Vibratory Lap Vs. Rociprolap

automaton25 I have been using a Vib Lap for years. They can be a challenge to use. Most of the issues revolve around rocks without sufficient mass and rocks with natural un-balanced weight distribution. Uneven Pan wear and pan drying are also noted problems. I suspect these issues are still going to be there using a Rociprolap. Never used one but I expect(hope) it may be more efficient than a Vib-Lap.

I do not run the machine during sleeping hours, or while I plan to be away from the house for longer than 3 or 4 hours as the pan drying out is always a possibility. That is even more so in the garage during our 5 month summers!! 

For rocks that are too light such as slabs or unbalanced  ones I attach weights using caulk. I usually allow the caulk to dry for about a week before trying to put them on the lap. In my case I usually have more than enough rocks in the queue that waiting a week or more is no big issue. For thin slabs, say 1/4 inch or a bit less I will not lap those. If I need to polish a thin slab I run them in a Model B tumbler and get great results. For slabs that I plan on lapping such as Petrified wood or Brazilian agate, they are cut thick, min 3/8 inches up to 1/2 inch and even thicker. The thinner slabs have the issue with water getting to the caulk and eventually loosening the weights. 

One problem that I have not yet managed to solve is that pans do eventually get dished with the most wear being in the center. This does not seem to affect the rocks 4 inches or smaller. The larger rocks do not like a over dished pan and it's much more difficult to get a good "flat" surface for polishing. Still working on that one but any efforts to resolve are waiting for cooler temps in the garage before undertaking that project.

Good luck

Henry

Thanks for the input. Weights falling off have certainly been an issue, but I think we've mostly overcome that. We wrap the weights in duct tape then hot glue to the rocks, they usually stay on.

The rocks. All have a tendency to stop. Moving and checking every hour just isn't practical. We have it in the house so it stays cool and doesn't dry out, but it's easy to wear a grid in.

I was hoping the steele. Plate and dual action on the Rociprolap would help with that.

We have a friend in Australia who does this on large highland Park units and turns it on and walls away for the day and doesn't have any issues. We don't have room or the finances for those units.

Just hoping for a better mouse trap.

I had a Rose Rociprolap for years and I previously had an HP 27" vib and 2 lortone vibs amd I have an angle grinder with water and 4" diamond pads.
Nothing cuts faster than the Rociprolap and it works great. I had some problems with polish and used the Lortones for just polishing so grind on rociprolap and polish on Lortone. The HP I could never get to stop walking around the basement bought it cheap sold it cheaper. I have used the angle grinder and like it. BUT With the diamond grinder you are there and have to be there to grind every minute. The Rociprolap allows you to be grinding away while absent. You still have to do checks and if you are grinding around the clock you have to check it every couple of hours so I was up at night. Water level is a constant problem, the pan is cast steal/iron so it rusts and you have to oil it when not in use and keep the drips cleaned up. I put a 2" masking tape around the tray so drips fell to the floor and did not roll under the pan. The problem with weights and bumpers is annoying I tried plastic tubing bumpers, Hot glue works ok but you have to make a spider web around the stone and over the top to hold weight as well. The best is to Get large diameter PVC pipe and make a 2-3" collar that will hold multiple stones inside the pvc, lay on an oiled flat board and fill with cement. The cement holds the smaller pieces in place and adds weight and is easy to remove. Removes the edge chipping on the edges.

It's a Covington 16". I have heard the motors go out rather quickly.

Sometimes the rocks never really move well, other times they move just fine for 10, 30, or more minutes. Sometimes they go for hours without an issue, then they randomly just stop moving. Pushing in them usually just results in them moving right back to where they were and all fighting to be in the center. Sometimes there is resistance pushing, sometimes there's not. Adding water doesn't help. Adding grit doesn't help. Changing the amount of weight does, it then it starts all over. Sometimes it's good for 10 minutes, sometimes more... Sometimes less.

If it is only 2 months old, it definitely shouldn't be dished. It wouldn't hurt to check anyway with a straight edge though. I used my lap about 12 hours a day for probably 2 years before I had to get it resurfaced.

What diameter is your pan? How much grit do you put it? How long do you run it before changing or renewing the grit?

It's a 16" Covington aluminum pan. 3-4 tablespoons. I usually don't have to refresh grit, the cuts are pretty good and usually move on to the next step within 8 hours.