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Post by Tony W on Aug 1, 2007 20:45:22 GMT -5
Hi, all.
I've been polishing with diamond powder on leather disks and I'm wondering how ofter I need to be recharging the leather. Every 10 cabs, 20, 50? I have been giving it a shot of silicone spay every 3 or 4 sessions and I don't know if that is too much or too little. I started with a match head sized mound of powder I spread in with my finger, because of advice I read somewhere. Is that about right? Too much? Too little? Any help appreciated! Tony
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Post by stoner on Aug 1, 2007 23:16:36 GMT -5
As long as you're getting a good shine on your cabs without having to spend all night doing it, then you should be okay. I use the paste and I go for quite a while before putting more on my belt. The silicon spray seems to rejuvinate the diamond paste. It's the type of thing one has to get a feel for.
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Post by Tweetiepy on Aug 2, 2007 7:23:46 GMT -5
great something else I need to get.... leather belt.....
Ed I almost didn't recognize you with the new avatar!
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Post by BuiltonRock on Aug 2, 2007 10:19:36 GMT -5
I have been using cerium oxide on a leather disc, if I wanted to try this paste, what mesh would be appropriate to replace the CO? Where do you find is a good place to buy?
john
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rallyrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2005
Posts: 1,507
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Post by rallyrocks on Aug 2, 2007 11:56:09 GMT -5
Any of the lapidary supply places (Kingsley North, Santa Fe, Arrowhead) stock diamond pastes and powders.
The mesh runs out as far as 100,000 but being so highly graded, its not like oxide polishes where you can just go from pre-polish to polish, with diamond you typically get a decent pre-polish/semigloss shine at about 3000 with some stones even being adequately polished there, but 8000 takes it further and most stones finally start to show polish for real at 14000, I usually finish with 50,000 but lately have been following up with 100,000.
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stefan
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Aug 2, 2007 13:14:15 GMT -5
Yea I go from the 600 diamond belt to the 1500 then a 3000 and 8000- then I hit witha 14000 paste followed by a 50000- as for amounts- well I use about a dab the size of half an orange pit- and usually polish 10 to 15 cabs- i'm using the resin belts right now- and they work pretty good (but do wear faster)
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Post by BuiltonRock on Aug 2, 2007 14:23:13 GMT -5
I guess I'm getting a good shine with my set up. I go from 600 to cerium oxide and I'm done???
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Post by Tony W on Aug 2, 2007 17:36:10 GMT -5
Lol, ya'll are an inconsistant bunch, I have to say. Except, of course, where your results come in. I take from all this no one of you does it the same way, and I'll have to fend for myself  I go from 600 hard wheel, to 1200 to 3000 hard wheels, then to 8, 14 and 50 on the leather, and sometimes I use the factory charged belts instead of the wheels and pads, but I have to tell you those factory belts seem to wear pretty fast, and don't seem to do the job the wheels and pads do. I have 600, 1200, 14000 and 50000 belts, and the 600 was shot before I got to using it good. But, heck, I'm too dang new to know what I'm doing!! I like the side disks for polishing. I got about 10 good shines out of the powder then nothing for a few days. I have looked at the offending cabs through a mag glass, and I think I just don't have them smooth enough to polish.... but I can't be sure it isn't the powder needing a recharge. I get a bit of good shine on part of a stone then a hard crud builds up on the stone, and I have to take it back to the wheel to grind it off. What kind of paste are you using? The stuff that goes with water or stuff that needs an additive? Thanks all, please continue with your inconsistant greatness, lol. T |
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rallyrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2005
Posts: 1,507
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Post by rallyrocks on Aug 2, 2007 18:34:29 GMT -5
I guess I'm getting a good shine with my set up. I go from 600 to cerium oxide and I'm done??? If you are using an SC 600 belt, that probably acts more like a 1200-1800 diamond belt, as the SC breaks down and effectively becomes finer, whereas diamond belts just shed same-sized particles until they don't do much anymore. And cerium oxide does a reasonable job of shining most stuff up from there, although I expect using a loupe you might still find a few tiny scratches left over on harder materials. But I think if you take and do a direct comparison with the same material run on CeOx compared to diamond at 8,000/14,000/50,000, the 8K diamond might appear just a bit dull, 14K diamond finish will look similar to the cerium and the 50,000 will be a bit shinier still. |
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rallyrocks
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since November 2005
Posts: 1,507
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Post by rallyrocks on Aug 2, 2007 18:59:58 GMT -5
Tony, I would strongly suggest checking out either Nova wheels or belts much earlier in your process.
Hard wheels always leave flat trails, they get smaller and smaller as you go to finer grits, but you are always left challenged to smooth the transitions and get the scratches out of the flat areas.
I had been going from a 220 hard wheel to an expando drum with 320 belt, but recently got a 220 belt and I have to say, getting and holding a good dome now is easier than ever.
As for how often one needs to recharge seems to vary for me anyway depending on the rock type and size of the cabs I'm running.
In the end it usually comes down to doing a slight recharge every time I mount a belt, but since I usually run 12-20 cabs in a batch, that seems not too terribly far out from the 10-15 cab/recharge others mentioned.
I find that a properly loaded belt just sheds excess compound anyway, so sometimes my first couple of cabs are flinging excess, but most of the time it balances out just about right.
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Post by Tony W on Aug 4, 2007 16:55:00 GMT -5
Well, Stoner was right I just had to go by feel. I put on some more powder and now I'm off and running again.
And Rallyrocks I took your advice and put the expando drum back on and I'm sure that helped too. And I think I'll do like you do and add some powder to the leather a bit at a time instead of waiting to do one big recharge. Thanks, Tony
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