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Author Topic: 3 Months Later: Review of KN All Diamond Grind/Polish  (Read 2793 times)

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Cabbin Fever

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3 Months Later: Review of KN All Diamond Grind/Polish
« on: July 16, 2017, 12:28:02 PM »

My original post was trolling for opinions on getting a Diamond Pacific Pixie, but with lots of input and research I instead purchased Kingsley North's Stainless Steel 6" NOVA Grinding Polishing Machine.
I have been using it daily for the last 3 months on average 2 hours per day.
I love it! But it does have CONs along with the PROs:
PRO: Being stainless, it well, doesn't stain as does the plastic of the DP trays; it was worth the extra $$ for the NOVA wheels (325, 600, 1200 and 3000). It has a great smooth operation, nice and solid and well balanced (it came with the wheels assembled on the arbor). I really like the reservoir water feed system, because I didn't think of it until working with this, with a spitter you are spitting dirty water up at your wheel (and I read somewhere about cross contamination of grit is a big negative).
My CONs are mostly with the water system! I did see a review that the spigots tend to leak - my 325 and my 3000 both do, even after I undid the whole system and put pipe tape on all the fittings.
I also just discovered the other day that the nut holding the spigot from the reservoir was NOT stainless and it was rusting and contaminating the water. I found a brass fitting in the toilet section of HD to replace it.
And lastly and mostly - the water system spigots are screwed into holes in the stainless hood, and the hood is held in place in three spots by thumb screws.
I realized (luckily before I ruined my wheels), that the water sprayers were not lined up with the wheels and I wasn't getting full coverage (I wondered why the wheels had "tracks" on them, and well my cabs were cruddy!)
I wrote to KN and am disappointed to say that they have not responded, but I found a solution:
I took out the thumbscrews and I shift the hood to line up the sprayer over the wheel I am using. I plan on writing to them again, as they really should do a better QC on these machines!
So, there you have it!
If you have any questions I would be more than happy to reply within my own (limited) knowledge :)
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My first cab is from a piece of jasper I found on the beach in Newport, OR my first Mother's Day, 1983. I made it into a bracelet for my daughter Christmas 2017.

irockhound

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Re: 3 Months Later: Review of KN All Diamond Grind/Polish
« Reply #1 on: July 16, 2017, 02:01:31 PM »

I always question the drip system on a full cabber.  I think they work fine for a facet machine but with the wheel rotation and force throwing the water off I don't think you get enough water even in the best case scenario with those drips on the wheel.  I even use 2 bubblers on my Titan.  I use the one built into the machine and a 2nd external to get extra water on the wheel.  The wear on the wheels if you don't have enough water flow can get expensive from early wear.  If I had a unit like yours I would hook up to a forced water source to the tubing coming from your water tank (pull the hose off the exit of the tank and hook this to a water supply).  Easiest way would be to place a submersible pump in your bucket you have under the unit that pumps the water up to the wheels making it an endless loop system. That would eliminate having to refill the tank constantly also.   Either that or plug the front tray drain and fill with water and use an external bubbler to keep the wheels wet.
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Phishisgroovin

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Re: 3 Months Later: Review of KN All Diamond Grind/Polish
« Reply #2 on: July 16, 2017, 08:00:11 PM »

I prefer a dripping system with the valve opened to flowing water, but also i like my wheels just under the lip of the surface of water for a dunk.
My wheels are soaked all times while the machine is turning (except when polishing with felt).

A wet cold wheel lasts WAY longer.
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lithicbeads

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Re: 3 Months Later: Review of KN All Diamond Grind/Polish
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2017, 09:04:11 PM »

 That is a Lortone machine , they made it. When I got mine I had exactly the same problems plus. The machine rattled and vibrated to beat the band when I got it, beyond anything imaginable. I opened the machine and found that the  piece on the shaft that the belt goes around , the sheave,was about 1/2 inch too big on it's internal diameter. The piece was laid over at about a 30 degree angle. At that angle the set screw would not contact the shaft  so they changed it for a very long set screw that would contact the shaft.Any hardware store would have these sheaves in the proper size. What could they have been thinking ?
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Cabbin Fever

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Re: 3 Months Later: Review of KN All Diamond Grind/Polish
« Reply #4 on: July 17, 2017, 05:47:18 PM »

That is a Lortone machine , they made it. When I got mine I had exactly the same problems plus. The machine rattled and vibrated to beat the band when I got it, beyond anything imaginable. I opened the machine and found that the  piece on the shaft that the belt goes around , the sheave,was about 1/2 inch too big on it's internal diameter. The piece was laid over at about a 30 degree angle. At that angle the set screw would not contact the shaft  so they changed it for a very long set screw that would contact the shaft.Any hardware store would have these sheaves in the proper size. What could they have been thinking ?
Hmmm...I am glad you brought that up! I am going to look at that, as I am getting more vibration, which may or may not be due to the shield not screwed down ~ thanks for the heads up!!
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My first cab is from a piece of jasper I found on the beach in Newport, OR my first Mother's Day, 1983. I made it into a bracelet for my daughter Christmas 2017.

lithicbeads

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Re: 3 Months Later: Review of KN All Diamond Grind/Polish
« Reply #5 on: July 17, 2017, 07:07:12 PM »

The shield vibrates on mine also , very obnoxious.
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Mossagatemac

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Re: 3 Months Later: Review of KN All Diamond Grind/Polish
« Reply #6 on: August 12, 2017, 06:28:55 AM »

Thanks for the review!  Im in the same boat of trying to decide what to get. You mentioned you picked this over the pixie...  Do you have any feel for how the KN system compares to the cabking?  They seem to be a little closer on price...
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Cabbin Fever

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Re: 3 Months Later: Review of KN All Diamond Grind/Polish
« Reply #7 on: November 02, 2017, 01:34:49 PM »

Thanks for the review!  Im in the same boat of trying to decide what to get. You mentioned you picked this over the pixie...  Do you have any feel for how the KN system compares to the cabking?  They seem to be a little closer on price...
Sorry for the very late response, but I don't have any input on the Cabking. I wish I could remember now what it was that made me choose the KN over the Cabking...perhaps it was the water system.
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My first cab is from a piece of jasper I found on the beach in Newport, OR my first Mother's Day, 1983. I made it into a bracelet for my daughter Christmas 2017.

denverkris

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Re: 3 Months Later: Review of KN All Diamond Grind/Polish
« Reply #8 on: September 22, 2018, 11:26:34 AM »

Hi all, I have this exact same unit :). My main complaint with the unit is that the drain plug is high enough in the man that you have to tilt the entire unit forward to get the water to completely drain. Not sure if it's supposed to be like that? I also find that I have to stop and refill the water way too frequently. I'm wondering if I also am having issues with the drips lining up, sometimes the wheels don't seem to be as wet as they should, I've been keeping a sponge nearby to help. I would like to get some other type of water setup, I just don't know what to get.
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