Jon Firth

For those who want a flat bed grinder/polisher that costs less than an arm and a leg. It's not perfect but it works well.

Buy a second hand potters wheel. Get a piece of plate steel about 5 mm thick cut into a circle just smaller (2mm) than 14 inches dia. Bolt it to the wheel head of the potters wheel with countersunk bolts. Build a simple metal frame to raise the potters wheel up to waist high (This is optional).

Hang something heavy from the pedal ( I used a concrete building block). Get a fishpond pump and a large bucket, then secure a thin hose from the pump to the splash pan of the wheel, put the bucket under the overflow. Order some 14 inch diamond discs and a felt polishing pad (available from Unicorn Glass jon@unicornglass.com ) and some cerium oxide and you're away. I had, until recently, been using one like this for a few years and found it to be very serviceable, mine was only 12 inch dia though. The other thing you can do is to have an electrician disconnect the start winding of the motor. This means you will have to start the motor by hand, but you can start it in either direction. Being able to run the machine in either direction will make the diamond discs last much longer.