Applying to join this forum, you HAVE to activate your membership in YOUR email in the notice you recieve after completing application process. No activation on your part, no membership.

Lapidaryforum.net

Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
Advanced search  

News:

Welcome new members & old from the Lapidary/Gemstone Community Forum. Please join up. You will be approved after spam check & you must manually activate your acct with the link in your email

Congratulations to Bobby1 and his Brazilian Agate Cab!

 www.lapidaryforum.net

Another cabochon contest coming soon!

Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Grinding Wheel Moisturization  (Read 1217 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

RutherfordbHaye5

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 13
Grinding Wheel Moisturization
« on: August 12, 2018, 01:24:43 PM »

I am pretty new to the cab cutting scene and I decided on the lortone combination unit for my first machine. I know that the grinding wheel needs to stay pretty wet, so I got a gravity powered water system. However, the drip system only gets about half the wheel wet at any given time, leading to faster wear on one side of the wheel. Any suggestions on how to fix this?
Logged

peruano

  • Retired Zoologist
  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 410
Re: Grinding Wheel Moisturization
« Reply #1 on: August 12, 2018, 04:31:05 PM »

Water seeks water. One solution to your situation is to take a sponge and as the wheel is spinning use the sponge to make sure the entire surface is wet.  Secondly you are moving a wet stone back and forth across the surface of the wheel and that is carrying water across the stone.  If you are leaving a white or stone residue streak on the wheel, you don't have enough water or you are not moving your work across the entire face of the wheel.  You can attach felt, or plastic scratcho pieces or whatever to the top of the hood to help disperse the water, but its your job to make sure that you are using and "wetting" the entire face of the wheel.  Don't just work where you see water.  I hope this helps. 
Logged
Combining a love of bikes (pedal and otherwise) with hiking, hounding, lapidary, and the great outdoors

RutherfordbHaye5

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 13
Re: Grinding Wheel Moisturization
« Reply #2 on: August 12, 2018, 05:27:44 PM »

I kind of like the idea of using felt to disperse the water. Ill give it a try! Thanks!
Logged

irockhound

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1467
    • RockhoundingUSA
Re: Grinding Wheel Moisturization
« Reply #3 on: August 12, 2018, 08:12:49 PM »

I never liked drip systems and use 2 squirters in the tray on which ever wheel I am working on.  They are pretty inexpensive and they keep the wheels nice and wet.
Logged

Slabbercabber

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 513
Re: Grinding Wheel Moisturization
« Reply #4 on: August 13, 2018, 06:11:07 AM »

I've used drip systems at shows but they don't provide as much water as I think you should have.  A recirculating system either with a small bubbler under the wheel or cascade system with pump will give far more water on the wheel and can allow for warm water as well.
Logged

lithicbeads

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 3214
Re: Grinding Wheel Moisturization
« Reply #5 on: August 13, 2018, 06:33:30 AM »

 I use a 5 gallon bucket mounted above and to the side of the machine.An aquarium air hose is used from the bottom of the bucket to the cabber. I drill a hole above the wheel and the tube delivers water through the hole. I hog off rock quickly with a 30 grit sintered wheel and this system provides lot of water to the wheel and the water volume can be easily dialed back by using a valve on the tubing line.
Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up
 

Page created in 0.121 seconds with 38 queries.