Help Requested..

I've been doing this a long time and I believe like everyone else overused the 280 soft. There is something comforting about a soft wheel that can remove material. When the 220 soft was offered, yippee. I'm not a fan of the 220 hard. When they are new and aggressive they are ok but after that they don't cut much and won't remove deep 80 grit scratches. Since I have a Genie with a removable right arbor, I get more choices of wheels. I do the rough grinding on the right side and then move to the left the more traditional set up. Highland Park had a sale on wheels and I bought a 140 grit soft and swapped it for the 220 hard as a backup for when my DP 80 retired itself. I use the 280 soft as a sanding wheel the same as the 600 and 1200.

I’m under the belief you don’t need multiple wheels. Maybe having worn wheels is nice when you’re doing obsidian, but for most stones, what comes supplied will easily get the job done. If you spend the time on your 80 and 220 getting an even displacement of dome and abrasion , you won’t need to spend much time on the 280 soft. But don’t be scared to spend extra time on a wheel. It’s not a race as you’re well aware. But with that.. I think you’ve been given plenty of good advice from others. I have faith you’ll get it all figured out. Good luck

Thank you! I feel like I'm on my way to doing just that with the 280...time to back the truck up and revisit the hard wheels and spend more time there. I like your suggestion of faceting on 80 first - I was trying to get the shape down on that wheel before moving on, so maybe that's part of my issue. I'll try that! Thanks! 

Thanks Brent! I'm thinking the same, I do feel areas that 'catch' if that makes sense. I just got 5 large montana's from Kinesava that are probably about 1-2lbs maybe? 3-4" long - I was going to cut one of them in half and just try to face polish one as a way to wear down those high spots.

haha! I sure will. I usually don't do any rock work through the week as I just don't have the time - maybe Friday...I'm leaving work early. I can't wait for it to be finished. i think it'll be really pretty.

Peta, don't worry about taking your time on a cab.  I am the slowest cabber in the world.  If I can get one finished in a single day that's fast for me!  

I admittedly like to do bigger cabs. Mostly from the standpoint that I don’t wrap or set them. They go in shadow boxes for display. That’s part of why it takes me so long to do a cab. I think I average around an hour a cab. Depending on cut and material.

I watched the video. I am also self taught. I noticed that he controls the stone with his fingers not the dop. I do the same. The dop is needed for polishing and helpful to prevent grinding fingers. I didn't watch the part (if it was in the video) for cutting the groove. I don't groove so it wasn't relevant. It resulted in a lower dome which means less grinding. I didn't see him mark top and bottom. Did he use a sandwich template or just guess. I mark the top to trim and then mark the bottom to grind. The top bottom marks don't line up but the top gets ground away. I also do something I think is unusual. When grinding the preform the top flares out from the bottom. I grind the dome to the girdle line and then square the sides. I do this for two reasons. It makes it harder to accidentally grind into the face and any chipping on the edges will go away when I square. I think he would be traumatized watching me operate the bulldozer (textured 80 grit). I like to melt rock. He might not be comfortable with things moving that fast. I also have never had a contamination problem using geysers.

Beautiful Peta!