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Post by stardiamond on Nov 8, 2022 15:52:23 GMT -5
Yes. The real answer is don't mount a wheel when it is a tight fit. Once it was on my options were limited. I tried rotating and sliding and it wouldn't budge. I had the same problem on my 8 inch machine with a steel core wheel. The previous steel core was fine. This one wouldn't make it more than halfway on a 3-4 foot arbor. I tried emery cloth on the arbor and the hole. It was still too tight, so I gave up and bought a plastic core wheel.
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Post by stardiamond on Nov 8, 2022 15:20:06 GMT -5
I use a lot of wheels on my Genie. My previous 80 grit was a Lithuanian top hex 80 grit with a steel core. The holes on wheels except dp can sometimes to be a little tight. I mounted the wheels in the wrong order so the 80 grit was farthest from where the arbor screws in. It was time to replace the wheel and it wouldn't come off the arbor. The other wheels came right off. I tapped the threaded end with a hammer and eventually got the wheel off but stripped the threaded end. I had a plumber doing major work for about a week and asked if there was anything I could do fix the arbor. It is reverse thread and aluminum instead of steel so it was out of his area of expertise, and he said it was likely that I couldn't fix it. I ordered another arbor and it arrived quickly from Diamond Pacific. I then went on to Amazon looking for a pipe thread fixer. I thought a Dremel would work better than a drill and my wife had one. The part arrived today and after a few minutes, I had the arbor fixed.
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Wheels
Nov 8, 2022 14:38:10 GMT -5
Post by stardiamond on Nov 8, 2022 14:38:10 GMT -5
One of the biggest mistakes with wheels is overuse of the 220/280 soft. Everyone wears them out because they like an aggressive soft wheel. When a 280/220 soft is only used to remove scratches from the previous, coarser wheel they will last a long time.
I use a worn 80 grit DP wheel to remove scratches from the 80 grit Lithuanian wheel and refine the shape. I use the 220 hard to remove the DP 80 scratches.
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Wheels
Nov 7, 2022 22:31:54 GMT -5
rmf likes this
Post by stardiamond on Nov 7, 2022 22:31:54 GMT -5
I'll add another comment. jadecarver 8 inch wheels are very good and less than dp. They have a plastic core. The 6 inch wheels only come in steel core. He said that the 6 inch with a plastic core weren't true. jadecarver.com/product-category/grinding-wheels/ I only used jadecarver on my 8 inch machine. My first cabbing machine was the stardiamond. It only had hard wheels. I bought a genie. I decided to retrofit the sd to have 3 more soft wheels. I thought 8 inches was the way to go. It was time to replace the 80,220 and 280 wheels. I bought them. It is a pain to change wheels on that machine and I was developing arthritis in my thumbs. The Genie has a more comfortable position for my hands, so I was only using the sd for 600 and 1200. I found that how I am grinding and aggressive 6 inch 80 will be as fast as an 8 inch. Recently my sd started to bind so I abandoned it. It can be fixed but I'm happy working on the Genie. At some point if you are interested, I have some new in box 8 inch wheels.
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Wheels
Nov 7, 2022 22:07:42 GMT -5
rmf likes this
Post by stardiamond on Nov 7, 2022 22:07:42 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on Nov 7, 2022 20:18:09 GMT -5
I could have posted this under equipment but I thought there would be more visibility here.
I like to try out different manufacturer's wheels. DP unless I snag something on ebay is too expensive. Hard wheels it's the Lithuanian TOP. For soft it has been Johnson brothers supernova with the exception of one Lithuanian REZ. I was interested in trying the Highland Park. The problem was for some reason that the 6 inch wheels were only available in 2 inch width. Since I have an extra arbor, I could deal with that. I went to their site and they are now offering 1.5 inch wheels at the same price as JB. They also have a Thanksgiving sale for 10% off. Free shipping and in stock.
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Post by stardiamond on Nov 7, 2022 18:28:12 GMT -5
When I unpacked my Genie 20 years ago it came with a little bottle of water aid. I experimented with the Genie and found that the more water on the wheel and using a water additive cut faster and cleaner. For a long time, I was buying Johnson brothers lube-cool because the shipping on liquid is expensive and I would combine it with wheels or other supplies to help with the cost. I have the Genie trim saw attachment which requires an additive in greater strength than the wheels. I went through gallons of it. Recently, I have switched to the DP water aid which is cheaper than lube-cool and requires less product.
There is a huge divide between using drip and geysers. I have had no problems with recirculating water. I have Rubbermaid 1 gallon plastic bowls with a handle. I fill the bowl with water and then splash in some water aid. I change water when doing the finer grits. When I am done using the finer grits, I pour the water from the tray into the bowl and reuse it when going back to the coarser grits. Some people think that using a water additive is a waste of money, but experience has taught me that using an additive is a good idea.
A gallon of lube-cool costs $68.75 and water aid is $29.15. I buy gallons. A quart might be a lifetime supply for most people.
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Post by stardiamond on Nov 6, 2022 12:49:16 GMT -5
Light was bad yesterday and not much better today but they deserve better pictures.
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Post by stardiamond on Nov 5, 2022 15:00:51 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on Nov 4, 2022 13:37:26 GMT -5
My answer is an ebay seller named bluewater17 in Washington. What I learned was that Tahoma comes from Mt. Ranier and the Native American name for the mountain is Tahoma. Too cold to grind, so trim saw work.
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Post by stardiamond on Nov 1, 2022 13:15:22 GMT -5
No trick or traders for decades. This year it was plumbers; me, my checkbook and them.
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Post by stardiamond on Oct 31, 2022 18:34:36 GMT -5
First of all I don't stabilize. I don't know to and am not interested in doing it. I bought a nodule of stabilized turquoise and hand cut a nice even slab in the middle, trimmed a template shape, ground, dopped and started to grind the dome and it fell apart. I then evened the two heels, made some preforms and everything went smoothly. I asked myself why the good slab in the middle fractured. Well duh, the stabolizer didn't penetrate to the middle.
I bought a small nodule of Guadalupe, split it on the trim saw. I drew template shape on one half, started grinding and encountered vugs. I kept grinding until there were no vugs on the face and ended up with a very small cab. The other half broke and I made a freeform with the larger piece. I looked on Etsy for Guadalupe cabs and noticed that most had ugly vugs. I've bought and cabbed Guadalupe before and was able to make clean template shaped cabs. The half duh is that I could have made a significantly larger cab with the first piece if I realized that vugs in Guadalupe are acceptable at least by some people. When I buy anymore Guadalupe to expect a smaller than anticipated yield.
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Post by stardiamond on Oct 31, 2022 13:18:02 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on Oct 30, 2022 16:00:28 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on Oct 29, 2022 17:05:47 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on Oct 29, 2022 15:08:48 GMT -5
When working with material that fractures, there are fractures. Anyone is welcome to the Cold Mountain trim pieces.
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Post by stardiamond on Oct 29, 2022 12:18:14 GMT -5
There's vug along the right edge and the rest of the preform is ok. I'll move the dop and replace the right side with a c curve. I dopped the turquoise and put a shape on the variscite. The other Guadalupe fractured when grinding and will make a decent freeform.
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Post by stardiamond on Oct 28, 2022 18:41:51 GMT -5
I redrew to a 40x24 pear. Fractures above the girdle line are generally ok. The fractures are on the pointy end, so I'll redraw again with the next smaller pear shape.
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Post by stardiamond on Oct 28, 2022 17:26:27 GMT -5
The slabbing was completed. The trim saw produced flat surface bottoms so I can dome the rough side. Good quality Guadalupe. It can be crumbly. Looking at the edges, I'll probably have to make the one on the left smaller.
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Post by stardiamond on Oct 28, 2022 15:23:54 GMT -5
Packages arrived. Next steps are slabbing the nodules with a trim saw and marking all the preforms.
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