What's Required for Making Cabs?

Also it is important to define CAB

If you mean the traditional domed (especially high domes), often calibrated (i.e., 18x13mm) cabochons, with flat backs and a bezel for setting it into a finding, then the multi wheel/disk machine describe above is what is needed.

If you mean an oval, rectangular, or freeform shape that is prepared on a course-grind wheel and then tumble polished, then only a 1 or 2 wheel grinder is needed because all sanding and polishing steps move into the tumbler.

Both of these options assume a saw to cut out the blank and rough out the shape so the grinder does not have to remove too much material.

If you mean a polished focal stone for jewelry, just a saw and tumbler may do. These include cut shapes like triangle or rectangle that are tumbled to round edges and polish the faces, as well as shapes that may be perfected a little further by using the saw blade as an inexact grinder (some here have done nice crosses). These stones may be for wire wrapping, and are often called flat-backs, or may get a glue-on bail, and would be called a pendant or pendant stone, or could be face-drilled or top-drilled for some sort of bail or glue-in screw-eye.

You will encounter purists who only consider calibrated shapes on cabbing units, then other who also say CAB included free-forms made on a cabbing machine, to others who extend CAB to include the wheel-ground tumble-finished stuff. Some members here cut out shapes and throw the min the tumbler and consider (or at least refer here to them) as CABS.

So if you elaborate on what you want to do with what type of rock, and whether you will have blanks, slabs, or start with rough rock, we can likely offer some advice on setup alternatives to fit you budget/interest/need.

IMHO, you always end up wanting to do more than you think at the start.

CAREFUL

I started with one, now I have two and a 20" rock saw and Kim tells me the sphere maker is next