I just recently upgraded my polishing system, and I am loving the improvements.
I have been making jewelry for decades and have used everything from modified washing machine motors to some of the mid-range professional buffs with a place for a polishing buff or brush on each side. I have never had a hood and I have just had to spend hours polishing suited up like a 3rd world hazmat worker and then do my best to clean up the horrible mess this made in my living room.
Pictures of my old system can be seen on my blog in the link below.
http://thelfinworks.blogspot.ca/2011/12/when-beauty-comes-from-ugly-or-why-i.htmlSo far I am happiest with my new system which is better than any of them.
I got a cheap polishing motor on Ebay but I see the same motor on sale through Rio Grande.
http://www.riogrande.com/Product/Rio-Variable-Speed-Lathe/330031?Pos=1#BVRRWidgetIDI have only been using this 3 months so I can't say how long it will last and some people who bought this on Rio are reporting problems with the speed control, but I had this same problem after a year with the polishing motor in my blog pictures that cost 6 times more. When this happened with that motor, my son just set it up to by pass the knob and to connect through the foot pedal that also plugs into my foredom flexible shaft. Which works fine.
The thing I love about this new yellow inexpensive motor is it is quiet, so I can listen to the radio when I polish. It also has a good amount of power which doesn't cut out if there is a bit of resistance. My old motor is so loud I couldn't hear the phone ringing in the same room and as it has aged it has gotten more and more inclined to cut out even if I don't want it to, just because there is a bit too much drag. The down side is this new motors more consistent power could be a safety problem if anything got caught in the wheel.
I am using the 3M radial bristle brushes available through Rio with this motor and compared to greasy grimy dusty tripolie they are absolutely heavenly.
They make almost no dust, they can be used right in my regular work area, and they are reasonably priced as they seem to last longer than any of the nylon or boar bristle brushes I have used in the past with tripolie.
http://www.riogrande.com/Product/3M-Radial-Bristle-3-3-Ply-Assortment/332021?Pos=45I also got these to use with my fordom flexible shaft. They really work to clean up tight spaces.
http://www.riogrande.com/Product/3M-Radial-Bristle-Disc-Master-Kit/332595?Pos=6The downside of these 3M brushes is that the coarser grits will damage stones with a hardness of 7, which would never be damaged by tripolie, so they need to be used before the stones are set, and I still need to do a quick buff with the old brushes and tripolie after the stones are set.
But the time required to do this is cut down by 90 percent.
I really am enjoying these improvements!