Post by adrian65 on Apr 17, 2007 13:17:50 GMT -5
Hi everybody!
I've polished some stones these days and had the camera with me. I thought it's not bad to take some photos during my work. Maybe they'll be useful for some of you and maybe some others could give me advices for improving the technique.
So, here is my machine I've built. It's a combined saw and flat lap. The power of the motor: 1500 W. The rotation speeds; 750 rot/min the saw, 350 the flat lap.
The whole machine
The flat lap part
Some slabs have a little out-of plan area that must be eliminated.
I use for this a diamond resin diamond disk on aluminium support. Don't know the real purpose of this tool, I suppose it's for sharpening and shaping high strength steel tools, but it's great for stones.
Then I use a 400mm steel disk. I spray the disk with water and add some 220 SiC grit to form a paste. i rotate the slab by hand a few, to mix the water and the grit and then start the machine. In a few minutes the scratches from the saw are gone.
After that, I put an 8 mm thick glass disk on the steel disk and repeat the operation with water and 600 grit. During the rotating, some resistance appears but i spray a few water and that decreases the force.
After these two stages, the surface is very smooth and silky, but no shine yet.
I do the polishing with some diamond pads stitched on a rubber pad. The pads are 100 mm diameter. I use four pads: 1500, 3500, 10000 and "gloss" pads. After 3500, the shine is clearly visible (and sometimes the scratches, too
especially if the rocks and tools are not very thoroughly washed between the stages)
And, voila! The result of about 3.5...4 hours of work (including preparing and cleaning the machine, and re-sanding and re-polishing the big rock that was initially very scratched)
Thanks for looking,
Adrian
I've polished some stones these days and had the camera with me. I thought it's not bad to take some photos during my work. Maybe they'll be useful for some of you and maybe some others could give me advices for improving the technique.
So, here is my machine I've built. It's a combined saw and flat lap. The power of the motor: 1500 W. The rotation speeds; 750 rot/min the saw, 350 the flat lap.
The whole machine
The flat lap part
Some slabs have a little out-of plan area that must be eliminated.
I use for this a diamond resin diamond disk on aluminium support. Don't know the real purpose of this tool, I suppose it's for sharpening and shaping high strength steel tools, but it's great for stones.
Then I use a 400mm steel disk. I spray the disk with water and add some 220 SiC grit to form a paste. i rotate the slab by hand a few, to mix the water and the grit and then start the machine. In a few minutes the scratches from the saw are gone.
After that, I put an 8 mm thick glass disk on the steel disk and repeat the operation with water and 600 grit. During the rotating, some resistance appears but i spray a few water and that decreases the force.
After these two stages, the surface is very smooth and silky, but no shine yet.
I do the polishing with some diamond pads stitched on a rubber pad. The pads are 100 mm diameter. I use four pads: 1500, 3500, 10000 and "gloss" pads. After 3500, the shine is clearly visible (and sometimes the scratches, too
especially if the rocks and tools are not very thoroughly washed between the stages)And, voila! The result of about 3.5...4 hours of work (including preparing and cleaning the machine, and re-sanding and re-polishing the big rock that was initially very scratched)
Thanks for looking,
Adrian
Tammy
