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Q.) Does the Edgemate
100 really work?
Yes, you will be
amazed at the ease of use and high quality of the
edges.
Q.) Can the Edgemate 100
really work when similar machines weigh thousands of
pounds more?
Yes, a highly
skilled worker can freehand polish an edge nearly
perfect. The Edgemate 100 does the same thing. By
controlling the pressure, the angle of the pad and not
reworking areas, you will achieve a perfect polished
edge.
Q.) Can the Edgemate 100
really do 10 feet of 3 cm bullnose an hour?
Yes, large machines with heavier spindles
can shape the stone faster (position 1), but the time spent
polishing is 80 percent of the work. With a 12 amp spindle, the
Edgemate 100 has plenty of power to
polish. The Edgemate 100 will also setup faster,
because moving a portable machine to the stone is easier
than two people moving and loading a large stone into a
machine.
Q.) How can the Edgemate
100 do so many different sizes and types of
profiles?
First, you need to understand how a c-arm
type machine works. The c-arm, like a circle, has a point in the
center that is called a focal point. You need to align
the focal point of the c-arm to match that of the focal
point of the desired radius profile. For example, a 1/4" inch
radius roundover, the focal point of the c-arm will be 1/4 inch
down from the top face of the stone and 1/4 inch in from
the edge of the stone. For a bullnose, the focal point
will be in the center of the thickness of the stone and half the
thickness from the edge of the stone. With the
Edgemate 100, this setup is done very quickly.
After the focal point is set up for the desired profile, the
abrasive is set to a height so that it travels down the
c-arm with a constant distance from the focal
point.
Q.) How much time does it take to set up
the machine to do an edge?
Your first edge
for will take 3 minutes or less to set up and each
additional edge for that job will take less than a minute.
Q.) How do you shape and polish the inside and outside
corners?
This work is done by hand. First duct
tape the top face of the stone and draw your transition lines to
match the finished edges. Then tape the polished edges
on either side of the corner that were polished
with Edgemate 100. Shape the corner with a
metal bonded abrasive. When using the polishing pads keep
working your way further into the tape until you have blended the
corner to match the machined edge. This hand work is not that
hard to do because you are doing such a small
area.
Q.) Why are you using an angle grinder for the spindle
motor?
Being a portable machine, we wanted it to
run on 115 volts. An angle grinder has a lot of power for its size
and weight, and is also inexpensive. We also wanted the
machine to be easily repaired in the field so there is no down
time in the shop.
Q.) How long does the spindle motor last?
The
longevity of the spindle (angle grinder) depends on the type of
work. If the air filter is cleaned regularly and the
proper abrasive is used, the spindle should last over 500
hours.
Q.) How long does it take to learn and
run the machine?
Most operators learn
within a couple of hours and are producing high quality
work that same day.
Q.) Can you match the edge that you get
from a line polisher?
Yes, this is the only
portable machine that can match the quality of a line
polisher.
Q.) Can you get a uniform polish
without having a computer control the machine's travel
speed?
Yes, the
surprise of the Edgemate 100 is that
you can manually control the machine to create high quality
edges. The speed you travel down the track is less important than
how big the mitre step is (the change in angle on the
c-arms). By doing smaller mitre steps and
travelling non-stop down the track, you will get a
uniform polish.
Q.) With the random positioning angle of
the spindle, can you see facets or lines?
No, with the proper
size mitre steps and the flexibility in a standard resin diamond
pad, there will be no lines. The mitre steps will need to get
smaller as the radius roundover gets larger, because the pads
are traveling around a greater
distance.
Q.) Can you edge two
pieces that will be seamed to each other?
Yes,
it is important that the work pieces be in the same plane,
or on a very flat table (ie. a scrap piece of granite). This
works great for edging tiles.
Q.) What kind of maintenance does the the machine
require?
For the longevity of the
spindle, the air cleaner needs to be rinsed when dirty. This
will depend on the work the machine is doing and air quality
in the shop. Grease the leadscrews and oil the chain every
few months.
Q.) How do you keep the stone slurry out
of the machine?
You don't. The
machine was designed so that stone slurry won't affect its
use. All of the rotating parts are
sealed.
Q.) Should I be concerned that the Edgemate
100 is made of plastic?
No, the
Edgemate 100 was designed so that plastic would
work for its designed use.
- This plastic is very
impact and abrasion resistant. Just look at the housing of your
hand-held power tools that have fallen and hit the floor. The
plastic housing on them survives the impact.
- With stone
slurry being so abrasive, the Edgemate 100
was designed so that the slurry will not affect it
movements. For an abrasive to work, you need to rub
two surfaces against each other. If you eliminate the
surfaces from rubbing or sliding against each other, you will
stop the abrading and increase the longevity of the wear
surfaces.
- We have done longevity tests
with the stone slurry and this plastic and found the plastic to
be very durable. We have also designed the machine so that it
can be readjusted as the parts wear.
Q.) How long is the Edgemate
100 going to last?
We designed the machine
for durability. An older version of the Edgemate
100 has 750 hours on it, still has no measurable
wear and has not needed
readjusting.
Q.) All machines wear and break. What is going to wear out
on the Edgemate 100?
The part that is going to
need replacing is the spindle. The machine was designed so that
the operator could easily replace the spindle. The spindle is a
mass produced angle grinder that can be replaced out in the
field in 20 minutes. The motor bracket was designed for
center-feed and variable speed grinders.
Q.) Is there a reason why you are selling
the Edgemate 100 direct from the
manufacturer?
Yes, as a new
company with other products in development, we want to be sure
that our customers get the service and technical support they
need without getting the run around. By selling direct, we
can keep our prices low for the
customer.
Q.) How small of a piece can you do from
front edge to back?
It depends on the
edge that you want. With
a radius round over (like on a backsplash) where the
spindle travel is 0-90 degrees, the piece could be as small as 2
inches in height. The table needs to support the
work piece and a scrap piece of stone needs
to support the track.
With an edge
requiring greater than 90 degrees of travel, the piece will need
to be a minimum of 6 inches in depth, with a scrap
piece of stone used to support the
track.
Q.) Does Edgemate Stone
Tools have any other products?
Yes, Edgemate Stone Tools
has designed and built other products that are currently
being tested in the
field. | 
