Iss this a flat lap?

[whalecottagedesigns]

Nov 15, 2024 11:34:04 GMT -5 Rockoonz said:

I met someone several years ago who was on the seasonal maintenance crew at McMurdo, he had some neat feldspar crystals from the volcano, I wonder if they were doing something with them?

A large part of the teams that go out for the summer are geologists, so it could have been part of those research missions maybe!

[mirkee]

I finally talked to a tech at Covington yesterday. They were very courteous and helpful and I should have called them before. The tech knew all about the machine I have and he told me how to set it up. Sounds like it was somewhat of an oddball machine that they no longer made. According to him, it runs slow unless you modify it with a different pulley. The screw on shaft makes it so that the disc can come off on turning it off due to the high inertia and it can "go through a wall". Gotta keep an eye out for that. I ordered a 10" steel plate since I already have two aluminum plates and by gluing the steel one on I'll be able to use magnetic plates. My guess is that my next step should be to get a 12 or 16" steel plate to screw on right to the shaft of the machine. Looks like I'll be using it by next week since they said they would mail Monday. I was also told by a very knowledgeable guy at my rock club that Covington machines have proprietary threads but he can make me an adapter to go from the 1" male I have now to a smaller male to be able to screw on readily available plates.  All in all, I boought the machine very cheap and it is essentially new and it feels very solid so I am very happy with it.  Hooking up a water system is next.

[whalecottagedesigns]

Nov 16, 2024 19:09:00 GMT -5 mirkee said:

I finally talked to a tech at Covington yesterday. They were very courteous and helpful and I should have called them before. The tech knew all about the machine I have and he told me how to set it up. Sounds like it was somewhat of an oddball machine that they no longer made. According to him, it runs slow unless you modify it with a different pulley. The screw on shaft makes it so that the disc can come off on turning it off due to the high inertia and it can "go through a wall". Gotta keep an eye out for that. I ordered a 10" steel plate since I already have two aluminum plates and by gluing the steel one on I'll be able to use magnetic plates. My guess is that my next step should be to get a 12 or 16" steel plate to screw on right to the shaft of the machine. Looks like I'll be using it by next week since they said they would mail Monday. I was also told by a very knowledgeable guy at my rock club that Covington machines have proprietary threads but he can make me an adapter to go from the 1" male I have now to a smaller male to be able to screw on readily available plates.  All in all, I boought the machine very cheap and it is essentially new and it feels very solid so I am very happy with it.  Hooking up a water system is next.

So glad you got ahold of them! That will make everything a ton easier for the setup now!