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[RutherfordbHaye5]

Hi! I've been doing a little research on sphere making, and one of the issues that has been mentioned is keeping the grit in suspension while grinding. Someone on YouTube said that they put antifreeze in their grit slurry without explaining why, but I figured it had something to do with this issue. I'd like to avoid using something so poisonous, but it's the cheapest thing I've found by far if there's any merit to it. Does anyone have any idea?

[Jhon P]

Forget the grit. Go all diamond cups or pads

[RutherfordbHaye5]

Forget the grit. Go all diamond cups or pads

As i said, cost is kind of an issue right now. Diamond cups are planned for further down the line as grit is a hell of a lot cheaper. Really I'm just curious if the antifreeze does anything at all or if that guy on YouTube was just a crack pot.

[Slabbercabber]

If you are working outdoors antifreeze is not something you want to spill on the ground.  If you want to thicken the grit, mineral oil is cheap for the little you need.  A one dollar bottle of baby oil will last forever.

[bilquest]

There's two general varieties of antifreeze, polyethylene glycol and ethylene glycol. The ethylene glycol is the stuff you put in your car radiator, it is very toxic and especially dangerous to animals who might think it's spilled gatorade. Now, the less caustic stuff is polyethylene glycol, commonly used to winterize the potable water systems in RV's. I have used poly for saw coolant and found it was effective for preventing corrosion. As to how well it 'suspends' your grit, I'm not sure. However, it's cheap enough and safe enough to give it a whirl. You can pick up a gallon at Walmart or any RV supply store for a couple bucks.

[Jhon P]

Covington ( I think) makes a solution specifically for that

[lapidaryrough]

white tooth paste mix grit into the paste.
Add just enough water. brush or spoon on sphere.

Covington   had brown powder I'm  thinking it was drill mud Barite rose Oklahoma  material.  crush to powder. seemed to have baking soda in mix, raise the blow just enough to touch the stone while running.

On by two cup Covington sphere machine i us  small plastic blow to hold  mixed paste.
Using   O-Rings inch or so wider then the diameter of sphere. mud holds on to the  o-ring as the sphere rotates in the two cups.   ( use small chain over cups, chain seems to move more material over the sphere. only with the fine grit !
80 grit brush mud on - or dry feed over stone, with water drip. or spray bottle.

   Jack Cole

[RutherfordbHaye5]

Covington ( I think) makes a solution specifically for that

Yes, it's called Old Miser. I actually have some on hand but it would almost triple the cost of operating the machine if I exclusively used that. Thanks for the input though!

[RutherfordbHaye5]

There's two general varieties of antifreeze, polyethylene glycol and ethylene glycol. The ethylene glycol is the stuff you put in your car radiator, it is very toxic and especially dangerous to animals who might think it's spilled gatorade. Now, the less caustic stuff is polyethylene glycol, commonly used to winterize the potable water systems in RV's. I have used poly for saw coolant and found it was effective for preventing corrosion. As to how well it 'suspends' your grit, I'm not sure. However, it's cheap enough and safe enough to give it a whirl. You can pick up a gallon at Walmart or any RV supply store for a couple bucks.

Interesting! I didn't know there was a safe antifreeze lol. I'll give it a shot! Thanks!

[RutherfordbHaye5]

white tooth paste mix grit into the paste.
Add just enough water. brush or spoon on sphere.

Covington   had brown powder I'm  thinking it was drill mud Barite rose Oklahoma  material.  crush to powder. seemed to have baking soda in mix, raise the blow just enough to touch the stone while running.

On by two cup Covington sphere machine i us  small plastic blow to hold  mixed paste.
Using   O-Rings inch or so wider then the diameter of sphere. mud holds on to the  o-ring as the sphere rotates in the two cups.   ( use small chain over cups, chain seems to move more material over the sphere. only with the fine grit !
80 grit brush mud on - or dry feed over stone, with water drip. or spray bottle.

   Jack Cole

I hadn't considered using something as mundane as toothpaste to thicken the mixture. I'll give that a try. You've got me thinking outside the box now. I read somewhere that xanthan gum is used in a lot of bottled drinks to keep the ingredients in them from separating. Maybe that will work too!

[RutherfordbHaye5]

If you are working outdoors antifreeze is not something you want to spill on the ground.  If you want to thicken the grit, mineral oil is cheap for the little you need.  A one dollar bottle of baby oil will last forever.

Do I mix the grit straight into the oil? Or do I still mix it with water? I don't think that would do a whole lot.

[Slabbercabber]

Drilling mud is just bentonite clay.  Barite is added to increase hydrostatic pressure in the extraction of spent mud and swarf.  Depending on where you live, bentonite may be just the stuff in your garden.  If not, anyone in the Denver area should be able to provide it.  I no longer live there but someone here should be able to help.

[RutherfordbHaye5]

Drilling mud is just bentonite clay.  Barite is added to increase hydrostatic pressure in the extraction of spent mud and swarf.  Depending on where you live, bentonite may be just the stuff in your garden.  If not, anyone in the Denver area should be able to provide it.  I no longer live there but someone here should be able to help.

Googled drilling mud and it sounds like exactly what I need! I do in fact live near Denver, I'll see if I can source some. You're amazing, thank you!