All, I work in a very small space at my store.It is a room that is
self contained within the store.Has its own door and windows.I have a
shop vac hooked up to my buffer.I built a box over the outlet screen
at the back of my buffer.A hose is attached to the box which runs
under the counter to a cabinet that holds the shop vac.I seal the
cabinet seams with duct tape.I vacuum up all the debris from my
buffer and surrounding area and send it to the refiner every so
often.It is very hard to keep my space clean.I was interested in
hearing what everybody else is doing in similar situations.Iam
thinking of buying the buffing unit with the under the counter
filtration system.I just wonder if that will even work.Would love to
hear feedback.Rouged out at the mall.
Hi J. I have a SWEST PMC 9000 polishing machine with a cabinet
underneath. It uses filters like air conditioners only thicker. I
have always been pleased with it. I still have to vac around the shop
and you can tell when the filters get full. The best one I used was
as an employee of a chain store and they provided everthing, no
expense spared. It had the cloth bag type collection device and it was
the best but over $2000.00 Patty
.Rouged out at the mall. One one the best solutions I have found for
dirt in the shop is to isolate the culprits i.e. The buffing machine
and the steamer. I have recently built out my own studio and was able
to design in a small room just for that purpose. An outside vent to
help remove the heat and fumes from the ultrasonic, bascially a large
closet with a sink. In place of a door I use the plastic strips that
are used for seperating refrigerated areas from non refrigerated areas
in wearhouses. They allow heavy traffic without having to open and
close doors. Works the same in a jewelry shop. Helps to isolate the
dust and heat. I previously worked in an office building style shop
and did the same thing with one end of the shop space. It is not too
expensive for a door way but can get a little pricey if you try to
cover a 10’x10’ space. Worth every penny. Frank
I have used several types of buffing machine dust collectors over the
years. At one time I was working for a shop that had four of the table
top units with a single air conditioner type filter. This was by far
the dirtiest. The walls of the buffing room were always covered with
dark gray dust.
The table top units were eventually replaced with two cabinets with
multiple stacked air conditioner type filters. This setup did get a
the air cleaner, but not a lot. Replacing the filters is messy. It is
not a good setup to use when reclaiming your metal is a concern.
In my own shop I installed a Handler 3/4 HP shaker bag type unit. The
shaker bag units filter the air much better. I can breathe clean air
in the shop, this is the most important aspect. Open your dust
collector and look at the fans, are they clean? Mine are. I don’t
need to replace filters and it’s easy to empty.
I found a used dust collector $400.00. I made a table top for it.
Bought hoods and a two speed polishing motor. It’s been a few years
since I’ve built it, but I think that I spent about $700.00 total. I
like the setup more than any commercially made setup that I have seen.
The reason that I like it is because the table and motor are
positioned foreword of the cabinet. This allows me to sit on a stool
without hitting my knees on the cabinet.
J, Try using Simichrome paste polish. We haven’t used rouge in @ 1
year. It works great on gold, silver and especially platinum. Get a
new muslin buff and turn on the buffer. Allow the buff to "lap out"
the simichrome from the tube. Don’t squeeze the tube, except to allow
the cream to be flush with the top of the tube. Very little mess!
Great clean-up! We use greystar as a tripoli. Except for the new
buff making a mess until the loose cotton comes off, there is
virtually no mess. We vaccum our machine around the motor, etc. @
once or twice/mo. We have a busy shop! With Platinum, we don’t have
several steps or sanding to go through to polish. Just greystar and
simichrome!!!
Wow, I thought my husband was just being silly. He uses this on the
molds he works on at Abbott labs for medical supplies. I have just
started doing little jewelry things. But needed to polish some stuff.
He got me a hand held Dremer (?). I can use it to drill holes in
pearls, and found it to work as a small hand held polisher. He
suggested I use the Simichrome we have at the house. I have used it a
couple of times, and it really does work. But I thought it was just
me, because I do such piddley stuff. miki