Advice needed on the Hall Xtra faceting machine

[tasmarcus]

Hi All. Thanks very much for all the replies.  I do think and agree that maintenance could a problem.  The fine white powder sludge is of concern when I constantly read that contamination is to be avoided.  As an engineering masterpiece, I would prefer the VJ.  I am trying to locate any club near me that has one so I could try before placing an order.

2. Would anyone have suggestions on the correct height when sitting at a VJ?  How heavy is the machine?  Would a standard desk height be suitable for ergonomics?  Stool or chair?
Regards to all

[Faceting Frank]

I use an office desk with an office chair, the chair is on castors, swivels and the height is adjustable. Great for finding the angle between, light, facet and loupe.

[Rusted]

I use an office desk (I presume) that has a C shaped cutout in the middle. I have no idea what it was used for originally but it is the bees knees, It gives a lot of real estate either side of the machine but because of the cutout even stuff at the back of the desk is easily reached. One of those desks with the movable section for the keyboard would do the same thing after removing the keyboard part.

[Bucket]

One of our club member has a VJ, I used to carry it into the clubrooms for him. They aren't light, nice and solid though. My Facetron felt positively light in comparison. I converted an old student desk and mounted the Facetron directly into the  top, as it had a shallow drawer underneath there wasn't a problem. By the time I put heavy castor wheels on the desk, the height was good. If I had put the complete machine including the wooden frame on the desktop, it would have been too high.

[Lanzeyrion]

Hello,

The Hall Xtra appears to be of the same design as the Omni patriot from Jersey instruments. It looks like a mix between the Tom Thumb faceting head and the Omni Patriot frame.

I had the opportunity to work on these 2, not being a fan of digital protractors, I preferred the Tom thumb with its analog protractor. I also found the Omni's motor to be lacking in torque next to the Tom thumb, but maybe the Hall Xtra's motor is more powerful, I don't know.

One thing I could not comment on, is the durability of the arm on which the mast is mounted on. I haven't used this machine long enough to know whether or not the arm bearing wears out over time.

Best Regards,
Lanzeyrion

[Rusted]

It's actually the other way around Lanzeyrion, Laurie Hall sold the Xtra design to Jersey Instruments when he retired.

[RoughCreations]

I use an office desk (I presume) that has a C shaped cutout in the middle. I have no idea what it was used for originally but it is the bees knees, It gives a lot of real estate either side of the machine but because of the cutout even stuff at the back of the desk is easily reached. One of those desks with the movable section for the keyboard would do the same thing after removing the keyboard part.

I also use a desk with a C-shaped cut-out (a jeweller's bench I made) for faceting. My Facetron sits on top, the height works well for me as a stand-up faceting arrangement (look after your back - don't sit down too much!).

RC

[MakkyBrown]

Hello,

The Hall Xtra appears to be of the same design as the Omni patriot from Jersey instruments. It looks like a mix between the Tom Thumb faceting head and the Omni Patriot frame.

I had the opportunity to work on these 2, not being a fan of digital protractors, I preferred the Tom thumb with its analog protractor. I also found the Omni's motor to be lacking in torque next to the Tom thumb, but maybe the Hall Xtra's motor is more powerful, I don't know.

One thing I could not comment on, is the durability of the arm on which the mast is mounted on. I haven't used this machine long enough to know whether or not the arm bearing wears out over time.

Best Regards,
Lanzeyrion

" not being a fan of digital protractors", that is because the Omni only used a 900cpr(3600ppr) encoder, very easy to swap that out with a 5000cpr(20000ppr) encoder and make another display and it would be a very nice machine.  It would change from 0.1 degree angle steps to 0.018 degrees steps.

MB

[RoughCreations]

not being a fan of digital protractors, I preferred the Tom thumb with its analog protractor.

Thought that statement would get a reaction from you Makky, lol
RC

[MakkyBrown]

  , I don't think Lanzeyrion has stumbled upon the Gemmasta encoder mod thread yet.

[Lanzeyrion]

I just took a look of the Gemmasta encoder, it's impressive  ! it must be incredibly accurate !

Electronics is not my forte, electronics doesn't like me at all 
Every time I have an electronic device I can't use it properly   .
I had tried to mount a digital display on my metal lathe, I did not succeed in making it work  , I had to return to the analog vernier

It's actually the other way around Lanzeyrion, Laurie Hall sold the Xtra design to Jersey Instruments when he retired.

I was not aware of this, thank you very much for this information Rusted 

Best Regards,
Lanzeyrion

[Gemlicker]

Been using one for a few years now and love it . Our faceting club just bought two and although there was a time run out it wasn't chronic ....much easier than any other to fit digital protractor to, which by the way is a game changer, nice and light and portable, and  leaves in, my humble opinion, the gemmaster for dead.

This is of great interest to me.
Could you or anyone else give more detail on fitting a digital protractor to the Halls Extra please?