jim931
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2017
Posts: 117
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Post by jim931 on Sept 18, 2019 10:09:06 GMT -5
Hello all!! I had some questions in regards to a recent project of mine. I just acquired a Covington 8” combo grinder and saw for $350. It’s fully functional but needs some preservation and new wheels and blade. Has anyone on here refurbished one before? I planned on putting new bearings on it just because it’s inexpensive and seems easy. Also I planned on putting a new belt on it as well. Does anyone have any recommendations on what blade And wheels to put on it and why you would use them over others. Once I have time I will post pictures of it from my computer. Anyone with experience with this kind of stuff I welcome all your advice!! Thanks.
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Post by captbob on Sept 18, 2019 10:25:35 GMT -5
What is the model number? Or maybe find one with Google and post a link so we can see which machine you got.
If it is your only machine, you might consider a coarse wheel (diamond or silicon carbide depends on your budget) on one side and an expandable rubber drum/wheel on the side you can get to easily. With the rubber drum, you can then change the sanding/polishing belts as needed for different grit steps.
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Post by captbob on Sept 18, 2019 10:26:24 GMT -5
What are your plans for providing water to the wheels?
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jim931
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2017
Posts: 117
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Post by jim931 on Sept 18, 2019 10:36:19 GMT -5
What is the model number? Or maybe find one with Google and post a link so we can see which machine you got. If it is your only machine, you might consider a coarse wheel (diamond or silicon carbide depends on your budget) on one side and an expandable rubber drum/wheel on the side you can get to easily. With the rubber drum, you can then change the sanding/polishing belts as needed for different grit steps. Here’s the link to something that looks identical to the one I bought. covington-engineering.com/equipment/8-deluxe-combination-units/I’ll have to get the model number off of it when I get back home but that won’t be until Friday.
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jim931
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2017
Posts: 117
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Post by jim931 on Sept 18, 2019 10:38:17 GMT -5
What are your plans for providing water to the wheels? So right now it has little valves above each wheel with copper tubing leading to it. I have a water connection in the garage so I planned on just cutting a length of old air hose I have laying around and hose clamping it to the copper tubing.
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Post by captbob on Sept 18, 2019 10:45:29 GMT -5
Wow, that's quite a deal for $350!
Does it have wheels and a saw blade on it now? A rusty looking saw blade doesn't mean it is bad.
If it is good to go now, just get it set up and running. New wheels and a good saw blade ain't cheap! See how it works and replace what is necessary.
Refurbishing old machines is fun, and it's easy to pretty them up; but it is easy to get carried away and spend more than you really need to. If it works, use it. And spend the money saved on rocks!
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jim931
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2017
Posts: 117
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Post by jim931 on Sept 18, 2019 10:47:14 GMT -5
What is the model number? Or maybe find one with Google and post a link so we can see which machine you got. If it is your only machine, you might consider a coarse wheel (diamond or silicon carbide depends on your budget) on one side and an expandable rubber drum/wheel on the side you can get to easily. With the rubber drum, you can then change the sanding/polishing belts as needed for different grit steps. As for budget, I would definitely like to get wheels and blades that will make me happy. But looking online I did see some were unreasonably expensive. I’d like to put quality stuff on it but don’t want to spend so much that I end up paying what it would have to just buy a new machine. As for my background in this, I’ve been making cabs at the San Diego mineral and gem society with their machines for about a year now (they use the diamond pacific titan that has been modified but I believe they use a 3rd party wheel.). This is my first machine. I’ve been tumbling for a few years now.
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jim931
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2017
Posts: 117
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Post by jim931 on Sept 18, 2019 10:53:45 GMT -5
Wow, that's quite a deal for $350! Does it have wheels and a saw blade on it now? A rusty looking saw blade doesn't mean it is bad. If it is good to go now, just get it set up and running. New wheels and a good saw blade ain't cheap! See how it works and replace what is necessary. Refurbishing old machines is fun, and it's easy to pretty them up; but it is easy to get carried away and spend more than you really need to. If it works, use it. And spend the money saved on rocks! Yea I was super excited when I found this deal! And the people selling it were amazing, they even threw in some slabs they thought I’d like and an old harbor freight tile saw they had laying around. I believe the grinding wheels they have on it are silica carbide.... but one of them has a chunk missing like it was dropped and the blade is rusty like you said but I haven’t tried it. I ran my finger across it and it felt super smooth so that made me think it was worn down. But I really have no experience to back that thought. I like the idea you mentioned about being able to swap out the paper to get get different grits going. So I’m guessing I probably need 80 on one grinding wheel and the other at 220. Then the rest should be the paper wheel.
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Post by rmf on Sept 18, 2019 15:00:27 GMT -5
My guess is that Covington uses sealed bearings and if the bearings are not loose they are fine. This grinder was originally designed before Diamond wheels were popular so there is no easy way to change out the finer wheels.
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Post by Peruano on Sept 18, 2019 15:04:13 GMT -5
Ideal would be an 80 or 100 wheel, a 220 wheel and an expando wheel that could take silica-carbide or diamond belts depending on your work load. Don't = I said don't use that wheel with the piece missing. It could fly apart on you and be lethal or at least tragic. You can use new silica carbide wheels but diamond stuff is better if it fits with your budget. Talk to Johnsgems a local California dealer. He might be able to fit you up as cheaply as anyone else. I think its Jsgems .
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jim931
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2017
Posts: 117
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Post by jim931 on Sept 18, 2019 15:30:20 GMT -5
Ideal would be an 80 or 100 wheel, a 220 wheel and an expando wheel that could take silica-carbide or diamond belts depending on your work load. Don't = I said don't use that wheel with the piece missing. It could fly apart on you and be lethal or at least tragic. You can use new silica carbide wheels but diamond stuff is better if it fits with your budget. Talk to Johnsgems a local California dealer. He might be able to fit you up as cheaply as anyone else. I think its Jsgems . Appreciate the advice because I would have gave it a shot till the new wheels came in. Now I won’t!! and I’ll definitely look up jsgems. Thank you.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Sept 18, 2019 15:58:13 GMT -5
Ideal would be an 80 or 100 wheel, a 220 wheel and an expando wheel that could take silica-carbide or diamond belts depending on your work load. Don't = I said don't use that wheel with the piece missing. It could fly apart on you and be lethal or at least tragic. You can use new silica carbide wheels but diamond stuff is better if it fits with your budget. Talk to Johnsgems a local California dealer. He might be able to fit you up as cheaply as anyone else. I think its Jsgems . Appreciate the advice because I would have gave it a shot till the new wheels came in. Now I won’t!! and I’ll definitely look up jsgems. Thank you. He was recently talking about retirement (he would like to see Q and other shows from the other side of the table!), but he is probably not quite there yet. I won't exagerate and say I've bought a lot from him over the years, but I have bought several rock saw blades and replacement parts for an old Rose Reciprolap over the years. John is knowledgeable, always ready to help, and always gives you a great deal. I've always been happy with my purchases from him. www.jsgemslapidary.com. He is located in Newberry Springs, CA.
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 18, 2019 19:43:31 GMT -5
Wheels are the most expensive component of a cabbing machine. Wheels wear out and you got an incredible deal. Putting a lot of money into wheels doesn't make the deal worse. For hard wheels, get them from Jadecarver or the Lithuania Top.
If I got that machine at that price, I would be tempted to put as many 6" wheels that will fit, and use geysers with an aquarium pump and place the geysers under the wheel you are working with. The smaller wheels are less expensive and you might be able to get a Genie tray under the wheels which makes changing to fresh water easier. Without getting into adding more tubes configuration of the arbor is limited.
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jim931
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2017
Posts: 117
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Post by jim931 on Sept 19, 2019 11:21:31 GMT -5
Wheels are the most expensive component of a cabbing machine. Wheels wear out and you got an incredible deal. Putting a lot of money into wheels doesn't make the deal worse. For hard wheels, get them from Jadecarver or the Lithuania Top. If I got that machine at that price, I would be tempted to put as many 6" wheels that will fit, and use geysers with an aquarium pump and place the geysers under the wheel you are working with. The smaller wheels are less expensive and you might be able to get a Genie tray under the wheels which makes changing to fresh water easier. Without getting into adding more tubes configuration of the arbor is limited. Is it possible to add more wheels to a machine like this? It seemed odd that it only had two grinding wheels on it with so much spacing.
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jim931
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2017
Posts: 117
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Post by jim931 on Sept 19, 2019 11:36:09 GMT -5
Wheels are the most expensive component of a cabbing machine. Wheels wear out and you got an incredible deal. Putting a lot of money into wheels doesn't make the deal worse. For hard wheels, get them from Jadecarver or the Lithuania Top. If I got that machine at that price, I would be tempted to put as many 6" wheels that will fit, and use geysers with an aquarium pump and place the geysers under the wheel you are working with. The smaller wheels are less expensive and you might be able to get a Genie tray under the wheels which makes changing to fresh water easier. Without getting into adding more tubes configuration of the arbor is limited. I think it has 8” wheels on it now. Do you have a brand or style of wheels to recommend? I’ve been looking online and the price seems to vary from around $80-$500 for one wheel. Seems like such a drastic range so I’m not sure where to draw the line...
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Post by stardiamond on Sept 19, 2019 12:47:05 GMT -5
To replace a wheel, it needs to come off the arbor. There are spacers on the arbor between the wheels. You can make spacers cutting down metal tubing or buy a Diamond Pacific spacer kit. I have been pleased with the jadecarver 8 inch wheels. I recently bought 8 inch 80 and 220 grit for $258 including shipping and plus tax. They are plastic core. Jadecarver does not offer 6 inch plastic core wheels. They only have steel core which I as concerned about the weight. I bought a Top 80 grit 6 inch wheel from Baltic abrasives on ebay. They have their own site and are located in Lithuania. I am very pleased with the wheel, paid $85 delivered and shipping was fast. I bought an 8 inch soft wheel from them and haven't mounted it.
My stardiamond machine was configured a lot like the machine you got. I connected a hose to it. When I decided to add more wheels, I decided to use recirculated water with geysers and an aquarium pump. I bashed a hole in the face so I could slide in trays from my Genie. When I added wheels I did everything except prepolish and polish on the stardiamond because 8 inch wheels cut faster and since they have more surface will last longer and justify the increased cost. I suggested 6 inch wheels because it might facilitate putting a tray under them and use a recirculating water system. If you are mechanically inclined you could use 8 inch wheels and add and relocate the drippers.
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,352
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Post by quartz on Sept 20, 2019 16:11:39 GMT -5
Yes you can add more wheels, 7/8" spacing between each. All 8".
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jim931
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2017
Posts: 117
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Post by jim931 on Sept 20, 2019 16:14:34 GMT -5
Yes you can add more wheels, 7/8" spacing between each. All 8". Wow!! Really cool set up! And appreciate the photos. What’s your recommendation on wheels. Pro/cons or brands and styles.
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,352
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Post by quartz on Sept 20, 2019 22:23:44 GMT -5
We have used only DP wheels, no special reason; get them at a fairly good price. The added circumference of 8" wheels, greater surface feet per minute, makes a much easier-better cut in our opinion.
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jim931
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2017
Posts: 117
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Post by jim931 on Sept 24, 2019 23:08:42 GMT -5
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