Ultra Simple Controls: A single, conveniently-located switch turns the motor and pump on or off simultaneously. The motor includes a brake so that it stops instantly when the power is turned off. Consequently, it's not necessary to wait for the head to coast to a stop to make a grinding depth adjustment.

"CASCADE" Coolant Recirculation System: The system includes a mounting cart on wheels, a 1/5 HP Graymills industrial pump, four 5-gallon buckets and all plumbing. The system fits within the B8. With the Cascade system, it is never necessary to clean the settling tanks. After several weeks, when they fillup with ground glass debris, just throw them away. They are very inexpensive plastic buckets. Other systems require nightly cleaning. This very simple, NEW idea saves a great deal of maintenance and totally eliminates all filters - another expense.

The B8 can be purchased without the Cascade system if a simple water-in, water-out scheme is preferable. However, one of the big advantages of a recirculating system is that a glass grinding lubricant can be added to the water. This improves grinding speed and adds life to the grinding head.

The Grinding System is composed of the following:

1. Work Surface: Made of a specially coated steel alowing the glass to slide over it with little effort

2. Fence: This has two functions. First, it keeps water from getting into the bearings. Second, it is the "stop" that the glass is pushed against as it is passed under the rotating grinding head

3. Drive Shaft: A very simple design that utilizes a cross pin to drive the collet assembly. A brake keeps the shaft from rotating when the power is off. This facilitates changing heads. The drive shaft revolves at 7000 RPM

4. Water Slinger: The coolant that is thrown off the grinding head i8s diverted back to the work table by the water slinger's shape. Consequently, very little coolant is sprayed into the air

5. Pair of Spanner Wrenches: These are used to tighten or loosen the locking ring on the collet assemblies

6. Collet Assemblies: There are two assemblies available. One is for roughing and the other for smoothing. The two polishing steps are accomplished on a traditional upright polishing machine such as Glastar's model B2

The Collet Assembly is composed of the following parts:

A. Adjustment Screw: This contacts the top of the drive shaft and fixes the height of the grinding head above the work surface. Whenever the glass thickness changes, this screw must be reset. There are 2 screws provided. The shorter one accommodates glass thicknesses from 1/8" to 3/8". Use the longer one for glass 1/2" to 1" thickness.

B. Adjustment Screw Lock: This is tightened against the collet with a pair of pliers to keep the adjustment screw from moving

C. Collet: This is the frame of the assembly. The cross pin in the drive shaft fits into the slots in the collet and keeps the assembly from roting on the shaft

D. Collet Lock: Screws onto the collet; and when tightened, it compresses the collet on the drive shaft. This keeps the assembly from moving up or down on the drive shaft

E. Grinding Head: The head is mounted to the collet with four screws. It is only necessary to remove the grinding head from the collet when you wish to produce a different bevel width

1. CART: this is provided so that the coolant system can easily be moved in and out of the machine to replace buckets. The cart has three different levels so that the first bucket is elevated above the second, and the second is elevated above the pump bucket.

2. FOUR BUCKETS: are provided. The fourth is a spare. If more are needed, they are available in any paint store; and they are very inexpensive.

3. FLEXIBLE SPOUTS: These are made so they can easily be removed and replaced when the buckets are changed.

4. PUMP: a high output, 208-240 Volt 50/60 Hz, industrial grade that will furnish several times more coolant flow than is required. Whenever the main control switch is turned ON, the pump is ENERGIZED. The output of the pump goes to a conveniently located control valve next to the drawer. Once the proper volume of coolant has been adjusted on the control valve, the flow will remain constant.

How the coolant system operates:

The pump shoots a stream of coolant through a hole in the work surface and directly on the grinding head. The coolant collects in the trough that surrounds the work surface and empties through a drain line into bucket #1. The coolant carries with it very fine particles of ground glass. Most of these particles will settle to the bottom of the first bucket. Bucket #1 then overflows through the spout into bucket #2. Additional particles settle there. Bucket #2 will overflow into the pump bucket. After several weeks of continuous use, the first bucket will have collected a considerable amount of residue. Replace bucket #1 with a clean bucket.

The full bucket can either be thrown out (bucket cost is approximately $3.00) or allowed to dry for a week or so. Once the residue is hard, turn the bucket upside down and hit the bottom. The hard block of glass residue should fall out so the bucket can be reused.

Eventually, bucket #2 and even the pump bucket will have to be replaced with clean buckets. This is an extremely simple filtration system. There is no nightly clean up required and there are no filters to change as with other systems. This feature alone will save you many hours of maintenance per week.