1/3 verses 1/2 horse power buffers?

Jewelry Discussion
1

Hi All, I’m thinking of purchasing a buffing machine & was looking in
the Rio Grande catalog on pg. 379 at their standard 1/3 horse power
buffer with filter hood & fan. I’m wondering if 1/3 horse power is
good enough as most of the others sold are 1/2 hp. Is there a big
difference in power? I would mainly be polishing jewelry pieces.

Anyone want to comment on 1/3 hp verses 1/2 hp buffers?

2

Hi! For normal use in polishing the 1/3Hp works fine. 3450 rpm is
the correct speed. The 1/2 hp is also 3450 rpm the torque for
grinding come from the 1/2hp So to answer your question for normal
polishing either one can work. WHEN YOU BUY CALL ME FOR A PRICE !

Jay
JEWELS TOOLS
BUY SELL OR TRADE
573 380-1910

3

Gaylen: From my experience the 1/2 HP buffing motors deliver the
needed power to do production buffing of larger jewelry items like
cuff bracelets. Depends on what kind and how much buffing you intend
to do.

Ken Gastineau

4

Gaylen, If you are just an hobbyist or you have an occasional jewelry
piece you could probably get by with a 1/3hp motor. If you are
building a shop to do any sort of professional jewelry work save
yourself the time of having to replace a weak motor next year and
buy the 1/2 hp unit now. The 1/2 hp is the standard in the industry.
I personally run a 3/4hp unit and would never go back. The fastest
most efficient way to do top notch professional polishing is to use
large diameter polishing wheels. This requires the extra torque to
keep the rpm at 3450. The higher the horse power the higher the
torque.

John Sholl
Littleton, Colorado

5

Gaylen: We repair and sell equipment and have seen the problems when
the wrong size motor is used.

Size matters depending on the amount of pressure you apply to the
wheel. Ideally you do not want to press hard on the wheel. But heavy
handers will find a 1/2 HP motor will live longer.

The motors have a start winding and a run winding. The start winding
is only used to get the motor up to a specified rpm. If the rpms slow
down below this then the start winding is again placed in the
circuit. If this happens repeatedly the start winding will burn out.
Then the motor will have to be replaced. If you are heavy handed and
the motor slows down when you buff then you need to lighten up or
will want the extra power from a 1/2 HP motor.

I hope I have explained this well enough for everyone to understand.
If you have any questions let me know. We repair the tools jewlers
use. – Ken Kotoski MPG Repair www.mpgrepair.com 1-877-262-2185

Members of MJSA, Jewelry Dealers Network(JDN) and Polygon. Polygon ID
83941 JDN ID mpgken Authorized Ney Repair Center.

We Repair The Tools Jewelers Use! TM

6 
    Size matters depending on the amount of pressure you apply to
the wheel. Ideally you do not want to press hard on the wheel. But
heavy handers will find a 1/2 HP motor will live longer.

I agree. I use my polisher very lightly and I find that 1/4 hp is
perfect. In fact it runs at a nice calm 1425rpm (the usual here is
2850rpm) and so makes for relaxing polishing. We never push hard
enough to get the srater winding cutting in. It’s just the way we
work - low polish, low stress.

Brian
B r i a n A d a m a n d R u t h B a i r d
Auckland NEW ZEALAND
www.fingers.co.nz/partners/ruth_baird