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Post by Rockindad on Jul 8, 2019 19:51:25 GMT -5
I am generally not a fan of combination tools/machines for any application as they usually seem to do many things okay but cannot do anything great. Well I am now the owner of a Lortone LU6X combination machine. It is no longer being produced by Lortone but I was offered a "new" floor model with a decent discount and some extras so I took the plunge. I have read enough about them here in posts going back many years that I felt pretty comfortable with it. We have been using it for a few weeks and there is plenty to like, but also a couple of things I would like to change. There is room for two wheels on the right side and the right shaft is threaded to accept 1/4"-20 attachments. Here is where I need help. I am thinking of having one hard diamond wheel (80 grit +/-) and a 1 1/2" expandable drum outfitted with diamond belts (silicon carbide belts do not seem to be lasting very long). I am thinking/guessing polishing can happen with laps on the end. A few questions:
-Are the diamond wheels worth the extra expense over SC?
-What is a reasonable grit sequence? Not sure if this differs from what I see posted from people using wheels. The site I am looking at (MLS) has 60, 120, 220, 325, 400, 600, 1200, 1800, 3000, 8000, 14,000, 50,000 and 100,000.
-Any recommendations for polishing? Finer grit belts vs. laps, both?
The thinking now is we will use this as a learning tool and eventually, when we move to a six wheel machine, put two hard wheels on this one. We have done a lot of tumbler cabs/pendants, and will probably continue to do some, but we really want to be able to take a cab start to finish on this.
All comments, opinions, advice, etc. welcome!
Thanks, Al
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Post by stardiamond on Jul 8, 2019 20:14:03 GMT -5
How easy is to change wheels? I would go with the standard Genie set up with exception of a 220 soft if you can find one instead of the 280 soft.
If wheels are easy to change consider a 50,000 soft and a 325 soft. Add canvas polishing pads with 50,000 and 100,000 diamond paste. I have never used belts or drums.
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Post by Peruano on Jul 8, 2019 20:15:07 GMT -5
If was totally space limited, I'd have a machine with an 80, 220 (hard) and 280, 600, 1200, 3000, 14000, and 50000 diamond belts (3M) on an expando. I'm not that limited and don't have that range yet but will have soon once my new shop is built. When you can go to 50,000 on diamond belts you often don't need a polish stage, and sometimes going to 50000 is going to far and 14,000 is enough. Diamond belts are price comparable to hard wheels and treated right last as long. Talk to others for other viewpoints.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jul 8, 2019 23:27:44 GMT -5
I have never used diamond belts on an expando, but I would assume diamond grit are diamond grit no matter what it's impregnated on. What Peruano said, with an addition of a couple of canvas or felt pads on the side to use CeOx or AlOx on. Certain stones look better when you hit them with a final oxide polish. Opal is one of them, IMO. You can take it up to 50,000 diamond, but it kind of looks greasy. Hit it with some cerium and it takes it to a whole new level. Don't know why and don't really care. I just know it works. |
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Post by Rockindad on Jul 9, 2019 11:17:54 GMT -5
How easy is to change wheels? I would go with the standard Genie set up with exception of a 220 soft if you can find one instead of the 280 soft. If wheels are easy to change consider a 50,000 soft and a 325 soft. Add canvas polishing pads with 50,000 and 100,000 diamond paste. I have never used belts or drums. It is not too bad. Actually the reason for switching to a 1.5" drum is because it is a royal pain to switch belts on the 2.5" drum it came with- there is a clearance issue with the side of the base pan. The reason for belts vs. wheels was convenience. I figured with one fixed hard wheel and belts on a drum it would make grit changes fairly quick. I am open to other ideas and appreciate your input! Al |
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Post by Rockindad on Jul 9, 2019 11:44:04 GMT -5
If was totally space limited, I'd have a machine with an 80, 220 (hard) and 280, 600, 1200, 3000, 14000, and 50000 diamond belts (3M) on an expando. I'm not that limited and don't have that range yet but will have soon once my new shop is built. When you can go to 50,000 on diamond belts you often don't need a polish stage, and sometimes going to 50000 is going to far and 14,000 is enough. Diamond belts are price comparable to hard wheels and treated right last as long. Talk to others for other viewpoints. Thanks for the recommendations. Space isn't much of a consideration as we have carved out a decent size area for ourselves. I am cautiously approaching our venturing into other areas of the hobby. We (I do all of this with my 10 year old son) jumped into tumbling hardcore and have made a sizable investment in equipment, materials, etc. While his enthusiasm has only grown I do try to slow him down a bit and tell him we should achieve a certain level of competency at one thing before we venture into the next. While still striving for better and better results (and with no intentions of slowing down) we are pretty happy with the progress we have made in tumbling to this point. Cabbing is the next thing he and I would like to learn and are trying to do it on this machine before investing in a larger piece of equipment. Thanks again for the input! Al |
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julieooly
Cave Dweller 
Member since October 2018
Posts: 721 
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Post by julieooly on Jul 10, 2019 8:46:57 GMT -5
I got a LU6x to start with and spent a ton of money getting it "better", then realized I'd continue to sink money into it and bit the bullet and got the CabKing 6. By the time you buy the expando and some diamond belts & etc probably be good enough at cabbing on it to want something better. I get some vibration on the Lortone which is a real pain so I've moved my expando all the way to the left and don't use any other wheels on it. There is relatively no room for your hands to work at 5 and 6 o'clock AND you have to clean the pan every night to prevent rust, the pan doesn't drain nicely requiring you to lift and prop for good drainage.
Since this looks like a long term project for you guys you may want to stop yourselves quickly and do the math before you get too far along with it. If it were me and I had to do it all again I'd probably play with the silicon carbide wheels and belts a bit then move into a 6-wheel before you spend so much on improving it. Use the Lortone for the saw and maybe the expando with the cheap belts and then polishing and what-not on the end. I definitely recommend the expando. One other issue with the Lortone is the end of the machine where you put your polishing discs doesn't have an available hole to drip water on the disc leaving it in need of modification or useless for any discs used wet.
I use the end of my CK6 A LOT with the full face diamond laps and I've ordered some flat diamond sanding discs now to see how they work compared to the wheels, you can't do this on the Lortone with no water.
Looking even further with my hindsight I'd definitely get the 8" CabKing too. I thought because I had small hands the 6" wheels would be suitable, but I keep reading that the 8"'s are more versatile making inside curves and using them to polish backs etc.
If you buy any diamond wheels you may want to get some that work with the next machine you purchase so you don't end up with a lot of odd stuff around the workshop. The Nova wheels are way better than the Galaxy (Galaxy comes standard on the CabKings) and considering this now I might not have gotten a CabKing, but bought a 6 wheel from DP.
Something you'll need to learn when switching back and forth between SC & Diamond belts is that even though the mesh size may be the same, they perform very differently. So a 220 SC wheel cuts differently from a 220 diamond wheel AND the 220 SC belt cuts differently than a 220 diamond belt. All numbers are not equal.
I set up My 6X with the wider expando and have SC belts in 100 & 220, then I move into diamond belts at 325, 600, 1200, 3000 and 8,000. My CK has the standard 80, 220 grinding, then 280, 600, 1200, 3000 diamond wheels. I've replaced the 280/600 Galaxy with Nova and I've bought a series of full faced diamond laps and diamond sanding laps and I almost never use my LU6x except for the saw now, it's a beginner machine but I think you have bigger plans.
Call Val and tell him what your long term goals are for the shop. Tell him Julie in Georgia says "hey" lol, he knows me well by now. Save your money for cool rocks and don't buy a bunch of stuff you may not use much just a short spell down the road.
Good Luck!
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Post by Rockindad on Jul 10, 2019 19:05:36 GMT -5
I got a LU6x to start with and spent a ton of money getting it "better", then realized I'd continue to sink money into it and bit the bullet and got the CabKing 6. By the time you buy the expando and some diamond belts & etc probably be good enough at cabbing on it to want something better. I get some vibration on the Lortone which is a real pain so I've moved my expando all the way to the left and don't use any other wheels on it. There is relatively no room for your hands to work at 5 and 6 o'clock AND you have to clean the pan every night to prevent rust, the pan doesn't drain nicely requiring you to lift and prop for good drainage. Since this looks like a long term project for you guys you may want to stop yourselves quickly and do the math before you get too far along with it. If it were me and I had to do it all again I'd probably play with the silicon carbide wheels and belts a bit then move into a 6-wheel before you spend so much on improving it. Use the Lortone for the saw and maybe the expando with the cheap belts and then polishing and what-not on the end. I definitely recommend the expando. One other issue with the Lortone is the end of the machine where you put your polishing discs doesn't have an available hole to drip water on the disc leaving it in need of modification or useless for any discs used wet. I use the end of my CK6 A LOT with the full face diamond laps and I've ordered some flat diamond sanding discs now to see how they work compared to the wheels, you can't do this on the Lortone with no water. Looking even further with my hindsight I'd definitely get the 8" CabKing too. I thought because I had small hands the 6" wheels would be suitable, but I keep reading that the 8"'s are more versatile making inside curves and using them to polish backs etc. If you buy any diamond wheels you may want to get some that work with the next machine you purchase so you don't end up with a lot of odd stuff around the workshop. The Nova wheels are way better than the Galaxy (Galaxy comes standard on the CabKings) and considering this now I might not have gotten a CabKing, but bought a 6 wheel from DP. Something you'll need to learn when switching back and forth between SC & Diamond belts is that even though the mesh size may be the same, they perform very differently. So a 220 SC wheel cuts differently from a 220 diamond wheel AND the 220 SC belt cuts differently than a 220 diamond belt. All numbers are not equal. I set up My 6X with the wider expando and have SC belts in 100 & 220, then I move into diamond belts at 325, 600, 1200, 3000 and 8,000. My CK has the standard 80, 220 grinding, then 280, 600, 1200, 3000 diamond wheels. I've replaced the 280/600 Galaxy with Nova and I've bought a series of full faced diamond laps and diamond sanding laps and I almost never use my LU6x except for the saw now, it's a beginner machine but I think you have bigger plans. Call Val and tell him what your long term goals are for the shop. Tell him Julie in Georgia says "hey" lol, he knows me well by now. Save your money for cool rocks and don't buy a bunch of stuff you may not use much just a short spell down the road. Good Luck! Thanks for the great response Julie. To tell the truth the prospect of spending so much to upgrade this machine has been nagging at me. It is more a function of impatience than logic. I do not regret purchasing it as I got a good deal and will eventually use it to complement a larger cab machine/set it up for shaping tumbles. So far it has been running nice and I have been pleasantly surprised that I have been able to use the saw to slab agates the full height of the blade- not very fast, but it will do for now. You are spot on with your criticism of the drain. Part of the impatience is because I think I need to get an 8" machine due to the size of my hands, I just do not see a 6" machine working for me. We will have to save up for that one, unfortunately there is not much lapidary activity in our area and I have never seen a used piece of equipment come up for sale around here. Your last tip is exactly what we have been doing- spending our spare money on rough rocks and slabs until a decision is finally made  . Al |
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