I got came out of a table saw and not a drill press. So it was designed to run horizontally and not vertically. I am nearly finished with the cabinet work on it.
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Post by Rockoonz on Jul 17, 2018 19:22:50 GMT -5
I think that the reason the Richardsons sanders are made the way they are is the intended use and safety. Since Thunder eggs is their primary business cupping an egg half in your hands is ideal. You can see your progress without your eyes being in a place that a shredding sandpaper sheet is likely to go. If you're holding the piece with gravity keeping it in your hands your fingers are less likely to stray past the surface and get sanded or sliced with the edge of the sanding disc. Vertical disc sanders used for wood or metal typically have a scatter guard and a 90 degree rest due to the safety issues. If your motor has sealed ball bearings, as opposed to sleeve bearings and oiling locations, it makes no difference what your shaft direction is. I have seen home made sanders with a pivot point so they can run horizontal, vertical, and anywhere between.
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Post by woodman on Jul 17, 2018 21:01:26 GMT -5
I think that the reason the Richardsons sanders are made the way they are is the intended use and safety. Since Thunder eggs is their primary business cupping an egg half in your hands is ideal. You can see your progress without your eyes being in a place that a shredding sandpaper sheet is likely to go. If you're holding the piece with gravity keeping it in your hands your fingers are less likely to stray past the surface and get sanded or sliced with the edge of the sanding disc. Vertical disc sanders used for wood or metal typically have a scatter guard and a 90 degree rest due to the safety issues. If your motor has sealed ball bearings, as opposed to sleeve bearings and oiling locations, it makes no difference what your shaft direction is. I have seen home made sanders with a pivot point so they can run horizontal, vertical, and anywhere between. I wouldn't mind having one just to do eggs on, but I really don't need one since I have the flat lap and bull wheel. If I had one , it would only be used for eggs and egg sized chunks never slabs.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 88
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 17, 2018 23:31:02 GMT -5
I think that the reason the Richardsons sanders are made the way they are is the intended use and safety. Since Thunder eggs is their primary business cupping an egg half in your hands is ideal. You can see your progress without your eyes being in a place that a shredding sandpaper sheet is likely to go. If you're holding the piece with gravity keeping it in your hands your fingers are less likely to stray past the surface and get sanded or sliced with the edge of the sanding disc. Vertical disc sanders used for wood or metal typically have a scatter guard and a 90 degree rest due to the safety issues. If your motor has sealed ball bearings, as opposed to sleeve bearings and oiling locations, it makes no difference what your shaft direction is. I have seen home made sanders with a pivot point so they can run horizontal, vertical, and anywhere between. My design has a guard boxed in on the plane of the sanding disk and about a 2 inch overhang. It is not open like the Richardson design, or like the photo I posted above. My design looks like a baby cradle, after finishing the wood frame today. Or one of those old gold rockers. I will post a photo when it is done.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 88
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 17, 2018 23:41:38 GMT -5
Hmmm... cannot do that edit here it seems...
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 88
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 17, 2018 23:45:30 GMT -5
I think that the reason the Richardsons sanders are made the way they are is the intended use and safety. Since Thunder eggs is their primary business cupping an egg half in your hands is ideal. You can see your progress without your eyes being in a place that a shredding sandpaper sheet is likely to go. If you're holding the piece with gravity keeping it in your hands your fingers are less likely to stray past the surface and get sanded or sliced with the edge of the sanding disc. Vertical disc sanders used for wood or metal typically have a scatter guard and a 90 degree rest due to the safety issues. If your motor has sealed ball bearings, as opposed to sleeve bearings and oiling locations, it makes no difference what your shaft direction is. I have seen home made sanders with a pivot point so they can run horizontal, vertical, and anywhere between. I wouldn't mind having one just to do eggs on, but I really don't need one since I have the flat lap and bull wheel. If I had one , it would only be used for eggs and egg sized chunks never slabs. I have a few eggs here to grind and polish. Most of my stuff to polish using this machine is petrified wood and jasper, which are large pieces with flat or slant cuts, or end cuts. I also have some Biggs that I want to polish in their natural shape. I have no intention of dry sanding thin slabs, as they would get hot fast and are hard to hold. I want to make a wet flat lap with another motor that I have. That will be vertical mounted in a small desk with a water supply.
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Post by woodman on Jul 18, 2018 9:02:10 GMT -5
horizontal flat flat would be better than vertical in my mind. or you are swaying the motor would be vertical i recon. I posted on here with photos of my flat lap.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 88
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 18, 2018 15:46:02 GMT -5
I mean to mount the motor vertically in the flat lap, and the spinning disk would be horizontal with a water drip line.
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Post by woodman on Jul 18, 2018 20:36:55 GMT -5
I hope you are going to sue something to reduce the speed. too fast and grit and water will just be slung off. Slower the better.
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 88
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 19, 2018 1:09:12 GMT -5
I hope you are going to sue something to reduce the speed. too fast and grit and water will just be slung off. Slower the better. My lawyer is too expensive to sue anything
The motor I have for it is 1725 RPM. It is set up to drive a compressor with a v-belt with a 1:3 pulley ratio on it, which reduces the spin to 575 RPM. I have a smaller drive pulley that I could swap in to cut that in half to about 290 RPM. Slow enough?
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Post by woodman on Jul 19, 2018 9:14:56 GMT -5
my 36 inch flat lap is 30 rpm. if you are going to use grit on yours, I would think you are too fast. if you are going to use a small diamond plate like the amerteck ones you should be good. forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/78673/36-inch-flap-lap check out the link to mine. good luck, let us know how it works with pictures. I never could type worth a hoot!!
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OregonBorn
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since September 2015
Posts: 88
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Post by OregonBorn on Jul 19, 2018 14:11:10 GMT -5
my 36 inch flat lap is 30 rpm. if you are going to use grit on yours, I would think you are too fast. if you are going to use a small diamond plate like the amerteck ones you should be good. forum.rocktumblinghobby.com/thread/78673/36-inch-flap-lap check out the link to mine. good luck, let us know how it works with pictures. I never could type worth a hoot!! Your flat lap is completely different than what I am planning. Much smaller diameter wheel, no sweeper or any of that stuff. Simple design... here is a desktop design that is more along the lines of what I am designing (photo 'lifted' off this forum). But mine will have the pan flush with the desktop and the motor will drive a pulley, and it will have a drip water supply and drain. I can get a 3 tier pulley for the motor and a larger driven pulley to be variable speed and go slower. I have to figure out a bearing shaft wheel drive system as the one in the compressor that I am cannibalizing for this project will not work. I may use a squirrel cage fan motor with a pulley system already set up instead of the compressor motor.
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