zarguy
fully equipped rock polisher
Cedar City, Utah - rockhound heaven!
Member since December 2005
Posts: 1,791
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Post by zarguy on Apr 13, 2010 12:43:46 GMT -5
I'm recently getting back into cabbing after about 28 years of doing other things. I've been collecting & slabbing, but no cabs. I've just refurbished an old Highland Park unit & replaced the 2 SiC wheels with 3 diamond wheels - 60, 120 & 220 grit from Jade Carver.
I bought a hot melt glue pot to melt the wax, but it doesn't have a platform for heating up the cabs. I've got an old alcohol lamp and a cut out juice can to heat the stones, but the first 2 I tried popped off the stick after a little bit of pressure on the wheel. I guess I need to get the stones hotter, but I'm afraid of cracking them. I'm working with agate.
Any tips on how hot to get the stones? Any help on this subject would be appreciated.
On a different subject - how do I use an image in my signature? And how do I make the image a clickable link?
Lynn
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Post by johnjsgems on Apr 13, 2010 12:55:20 GMT -5
This is pretty technical but the old guy that taught me had a bowl of water by the lamp station (metal coffee can over lamp with front cut out). Rocks were hot enough when you had to wet fingers before you could pick them up. Heat the stones as described. Heat the wax until molten. Swirl the dop stick to get a glob on end. Press against the back of heated stone flairing the wax out (again wetting fingers) toward the edge of stone. They can come off if you get them too hot while polishing or too cold if water supply is cold. Good luck.
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Post by phil on Apr 13, 2010 13:19:07 GMT -5
Make sure the cab is clean clean clean, and your water coming off the wheels isn't cold. Either of those will pop your stones off!
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Post by FrogAndBearCreations on Apr 13, 2010 13:21:57 GMT -5
I use that method of swirling a blob of dop on a dop stick(dowel) and then I place it on a flat surface to cool so that the dop blob forms a nice flat bet for the stone. I use super glue to put the stones on the flat dop shape.
the other way is to not use super glue but heat the stone and put a little hot dop on the back and place on the premade dops
both ways work well for me
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zarguy
fully equipped rock polisher
Cedar City, Utah - rockhound heaven!
Member since December 2005
Posts: 1,791
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Post by zarguy on Apr 13, 2010 14:11:58 GMT -5
Does anyone have any experience with the Inland dop pot or similar device? They're about $35 - $45 shipped. I don't have money to throw around, so I'd like some first-hand info, not marketing hype.
Lynn
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Post by FrogAndBearCreations on Apr 13, 2010 14:39:29 GMT -5
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drjo
fully equipped rock polisher
Honduran Opal & DIY Nut
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,581
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Post by drjo on Apr 13, 2010 14:41:47 GMT -5
Check the temp of the melted wax...150*F for green 10* either way will give you problems. (use a meat thermometer). Stones can be 140*F to 150*F, depending on the stones.
Dr Joe
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Post by rockmanken on Apr 13, 2010 17:01:36 GMT -5
Lynn, I made a dop pot out of a 100 watt light bulb and flue tin bent around over it with an indention in it to put the wax in and a flat spot to hold the stones. Has worked for years and I didn't get technical with temps and stuff. To put an avitar in, take the img[ off the front of the url and the ]img off the back. Will get a picture of my dop pot tomorrow and put up. It is on here somewhere but can't find it. The old man has to go to camera class to learn how to take pictures. ;D ;D ;D Ken
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Post by rockmanken on Apr 13, 2010 17:03:26 GMT -5
Also, I have a Raytech factory dop pot I don't like that was $49.95 that I will sell for $25 including shipping, if you want it.
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Post by rockmanken on Apr 14, 2010 11:19:46 GMT -5
Pictures of homemade dop pot. Picture of Raytech dop pot. Homemade works better for me than the commercial one. Ken
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Post by Hard Rock Cafe on Apr 14, 2010 11:27:20 GMT -5
You're never going to sell it that way Ken! LOL
Maybe we should stockpile some incandescent bulbs so we're covered when all we can get are CFLs or LEDs.
Chuck
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Post by rockmanken on Apr 14, 2010 13:34:35 GMT -5
I don't really care. ;D ;D I'd rather people make their own for a lot cheaper. And the 100 watt bulb is now about 59 or so. Everything is getting Chinese.
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mc2
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since April 2009
Posts: 1,147
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Post by mc2 on Apr 14, 2010 17:09:53 GMT -5
Lynn, I have been using the Inland dop pot for about a year now, seems to be holding up ok. Of course, having said that, it will probably quit now lol!! Btw, welcome to the board!
Mike
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zarguy
fully equipped rock polisher
Cedar City, Utah - rockhound heaven!
Member since December 2005
Posts: 1,791
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Post by zarguy on Apr 15, 2010 0:38:10 GMT -5
Yeah, Ken. That's no way to sell something! I think I'll make my own out of a 100 watt bulb & some sheet metal like you did.
BTW, my cabs popped off, but there was lots of dop wax still on the stone. I had tried to melt the wax with an alcohol lamp & drip it onto the end of the stick like I did back when I was a kid. I know the wax will stick better if I melt it in a dop pot & heat the stones on a metal surface. The tip about the drop of water sounds like the key to getting the stone to the correct temp.
I'll post pictures of my heating device when it's done.
Lynn
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zarguy
fully equipped rock polisher
Cedar City, Utah - rockhound heaven!
Member since December 2005
Posts: 1,791
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Post by zarguy on Apr 15, 2010 0:40:06 GMT -5
One more point - I put hot water in my drip system so it's warm when it runs over my wheels. I wasn't just thinking about the cabs, but my hands too!
Lynn
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Gem'n I
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2008
Posts: 980
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Post by Gem'n I on Apr 15, 2010 11:18:16 GMT -5
Couple of options if you don't want to go the light bulb route....get a coffee mug warmer which doesn't get too warm and can still heat up the wax, or get to a garage sale for old hot plates which work as long as you can adjust the temps...I use an old piece of ceramic tile to disapate heat from the preforms and an old copper tube cap for the dop wax....but the main thing is warm water in the grind cycle since cold water has a tendency to pop the cabs from the sticks.
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highplainsdrifter
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since December 2008
Posts: 1,266
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Post by highplainsdrifter on Apr 21, 2010 8:41:50 GMT -5
I sand the backs of my stones out to 220 grit and clean them before dopping. I use a coffee cup warmer on high to heat them up and dop with a mini hot glue gun. Dan
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spokanetim
has rocks in the head
Member since October 2009
Posts: 656
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Post by spokanetim on Apr 21, 2010 9:32:05 GMT -5
Duct Tape method. After preform I clean and put on a piece of duct tape that covers most of the back. Then I put them in a cup of boiling water to heat the stones. I fish them out with a fork, pat dry the back/duct tape and dop them with a bunch of wax onto the hot stone. As the wax is starting to set I press the wax into the back of the stone. Press quickly and dip fingers in cold water to keep from being burned.
It's been working really well since I started doing this, the only problem is that it can be challenging to get it off the stick.
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Post by Jack ( Yorkshire) on Apr 22, 2010 1:08:29 GMT -5
Hi I Use wood glue these days anyone else use it ?
Only problem you have to wait for the glue to set
But it holds well and is pretty good to get off
Jack Yorkshire UK
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Post by phil on Apr 22, 2010 11:17:02 GMT -5
I've used/tried red dop wax, green dop wax.... Low temp glue gun, high temp glue gun. .... Wood glue, white glue, crazy glue, super glue and even tacky glue... Also tried double sided carpet tape and industrial double sided tape....
And after all that, I still prefer green dop wax. The only time I use glue anymore is when I need to stick a butt end onto a 2x3 or other piece of wood because I want to get every last slab out of the piece of material. Then I simply throw the last piece in a bucket of water for a few days and it eventually pops free.
As far as a dop pot, I use a left over gallon tin can and light bulb setup with aluminum foil replacement covers to warm the cabs on.
For old overheated wax, I've tried the add new wax routine, add beeswax routine, and found the best way is to throw the old bad wax out and put in some new. Wax does wear out and while I can return the wax many times, eventually it will no longer be sticky enough to mess with. So if your waqx isn't holding well, throw it out and use new. It's not that expensive, and those nice stones you're creating are wll worth the few pennies for fresh wax (which you'll reuse many times anyway).
Phil
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