electricmonk
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2011
Posts: 281
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Post by electricmonk on Sept 16, 2011 23:14:41 GMT -5
I have been mulling over my options regarding polishing slabs, thunderegg halves and other larger pieces for display purposes. I know a few folks use high speed sanders (with awareness of dust hazard!), the method highlighted in a series of videos with a gentleman demonstrating a similar "heat method" with expando drums both wet and dry, and also have heard of using a vibrating flat lap. If one were going to do a significant number of slabs, thundereggs, etc, what is would be your options? Can a flat lap be used for that purpose as well? Really in the dark here and your opinions and experiences are welcome
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rockhound97058
freely admits to licking rocks
Thundereggs - Oregons Official State Rock!
Member since January 2006
Posts: 760
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Post by rockhound97058 on Sept 16, 2011 23:26:21 GMT -5
I actually spend most of my time cutting and polishing Thundereggs. I mainly use a High-Speed sander along with a expando drum set-up for my sanding. Polishing I either use a slow leather buff, or I have several vibra-laps set up strictly as polishing units.
I've actually been thinking about saving some cash and buying a bull wheel unit of another company calls it the Ultimate Grinder. I have many buddies who do commercial work and these machines seem to be the cats meow.
Flat laps can work and is a common practice in Europe - Most of them seem to have a satin type finish, rather than our high gloss "mirror finish" Another buddy of mine in The Netherlands uses the diamond pads for his polishing and it works great.
If your doing very large pieces (10"+) then I would strictly run vibralaps. Each brand name and model has thier own unique "touch". I have 3 vibra laps, a Lortone, HP and a Rociprolap and I use each one for different uses.
Any rate there's many options available and each person has their own preference to which works best for them.
Jason
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Post by bobby1 on Sept 17, 2011 0:01:00 GMT -5
I use an 8" expando drum and silicon carbide belts dry whilst wearing a good N95 rated dust mask. I then go to a slow turning carpet wheel for polishing. I'm contemplating going to the 10" bull wheel expando drum so I can do larger slabs. With the 3" wide belts I'm limited to slabs/geode halves of about 5" to 6" across. Darn! Those 4" by 10" bull Wheel expandos are sure expensive!!! Bob
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electricmonk
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2011
Posts: 281
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Post by electricmonk on Sept 17, 2011 23:21:22 GMT -5
I actually spend most of my time cutting and polishing Thundereggs. I mainly use a High-Speed sander along with a expando drum set-up for my sanding. Polishing I either use a slow leather buff, or I have several vibra-laps set up strictly as polishing units. I've actually been thinking about saving some cash and buying a bull wheel unit of another company calls it the Ultimate Grinder. I have many buddies who do commercial work and these machines seem to be the cats meow. Flat laps can work and is a common practice in Europe - Most of them seem to have a satin type finish, rather than our high gloss "mirror finish" Another buddy of mine in The Netherlands uses the diamond pads for his polishing and it works great. If your doing very large pieces (10"+) then I would strictly run vibralaps. Each brand name and model has thier own unique "touch". I have 3 vibra laps, a Lortone, HP and a Rociprolap and I use each one for different uses. Any rate there's many options available and each person has their own preference to which works best for them. Jason Is the rociprolap a Covington or does someone else make them as well? There is a local fellow that I have done business with a couple of times who makes high speed sanders. I believe his larger model incorporates either an 8 or 9" pad. I really want to be able to finish full slabs as well as Thundereggs without much fuss so the high speed sander seems to be the place to start. Eventually I intend to do larger geometric mandalas roughly 12-16 inches in diameter with metal and stone inlay. That is the dream in any case. I was thinking that perhaps a larger vibralap might be able to handle something like that but I am not sure if there would be potential for undercut. Ideally the metal will be a uniform depth which will define the work, then the stone will inlay and protrude a bit so it can be sanded flush. Might be that I am thinking about it wrong and will certainly have to experiment. Mostly I am trying to avoid buying equipement that I don't need or that will only be a hindrance down the road. So far I seem to have avoided too many pitfalls though my first slab saw that I bought used is going to need extensive tweaking which I am just beginning to find out. Fortunately I have another saw being refurbished by Lee (Rockoonz - I think I have his user name right, or close in any case) which will fill the gap while I rebuild the 20". Thanks again for the input!
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greaser
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since December 2010
Posts: 201
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Post by greaser on Sept 18, 2011 18:47:34 GMT -5
i use the vibe lap and it does a great job but needs you to be attentive to get the best results.
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Post by Rockoonz on Sept 21, 2011 6:38:44 GMT -5
Jay's all use a 7 inch disc, to my knowledge, he showed me where to get the rubber discs when I was rebuilding the one I just sold. If you plan to do really large projects then you may want to use equipment used for marble counters and what not, a special angle head grinder for wet work with diamond polishing pads.
Lee
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electricmonk
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2011
Posts: 281
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Post by electricmonk on Sept 23, 2011 2:22:52 GMT -5
Jay's all use a 7 inch disc, to my knowledge, he showed me where to get the rubber discs when I was rebuilding the one I just sold. If you plan to do really large projects then you may want to use equipment used for marble counters and what not, a special angle head grinder for wet work with diamond polishing pads. Lee I did some granite and marble slab fabrication for a guy a long while ago when I used to build houses in Colorado. Used one of the MK grinders you are talking about...hated it It was probably more the conditions we were working in and his personality but the progress was slow going at best. But its a though, and not a bad one for what I have in mind. Might just have to give it a look see. I was sort of hoping to lap the entire piece in one go but I might just have to work up to that point. If Jay's units max out at 7" that is a bit smaller than I was hoping but would still give me enough surface area for the majority of what I want to do, especially in the short to mid run. Thanks for the suggestion Lee!
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mystickoi
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since February 2010
Posts: 211
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Post by mystickoi on Sept 24, 2011 9:00:52 GMT -5
Hi Jason,
Interesting... I've looked at these units, and thought the vibrating laps were mostly similar in operation. Could you provide a brief description of the differences between brands? I've been looking for a used Rociprolap (they are hard to find), as I thought this design (vibrating and rotating) would provide faster results. Why would you use a vibrating lap over the Rociprolap for some projects?
Thanks!
Bill
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