I'm going for 2 for 1 answer time.
First, anyone ever use or know of a good tabletop sander, and am I even foolish to consider one. I am looking to primarly smooth the edges on pieces and take off excess material. I do a lot of tableware and starting on tabletop inserts. who is the best supplier these days. I live on the east coast so that may make a difference because of shipping.
Second, any good suggestions on clear scrap usage( aside from giving it all to one of you!) I have no problem using all my colors, but I seem to be swimming in clear.
I have a 3" x 24" wet belt sander. It does everything a larger belt sander will do but it is totally Mickey Mouse. The belts don't last long. Mine doesn't have a water feed system, it uses a wet sponge which is very goofy. I don't use it much, only for small works of which I make few.
Get the largest sander you can afford.
For removing a lot of material other tools like a diamond grinder would be faster, although I don't mess around with 80 mesh belts which might work.
Jeri Dantzig wrote:
Second, any good suggestions on clear scrap usage( aside from giving it all to one of you!) I have no problem using all my colors, but I seem to be swimming in clear.
clear eyed jeri
I periodically make platters with bits of clear scrap stacked with randomly placed stringer and frit - it takes several full-fuses to fill the holes - of which I like to leave a few for 'texture'. The stringer gets more and more distorted with each firing, and with the holes I get a pleasing lacy feel. (I'm in the middle of one now, so I'll post a pic tomorrow if I can borrow the office digi camera).
I end up with a chunky platter, with squiggly lines of colour, and somewhat uneven thickness - with an irregular edge. Sometimes I fuse coarse frit round the edge to increase the 'lace' effect.
i make peas out of scrap, most frequently out of transparent scrap. fire up small bits until they become peas and beans in shape. then load a pattern bar channel with peas, frit (the coarser, the better) and any other stuff you like, and fuse. the cast bars have the appearance of the underwater world.
peas are a by-product of the earrings business i'm in. i put little pieces of glass on the end of the wire sticking out of my earrings, before firing, to keep the wire from swinging around while i'm walking to the kiln, or while the shelf of work is firing. i save the peas, and periodically use them in the way i've described, or in circular castings.
This is my first post to this board. I have been lurking here for a long time. As for the question about belt sanders we have several delta belt sanders (made for wood) in use in our shop. You can pick one of these up at home depot for under $100.00 a similar one made for glass will run you about $600.00 . We use 4x36 sanders and 1" x 30" these work great, just make sure you have them plugged into a GFI outlet so you won't get all warm and fuzzy. We have a water line that lightly sprays onto the belts. No, the belts made for wood won't work well. They are aluminum oxide and are not water proof, you need Silicon carbide on a water proof backing. If you need anymore info let me know.
Rick Wilton
ps if anyone has the opportunity to take a class from fellow board member Bob Leatherbarrow, I suggest you jump on it. I just finished a weekend class with Bob and learned a whole lot. I am new to warm glass but have been blasting and cutting glass for years.
I use a 4X36 sander I got from Harbor Freight. I put a shield on the back,
made a pan for the bottom and put a water sprayer on back that is controlled by a solonoid. Using silicon carbide belts it works great and
only cost me the eighty five dollars I paid for the sander since I already had the rest of the parts in my scrap bin.
I had the 40" Covington from Kingsley North, but the water feed was really funky. I ended up selling it and getting the floor standing unit from CRLaurence.
This is my first post to this board. I have been lurking here for a long time. As for the question about belt sanders we have several delta belt sanders (made for wood) in use in our shop. You can pick one of these up at home depot for under $100.00 a similar one made for glass will run you about $600.00 . We use 4x36 sanders and 1" x 30" these work great, just make sure you have them plugged into a GFI outlet so you won't get all warm and fuzzy. We have a water line that lightly sprays onto the belts. No, the belts made for wood won't work well. They are aluminum oxide and are not water proof, you need Silicon carbide on a water proof backing. If you need anymore info let me know.
Rick Wilton
this is really unsafe. i'd hesitate recommending someone do this.
why would you say it is unsafe? I've run these this way (as have many others I know) for many years and the GFI plug has never tripped once. I've had electricians look it over and they say it's fine. (You can almost literally jump into a bath tub with the toaster and you'll be fine as long as the GFI is working.) These things are super sensitive to the slightest lose of power and trip in less than a thousandth of a second. They now put electrical outlets right beside the sink in your bathroom with a GFI. Where you'll have a curling iron or blow dryer. Bruce has done the same thing more or less and he's still kickin' . I'd hesitate to do this without the GFI breaker. The motors are never in contact with any water.
here is your key words: You'll be fine as long as the GFI is working
have you ever known these to fail? i have seen one. i wouldn't have standing water around a piece of electrical equipment unless it was designed for it and had a ul stamp.
the gfi outlets next to your sink are connected to things that, under their normal operating conditions, are not flooded with water. they're for accidental, not constant use, wet conditions.
i'm sure the manufacturer of wood belt sanders won't speak to you about doing this, because it simply is too dangerous to do so.
The motors are enclosed in the housing an never see a single drop of water. I have a tile saw that is almost constantly being sprayed with water and thats okay. It is protected the same way, by the manufacturer. The amount of water on the belts is rather small and most is throwin' off the belt as it rounds the corner to return. I've had two electricians and an electrical engineer come through my shop to either wire equipment or inspect my set-up, and their only concern was that the bearings on the tools might wear out because there not sealed for water. The GFI's are tested at least weekly, that's why they have a test button. They've never tripped once in 5 or 6 years. Have a look at some of the "WET" belt sanders and the motors on those ones are less protected than mine. I agree if you are not careful there is a possibility for a shock just as with any power tool that has water. I was alot more careful with the submersible pump for my tile saw. That's why I got rid of it and now spray water directly onto the blade from the water line. Same amount of water just no electrical pump to put it there. I suppose that's a really bad thing to do because no one said I could.
. . . I was alot more careful with the submersible pump for my tile saw. That's why I got rid of it and now spray water directly onto the blade from the water line. Same amount of water just no electrical pump to put it there. . .
I don't use a submersible pump either, just a direct hook-up tp a hose outlet. No finicky pumps. no fear of electrical events . . . Brock
My memory is so good, I can't remember the last time I forgot something . . .
Arghhh, are you saying that the pumps are now a problem with the saw. I hooked up a neat dual bucket drip system submerging my pump(thank you Marty) Works for me
Still getting wet though Jeri
I'd be concerned, what are we cutting? Glass and it is sharp and abrasive. I'd be concerned that it would cut or abrade through the insulation of the wires and really light you up because you've got alot more water than a light spray onto a belt and it may or may not be protected by a gfi. Your putting a electric motor directly into water, doesn't sound safe to me. But it must because it was made in taiwan.
no, the motor is completely sealed in epoxy, and unless you drop it, isn't ever going to degrade. yes, you might nick the power cord. there's a bazillion of these in fish tanks everywhere, which is what these really are. if you're concerned about this, you can get a ground probe at a fish store. these are titanium rods that are connected only to the ground plug of the socket.
My way works better for me less messing around with the motor. They always in need of cleaning, we cut alot of stone and glass with it. If you want to argue with me about that one good luck. If I said something that upset you, sorry that was not my intention.
I had the 40" Covington from Kingsley North, but the water feed was really funky. I ended up selling it and getting the floor standing unit from CRLaurence.
twinkler2 wrote:
What temp do you fire this scrap and the annealing time? I have soooo mush scrap glass, I thought I might give this a try
Thanks
Me Kim
try 1700 for an hour. anneal well, since it's going to be thick. the b.e. site has a tech tipsheet on this for different, thick fusings. i tried one at 1600 for an hour, and it had bubbles on the surface that were sharp once the tops of them broke off.
