Gold Wheel polishin- and no facets on big flats

[spadebit]

US silver cutters are pretty fussy about the polish on the bottom or our flats. I know the stone setters have been using these Gold Wheels for some time and hand polish with great success- but there cuts are very short and usually quite steep. Meaning that I think they can get away with faceting on the bottom side that we bright cutters cannot. Now I really like the polish obtained with these wheels- just not the facets obtained when hand holding. So this has been my solution and it seems to work well and easily for me. I started out using just a cheap grinder body and a home-made fixture so it mounts on the edge of my hone body. I had to hunt to fond a body short enough that I could move my hone as I wanted on my bench. Simple , just sharpen as usual, and when you are ready to polish a flat or radius heel, swing the fixture over a little further to the right and present the tool to the Gold Polish Wheel- yer dun!

 

[Brian Marshall]

Interesting idea... never thought about usin' 'em for bright cut.

We do use 'em for stone setting gravers and tiny drill bits...

Guess I'll have to go mount one to a hone this afternoon.


Thanks,

Brian

 

[LVVP]

Very clever idea, however I think it cannot polishing with a sharp corners becouse you are using rubber wheel.
How do you think?

 

[spadebit]

LVVP- I always thought that to be the case as well and as such refrained from using any such wheel. But my last class at GRS, one student Ron(thanks) had these wheels with him and he asked me if I would like to try them, so I said sure. Anyways, I did see a very quick mirror polish graver a 45 flat- but with facets and softened edges. I got home and tried again- but same results. Then I mounted the hone/wheel in a fixed position and ran my graver strait out on the wheel- and a great finish with no facets. Now, are the edges/corners softened, maybe if you look under high power, but not to the naked eye. Better yet they cut like a super polished flat and no loss of cutting edge for me( I will use that as a qualifier, they cut sharp to me and yours may be way sharper??) Try it, it takes maybe 1/2 hour to put the whole thing together and looks like a farmerized unit when your done(no offense to farmers in this overly sensitive era we find ourselves in)

 

[Dale Hatfield]

Spadebit
Source, size and availability .
Here is my thought . If the wheel is made in a larger Diameter . Drill hole in center to match center post on hone. Place on hone with your final polish diamond wheel. Then Rube Goldburg invention can stay away.
I would think a 3 inch wheel would be plenty to reach for final polish.
Pending diameters its sold in.
Dale

 

[mitch]

i've been inside my power-hone quite a few times (replaced the original unidirectional CCW motor for a CW years ago- GRS has since made them reversible) and wonder if it wouldn't be too difficult to run that second disc off another sheave & belt out the side of the case? you're obviously pretty handy- maybe some parts from SDI and you could have it all running as an integral unit?

 

[Dale Hatfield]

Mitch after I made the post I had the same thought. But never using said wheel . Im wondering about speed of the power hone? However with this set up the speed can be adjusted with the size of the pulleys.

 

[spadebit]

SPEED. Its important with the operation of these Gold Wheels, so having a larger wheel running at Hone RPM I think while handy it would present a problem. MY thought was a small/cheap high speed motor that mounts as a separate item right off the hone body. Seeing as how the high speed unit would not run as much as the main. But hey who am I to be inventing and or selling engraving product.

 

[mitch]

if you've been inside a GRS powerhone, you've probably noticed they step down the motor speed considerably (something like 1800rpm? > to what, 250 or so?). it's probably doable (tho more hassle than a 2nd cheap hi-speed set-up like yours) to step that up to 5-10,000 for a polishing disk. but then you're talking fairly hi-speed bearings, etc.

maybe we should all just forget i brought it up...

 

[Sandy]

Spadebit
This is a great idea. I've been struggling with holding it by hand. How did you mount the hand piece so it is stable?
Sandy

 

[Brian Marshall]

Pumbers tape & sheet metal screws with a leather wrap around the hand piece to keep from marring anything... worked for me.

Almost used gasket material to wrap with.

Made one yesterday after Jeremiah posted his.


Brian


Later I plan to think up a way to make it removeable. I do need that hand piece for what it was intended for - once in a while.

(Plumbers tape, for those on the other side of the pond - comes in a roll, soft steel with holes in it to strap pipes with)

 

[warren smith]

are these gold wheels a rubber-type material with an abrasive added?

 

[spadebit]

Sandy, mine is not pretty but works just fine. I made the mount out of some hardwood we had in the tree-shop. I have been thinking of buying an exra dovetail unit from GRS, build my mount for the tool handle so it attached, then it would also have easy vertical adjustment. I like simplicity.

 

[Sandy]

Spadebit thanks I'm going to make a mount for mine sometime this week. Think I'll make it out of aluminum. If and when I get it done I'll post a pic.
Sandy

 

[hsc]

who is the supplier for the these gold polishing wheels?
thanks steve