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[dexdrako]

hey everyone I'm looking for a little help

I have a old beacon star 6" holiday combo d and it has two stone wheels, one expanding wheel and a saw. my problem stems from the pulley system tho, the motor has a 2 inch pulley while the shaft has a combo 2 and 3 inch pulley set. when i first got it I took it apart and cleaned it but forgot to record how the pulleys had been set up so for the last year I've been running it 2" to 2". it worked and to be honest its just too much work to changed the set up so i left it.  now the wheels that came with it are in need of replacement so I want to make sure i was doing it right

should i stay with the 2" to 2" or should i switch it up to the 2" to 3" pulley?

any insight would be helpful

[catmandewe]

2" to 2" should be right, especially if using the expando drum.
If you change to 2" to 3" it will slow the shaft down and the expando drum may not expand fully and your belt will tend to walk from one side to the other.
If you are not using the expando drum it then comes down to personal preference on the speed your wheels turn, you can use a door hinge and make it easy to change if you do want to slow it down occasionally as slower speeds usually work better for the polishing stages.
PS- Never run the machine without a belt on the expando drum, they can blow apart without a belt on them.

Beacon Star are good machines, glad to see the old equipment still in use.

Have a great day.....................Tony

[peruano]

Everything Tony said is spot on.  I might add that we are assuming the motor is spinning at the normal 1725 rpms.  If someone had changed it to a faster motor you might want to use that slower (larger) pulley.  And as a really obscure point sometimes you want the slower speed at the polishing stage of things (slower and drier can produce different results).  I have an old Beacon Star cab machine (6" with 2 expandos -one wide and one narrow; with two hard wheels in the middle).  Mine has three pulleys on one side and two on the other for distinct running speeds and a hinged motor mount that makes changing the pully combinations easier. 

[Jhon P]

I have a beacon star 6”. My first machine. When I wore out the SC wheels I installed diamond wheels
It had 3 wheels so I replaced it with three. I had to adjust spacers. I use 8” machines now but I still use the 6” sometimes.

[Tippin8609]

Hi all. I was reading the posts on the beacon star machines. I bought out a lapidary shop last year and included were four older beacon star poly arbor machines. Two are cast 8 inch, and two are metal hooded six inch. Where is a good place to buy parts for these machines? Appreciate any help, thanks Karen

[dexdrako]

thanks for the help everyone, my OCD will relax on this a bit now. lol

and yeah the beacon star is working out quite well its a good machine

[peruano]

Tippin8609,  I'm not sure what parts you might need for these cab machines/arbors, but wheels can be updated from many sources.  Johnson Bros discounted wheels, and JSGems come to mind, but KingsleyNorth is a good source for price comparison and diversity.  Lortone sells a tray and hood if these are missing.  Bearings and belts are available everywhere.  Why no make them run and grind a rock for the fun of it all?