Grrrr...

[mystickoi]

Hi Guys,

Been so busy that I've not worked much on the rocks, and so haven't posted in a time either. My mum has been after me to make a small pendant for one of her gals at church. Her friend gave her some obsidian that I guess has some sentimental value. I dunno... OK, I'll make her a small pendant out of it. Cabbed it up no problem, but it is so small for my fat fingers that I figured it best to groove wrap it. Set up my Inland Flat Lap machine to do the groove, and the darn motor won't spin. I just replaced the motor last year under warranty... the original didn't make it a year of very light use! I guess they don't like to sit unused for any length of time? Anyway, I emailed Inland over the weekend, but haven't yet heard back from them. Hmmm... have to call them instead?

Sorry about the ramble. What I am really after is advice. I can't see purchasing a better unit, as I don't use the one I have very much. Just the occasional squaring stuff up and making grooves. Perhaps there a cheap way to make grooves, using something that won't break down all the time?

Bill

[Pat]

Somewhere in this forum, there is a little tute on how to set up a groove maker with a rotary drill under a workbench that has a hole cut into it. I'll see if I can find it.

[3rdrockfromthefun]

Bill, Inland motors often go out as a result of poor dam design - they make the dam out of plastic and there is no stop on the motor shaft to prevent a wheel from dropping right onto the dam if the set-screw comes loose. When that happens it can often be so subtle that it's not heard and barely felt (plastic just shleeewwws away). If the hole that your motor normally sticks up from is just that - a hole, and has no tube protruding up through that hole - your dam is gone and your motor is being flooded with each use. The motors are fairly watertight - but not completely - hence why it can take awhile to kill them even with water pouring right on them.

Here's a link to some pictures showing how I modified mine by replacing their plastic dam with an aluminum tube and some marine epoxy.

www.flickr.com/photos/modeldaughters/sets/72157627686431027/

Hope that helps and hope everybody with an Inland checks to see if they've still got an intact dam - and, hope maybe if we bitch enough Inland will give us units with real grown-up dams on them

[mystickoi]

Thanks! Inland asked me to return the defective motor. I'll work on the mod to hopefully prevent a 3rd failure.

Bill