Coolant for Grinders

by Ann
(Alabama)

I have an Inland grinder with a water reservoir and a sponge that sucks up the water and is held in the grinder so that it comes in contact with the grinder head.
Recently in response to a question you stated that you put a few drops of dish detergent in the water and that your grinder head "lasts for years". My question is what brand of grinder head do you use that will last for years? I'm thinking one of two things: you either don't grind very much or very often or there's something about adding dish deterget that keeps the diamond surface from wearing.

Answer

Hi Ann,

When I'm working on an intricate project, I grind a lot, if it's mainly straight pieces, I grind very little. I have both Glastar and DiamondMax grinders. Each one is in a different place in my studio, but I mainly use the DiamondMax because it's closer to my light box.

I use the specific heads that are made for each grinder. I keep my grinders clean and remove the heads frequently so they don't get stuck. I just put a couple of drops of dishwashing detergent in the resevoir along with the water...water first, then dishwashing detergent (to avoid bubbles).

I assume you realize that you have around 5 areas on each head that you can use before the diamonds are worn off. For those that don't know, when you are replacing a grinder head, put it on so the the bottom of the head is even with the bottom edge of the top plate (the plastic piece that looks like a grid). I took the rest of this from the Glastar instruction manual, as it explains it far better than I could: "If all the glass you grind is 1/8" (3.175 mm) thick or less, you will only use the lower one-fifth of the cutting surface. When the diamond cutting surface dulls, lower the head 1/8" (3.175 mm). This will provide a new, sharp grinding surface. When that area dulls, lower the head another 1/8" (3.175 mm) and so forth. This will allow five surfaces; each surface should last approximately 20 to 50 hours, a total of 100 to 250 hours of grinding from one head."

As you've probably read in my tutorials, I don't grind every piece of glass for every project. I seldom grind for lead work unless a piece is way off in size or shape. For foiling, if the piece is cut correctly, the foil will stick as long as the glass is clean and dry, so it doesn't need to be ground. I wipe the edges with a cloth dampened with alcohol. For whatever reason, the foil seems to stick better after the alcohol wipe.