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My glasswork has gotten to the level that has me thinking more about coldwork. I believe that I need to get a Wet Belt Sander, and any feedback would be most appreciated.

It needs to be small - my studio does not have room for large belt sander, so I'm thinking "tabletop" would be just right.

I have seen the Griffin online, and I have read both positive and negative comments about it.
Came across the Glastar B15 that has a 2in. wet belt AND a polishing/grinding wheel on one unit. Have not searched for comments yet.

It seems to me that I would use the belt sander a lot more than I would use a lap grinder/sander . . . but not sure. What do you think?

Or am I better off to stick with Diamond pads and good, old fashioned elbow-grease?

Check out the Covingtons on the link below, these are nice small units. I have a bigger unit now but I had a Gryphon table top and would recommend you stay away from Gryphon, I had problems from day one, service sucked and they never took care of their problem. I have talked to many other fusers who are not happy with the Gryphon.

http://www.covington-engineering.com/belt_sanders.htm

Bob

If your studio is a finished room inside your house, then that is not the place for a wet belt sander.....too messy. Depending on your circumstances you could maybe plan on having it in a garage or out building..then you could get the big one which is much more versatile. Just my 2 cents.

I've got a floor model WBS with wheels on it, in my garage. Easy to roll outside and wash off after every use. I considered the table top size but decided if I wanted to work with larger and heavier pieces the features of the floor model would suit me better. Up to that time I was using a Lortone combination machine which did the job on small pieces but severely limited me on anything over 14 inches. I am really happy with the floor model. My 2 cents too.
ps. I kept the Lortone in the garage as well, wet sanding is a messy job, especially water on the floor when you get to the finer grits.

I buck the trend and use a small, hand held, dry belt sander.
http://www.crlaurence.com/crlapps/showl ... elID=40581

I have the tabletop Covington 24" wetbelt sander. I rarely choose to use it.

Like Bert said, the hand helds are a great inexpensive tool. You can achieve a complete polish with them also.

I will sometimes put a water drip line (smal amount off water) on the area I'm polishing to keep heat and dust down. They also make a polishing oil to spray on the belts, works good also.

http://www.crlaurence.com/crlapps/showl ... elID=13754

I don't know what type or size of work your planning but a "dry", hand held grinder suggested above would not come close to providing the precise, quality work I can do with my WBS!! Don't cheap out with your tools!...it will show in your end products.

Don,

I have a 4x106 sander a couple of 1" x 30" a 4"x 36" and the hand held machine we mentioned. The absolutely least used one of the bunch is the "professional" 4 x 106. I can achieve an optical polish with my hand held very easily. I been in many professional glass shops that use these for many uses, these are glass shops that have polishing equipment that costs over $100,000 and they'll use the $100.00 hand sander to finish off a rounded corner or polish a mitered edge.

Rick Wilton wrote:Don,

I have a 4x106 sander a couple of 1" x 30" a 4"x 36" and the hand held machine we mentioned. The absolutely least used one of the bunch is the "professional" 4 x 106. I can achieve an optical polish with my hand held very easily. I been in many professional glass shops that use these for many uses, these are glass shops that have polishing equipment that costs over $100,000 and they'll use the $100.00 hand sander to finish off a rounded corner or polish a mitered edge.

Where is the like button?

Since my work tends to be large, I prefer bringing the sander to the glass instead of vice versa. My dry belt sander is one of the most used tools in my shop. I sand each sharp edge of every piece of glass I cut. Because there is no water, cleanup is really easy. The big deal is that I don't cut my fingers during cleanup.

When I need a grind and polish, I start with 120, go to 220, and then 400. After 400. fire polish works perfectly. The sander has a roller platen that I prefer to use. Mostly I work dry. Yes you can over heat, but you have to work at it. If I am worried, I grab the bottle of glass cleaner and give it a schpritz. Either that or move on and come back after it cools down a bit. The belts are designed for both wet and dry sanding.

I would like a wet diamond angle grinder for the larger areas. However my belts are 1-1/8" wide, and most of my work is within that range.

I got my first one of these when I bought out a whole set of tools from a mirror shop that went out of business, sheet dolly, suction cups, belt sander etc. I finally wore out the Makita. I replaced it with CRL's cheap Chinese knock off. It is a lot less expensive than the Makita and you get what you pay for. You will find this tool in most neighborhood glass shops, and like Rick said, they also have a 4 x 106 wet belt.

Rick Wilton wrote:Don,

I have a 4x106 sander a couple of 1" x 30" a 4"x 36" and the hand held machine we mentioned. The absolutely least used one of the bunch is the "professional" 4 x 106. I can achieve an optical polish with my hand held very easily. I been in many professional glass shops that use these for many uses, these are glass shops that have polishing equipment that costs over $100,000 and they'll use the $100.00 hand sander to finish off a rounded corner or polish a mitered edge.

I know they are handy for arrissing large pieces, but can you do a small plate or bowl?
Most people here are not edging large pieces of float glass, they want to grind and polish smaller work.

Yes you can, no it's not the ideal tool for it, but it does work. I clamp a piece to my bench and use the hand held when appropriate. I don't have to use it for that much anymore but did often in the past.

Yes a real WBS is better but for those with lack of space and or cash it's very useful.

The medium size Covington WBS (41 1/2" belt) worked great for me for many years until I had the room and could afford a large CRL 106" machine. I still have the Covington and use it occassionally.

I agree with Brock. I can't visualize taking the machine to the work for the things I make; sushi plates, bowls, platters, etc. Using a hand held grinder dry sounds unhealthy and wet sounds very messy.

Jim

Where does an angle grinder come into play? I saw one described for use in coldworking on "Glasscampus.com". The picture with the text was of a MK machine with a water supply hose attatched and the statement that it could be used on flat surfaces.....??

That's exactly right, they are for flat surfaces, not edging. Here is a good supplier:

http://www.calibrestonetools.com/

bob proulx wrote:Check out the Covingtons on the link below, these are nice small units. I have a bigger unit now but I had a Gryphon table top and would recommend you stay away from Gryphon, I had problems from day one, service sucked and they never took care of their problem. I have talked to many other fusers who are not happy with the Gryphon.

http://www.covington-engineering.com/belt_sanders.htm

Bob

Agree with staying away from 'crafters' tools; wish I had the money back spent on the Gemini Apollo ring saw and accessories!

I have the Covington 464WBS which is their basic vertical WBS. Nothing better for what it's designed to do; however, have been considering whether the horizontal 460WBS might be good too; would appreciate feedback on this.

Also find the use of oil rather than water interesting. It would seem that oil could be used with a WBS as effectively as with a dry sander or angle grinder. Would appreciate insight on this issue too.

Once upon a time, there were not glass fabricating shops with 5 and 6 figure glass polishing machines, in every region. There were neighborhood glass shops with a 4 x 106 wetbelt and either a 3 x 24 dry belt or an 1-1/8" x 21" dry belt (or both). They would run through the belts, stopping at either 400 or cork, and give the belt a spray with the polishing oil, and give it the final pass by (without running water). This yields a nice matte finish. They rarely had a felt wheel to bring it to high polish. We are talking about edging table tops, shelves, mirrors, etc.

Today, you just order it and it comes through with a high polish. (unless they only bother to matte polish, which has certainly happened to me when I least expected it)

Hi,

I have also been thinking of buying the small Covington WBS, but shipping it to the UK and paying 20% tax, pushes the cost up past $900. So I was interested to read that you can get good results from a dry hand held sander. If a hand held dry sander works well, can you also get good results from using a dry table mounted 4" x 36" belt sander?

thanks

Andrew Openshaw

andy o wrote:Hi,

I have also been thinking of buying the small Covington WBS, but shipping it to the UK and paying 20% tax, pushes the cost up past $900. So I was interested to read that you can get good results from a dry hand held sander. If a hand held dry sander works well, can you also get good results from using a dry table mounted 4" x 36" belt sander?

thanks

Andrew Openshaw

Andrew,
There is a distributor of Covington machines in Cumbria. This may reduce costs a bit.

Stephen,

Thanks for the reply, so you have a company name for the Covington supplier based in Cumbria?

I can't find them using Google.

Thanks

Andrew

Andrew,
I can't find them either, so I have written to the company asking.
I might be interested in becoming a distributor myself, if there are now none in the UK.