Model trimmer upgrades etc.

[labdude]

Most any model trimmer can be upgraded to a 2 hp motor. The time this saves is worth the investment.
Renfert makes a 2 hp trimmer.
The man I worked for in the past modified a trimmer to 2 hp. Then he had a stainlees steel backing plate made. This was before diamond wheels were available. We did use the coarse snad paper discs that were new at that time.
Speed for trimming was awesome. 2hp with the weight of the backing plate.
This trimmer was mounted on a sediment tray, which had the bolts that hold the rubber foot pieces for the tray, replaced with bolts long enough to reach through the counter top and secure the whole system to the counter top.
Otherwise the trimmer would slide, making all that power useless.
Also, this trimmer was mounted on a pedestal that was large enough to hold another trimmer, which it did, back to back. 2 trimmers on one custom counter top, backs to each other, on sediment trays.
Sediment trays have a hose for drainage to a sink, that was modified as well. Drain hose was replaced with pvc pipe 1 1/2 in. dia., cut in half. Thus making a trough for the empying of water and slurry from the sediment tray. Clean and no back up of stone chips etc.
This pedestal was set up right next to an exsisting sink for plumbing ease.
This unit was about 4x4 feet of top space, set at just the right height for standing next to.
After the unit was made and placed, the top was temporarily removed and the "box" was filled about 1/2 way with sand to deaden sound. This whole contraption was in its own room. Set up was so the 2 operators could lean against a wall behind them. e for even better leverage.
Ortho study models were trimmed at a rate of no less than 1 set per 2 minutes for a trained person. These are properly trimmed models to ABO specs.
Upgrade of a motor can be done through a person you can find in the phone book. Either by modifying the exsisting motor or replacing it.
Remeber, if you do this, bolt the trimmer to the counter. And make sure the counter top itself is solid and can't be lifted up.
LET ER" RIP!!!

edit: Yeah right 2 minutes, been busy, hard to remember way back then. We actually worked on trays of 8 models. Took 30 minutes to trim a tray. So...Just under 4 minutes per set.

 

[Inman Labs]

Very informative Mike!
I am looking to purchase the Renfert for our new lab.
Please explain the sand thing?????

 

[labdude]

It is used to fill a custom cabinet that the trimmer is on top of.

 

[labdude]

The sink that the trimmeres drained into was set up with a 1 1/4 inch drain pipe sticking up out of the center drain. It was high enough to bring the water level in the sink to about an 1" or so from the top. We would siphon off the sink every 100 or so models we trimmed. Great way to capture that trimmer slurry.

 

[RetainerDesigner]

Any ground off fingernails? HaHa
Was the sink metal?
I bet siphoning off the slurry saved you on a few plaster traps.

Love the sand idea.

 

[labdude]

Sink was stainless steel. Neve rany corrosion.

Here's a little more info......

The first trimmer modified to 2 hp, was also stepped up to 3600 rpm. Increased the torque, thing was almost impossible to stall, but not quite.

That set up above was 2 trimmers at 2 hp.

We had single trimmer (10") 1/3 hp. with the finest carborundum wheel we could find. We further smoothed this with a stone used for sharpening knifes. We would run the trimmer, push the stone HARD against the wheel. This would prep it for use and didn't have to be done after the first few days. Wheel would last for a couple of years doing 100 cases a day. Any time a little particle stuck up and made a mark in the model surface, we only had to lightly touch the wheel with stone to remove it.
This trimmer was dedicated only to removing the very deep marks left by the modified trimmers and the extra coarse wheels they used.