illusionist
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2017
Posts: 137
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Post by illusionist on Dec 15, 2017 17:01:12 GMT -5
I picked up this Lortone Beaver arbor from a very kind and generous man.
Since it has not been used for quite a while, is there a correct path to take in making it functional again? For instance, oiling the motor and bearings 5w30? Where are the best locations to oil? Are the wheels universal? They look to be 6 inch wheels. Should I be looking at upgrading these? For the most part, until I get some sort of saw to do some cabbing, I plan on using it to pre-grind some rocks that may need some help when tumbling. One of the grinding wheels looks to be worn uneven. Not sure if this is normal.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
Lapidary acquisition by Andrew Lee, on Flickr
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,340
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Post by quartz on Dec 16, 2017 0:17:13 GMT -5
Oiling locations on sleeve bearing motors will be a hole [ideally with a little plug in it] on the end bell on each end of the motor. Normally this will be located "up" in the sense of the motor housing rotation. Obviously, to oil the vertical motor shown in the left of the pic. above, the machine needs to be tipped up to make the motor horizontal. No more than 20 drops and do not over oil, once a year in average use [evenings and weekends] is plenty. Specification plate on many motors has oiling recommendation printed on it. Lowes has a little bottle of 20wt. electric motor oil, better than engine oil.
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Post by rmf on Dec 16, 2017 6:23:34 GMT -5
I believe that Lortone uses sealed bearings on those but you may want to make a quick call to Lortone to verify. Check for grease fittings on the bearings, if no fittings then they are sealed. Your unit has SiC coars grinding wheels and expandible drums with SiC wet or dry belts (always use wet on rocks). If I were cheap (and I am) I would use the grinding wheels up then replace them with diamond. For those units any vendor that sells a 6" wheel will work. You may need to get different shaft sleaves to put between the wheels to get the correct spacing. Lortone sells those in various lengths.
If you plan to cut cabs this should be a great machine. I would use diamond but SiC (Silicon Carbide) is slightly cheaper. Ground up silicon carbide that falls into the pan can be thrown in the tumbler as well. Do not mix SiC and Diamond unless the Diamond wheels are coarse only. I am not sure if SiC grit on diamond bonded plastic wheels (used for finer smothing) would pollute them or not.
This is a good machine.
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Post by Rockoonz on Dec 16, 2017 13:40:45 GMT -5
What rmf said, definitely a good unit, and Lortone will have any parts you need if it needs work. With the original SiC hard wheels be cautious. I have had an aluminum oxide wheel come apart on me on a non lapidary grinder, ended up with stitches. You never want to be in line with them while they're spinning and when you're done using one shut off the water supply and allow it to spin dry before stopping the machine. Is it 6 or 8 inch? Either way Kingsley North will have plenty of sanding belts for the expanding drums for a decent price.
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illusionist
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since August 2017
Posts: 137
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Post by illusionist on Dec 16, 2017 14:25:17 GMT -5
What rmf said, definitely a good unit, and Lortone will have any parts you need if it needs work. With the original SiC hard wheels be cautious. I have had an aluminum oxide wheel come apart on me on a non lapidary grinder, ended up with stitches. You never want to be in line with them while they're spinning and when you're done using one shut off the water supply and allow it to spin dry before stopping the machine. Is it 6 or 8 inch? Either way Kingsley North will have plenty of sanding belts for the expanding drums for a decent price. Wow! Thanks for the tip!
Does the non lapidary grinder have a higher rpm?
This is a 6 inch.
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Post by Rockoonz on Dec 16, 2017 15:19:59 GMT -5
Yes, a stationary grinder does spin faster, and the one I blew up was being abused at the time, so your risk is fairly low. As to the uneven wear you mentioned it's fairly normal and can be corrected with a wheel dresser. Once you put diamond hard wheels on it, however, you will never go back. As far as combining SiC and diamond, it definitely applies if you have SiC hard wheels or set up a re-circulation for your water. Using hard diamond with SiC belts and fresh water won't be a problem, the shop our local club operates does it that way with no issues at all.
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Post by johnjsgems on Dec 18, 2017 20:38:58 GMT -5
I replaced bearings on an 8" version once because it was really noisy. Sounded exactly the same with new bearings so guessing the thin tin hood acts like a megaphone. Keep it clean to prevent the same thin tin pan rusting out.
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