If you own a Jool Tool you know this is a powerful and versatile machine to have in your jewellery/metalsmithing studio. My Jool Tool has replaced my massive two spindle polishing arbor as well as my Swap Top all in one Lapidary machine and leaves me with more space to invest in more things, like a BB70 engraver/cutter one of these days.
I have a physical disability and can’t stand for long periods of time, so I built a folding shelf onto one of the drawers of my cabinet and the Jool Tool sits at a perfect height for me to work in a seated position in a lab chair. That was probably the most beneficial modification for me, but not necessary for most. But it allows me to work for longer periods without fatiguing.
I bought the Jool Tool dust extractor which I found to be a bit on the noisy side running at around 86 dB (at 6ft height from the unit and tested on my OHSA sound meter) and I resigned myself to having to wear hearing protection. I noticed when grinding*,even when the lap was wet, as soon as it dried out a bit the dust would fly past the plastic shroud of the Jool Tool and there would be observable dust on the surrounding areas. I also didn’t like the overspray from having to use more water to mitigate the dust so the initial solution was to block the over spray with a piece of plexiglass which turned into a full on contained plexiglass shroud which allowed me to run wild with modifications, adding the over light and attaching the hose of the dust extractor to the back of the plexiglass shroud which immediately dropped the decibels to an acceptable level where I didn’t need to wear hearing protection, nor eye protection because the plexiglass acted as a shield. The magnifying LED light was also a great addition because when you become a “person of a certain age”, your eyeballs need all the help they can get.
I am absolutely in love with my Jool Tool and can’t wait to graduate from cabbing to faceting. Stayed tuned for that.
*The location of where I was grinding on the disc probaby played a large part, if I ground back toward the rear of the lap then I would have less dust and the vaccum would pick it up more effectively. With the plexiglass shroud, the dust comes off the stone, has no where else to go and flows to the back of the enclosure directly into the vaccum.
