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I have the occasional need to grind a straight edge on a piece of flat glass; or to achieve a flat surface on marbles or rods used as feet. I'm interested in hearing recommendations for a general purpose tool that will enable me to accomplish these feats. I'm in a small space, and water hookup is not a possibility, so a wet belt sander can't be among the choices. I'm thinking more along the lines of the Glastar G9 disc grinder, or a similar studio tool.

Any opinions appreciated. Thanks,

Cliff

a wbs is quite doable for you. i have a small one, table top. the water goes into a standard 1/4" fitting in the top. i just fill put a tap into the side of a 1 gallon milk jug, fill it with water, and put it on a shelf above it. that gallon is good for about 30 minutes of sanding.

i got the vertical covington one, model 761.

Actually, a wet belt sander can work without a water line. I rigged a garbage can (elevated) with a tube that feeds to the sander. Fill the garbage can with water and it gravity feeds to the sander! Works great!

How much of a mess does one create when using a wet belt sander?.. and are they loud? (I'm in the house on the same floor as the rest of my family...but I do have an Ingersoll-Rand compressor in the house, so they're used to a bit of noise now and again when I'm blasting).

Cliff

If they can handle the compressor, the sander shouldn't bother them.

I recirculate my water with a small pump but that won't work unless you are using the same grit all the time. Water supply is on my todo list.

Jack

I use lots of marbles and am not patient at all. I have used a lap wheel, grinder and a belt sander and have found that the quickest way is to use a tile saw. I ground hundreds in about 45 min. You gotta pay attention though.

Els

How much of a mess does one create when using a wet belt sander?.. and are they loud? (I'm in the house on the same floor as the rest of my family...but I do have an Ingersoll-Rand compressor in the house, so they're used to a bit of noise now and again when I'm blasting

not much. a little splashing. it depends upon how much water you have dripping in it and the design of it.

they're quieter than a compressor, but more like a loud vacuum cleaner. i wear ear muffs when i use mine, simply because i do so when i use almost any power tool. further away from the tool, it probably can't be heard outside of a closed room.

I have 2 GlaStar G-9's and a Diamond Max. One of the G-9's is over 10 years old. I had the motor in it replaced after it finally died about 5 years ago. I use for finer grinding only, with a 180 disk.

I don't really use it much anymore, but it's held up great considering how old it is. I think I actually bought it in 1990, so it's 13 years old. LOL. My how time flies when you're grinding glass!

The other GlaStar is maybe 2-5 years old. I bought it when I was having a problem with my Diamond Max at one point. I think a grinding disk got stuck on it so i had to send it in to have the disk removed. They couldn't remove it so they sent me a used replacement grinder.

For about 6 or 7 years the Diamond Max, which had the coarser disk, was my workhorse. I used it all the time, like almost every day.

Recently, it's developed a problem with the motor slowing down and speeding up, so I bought a 100 grit disk for my newer GlaStar and it's become my workhorse grinder.

It seems to me that the GlaStar is quieter. The disks are quite a bit more spendy, but they seem to last longer than the ones I was getting for my Diamond Max. I don't know who made those disks, but it wasn't DTI.

It's slightly more difficult to install a new disk on the Diamond Max than it is on the GlaStar, but for such a small hassel, the price difference may be worth it to you. The G-9 is a more expensive machine, at least it was when I bought my second one.

Overall I'm very happy with both types of grinders I've had and would recommend either.

Geri