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Post by wireholic on Aug 11, 2014 23:27:04 GMT -5
My son is going to give me part of his woodworking shop to set up a rock area! I get the end that has a sink so I have ready access to water. I have an old brick saw from when my husband & I did tile work and a cheap HF grinder. I think I still have a little trim saw buried in the shed somewhere & I have my tumbler that has only been used for polishing wirework.
I know I need 1 or 2 tumblers for rocks but what else do I need to start? I've learned a lot from reading the forums, but what are the absolute basics I would need to start cabbing?
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Post by snowmom on Aug 12, 2014 6:21:54 GMT -5
so nice to get an area of your own to work in. I hate having to hunt for tools and look all over the house, or having to put everything away if interrupted. sounds like you are on your way.
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Aug 12, 2014 6:38:21 GMT -5
If your buying slabs then you can make cabs with just pieces of equipment. I have bought and sold a good amount of equipment and if you spend time searching deals are out there. Obviously if budget is not an issue there are tons of options and a 6 wheel vertical setup is the way to go. Here's two pieces I bought for $50 each this summer and these are enough to make cabs from slabs on a budget. I started with two just like these. The 8" flat lap can use diamond plates that are only $25 each per grit. back when I used the flat lap I did these steps 100 grit diamond plate 280 grit diamond plate 600 grit diamond plate 1200 grit diamond plate 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper with foam underneath to work out and facets left by the hard diamond plates 1200 grit wet dry sandpaper felt polish pad charged with polish Keep in mind that a wrench is used between every step to remove one plate and change to another so I would always do multiple cabs at one time. If doing just one cab you can spend over an hour on this setup. A good 6 wheel cabbing unit will kick out cabs in 15-20 minutes and if you find a scratch when your done its no problem to just go back a wheel or two without any tools. Chuck
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,709
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Post by Fossilman on Aug 15, 2014 9:07:57 GMT -5
How safe is it to shine cabs up in a tumbler??? Karen it sounds like your on a roll...Good for you-thumbs up!!!
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Post by wireholic on Aug 15, 2014 10:57:05 GMT -5
I use stainless shot, distilled water & either dishsoap or a polishing compound from RIO to polish & harden my finished wire jewelry. Only leave it in for 20 min to an hour and it comes out shiny, hard & bur-free! I love it! The only time I ever had a problem was with a dyed stone that reacted with my well water & turned all my wire dark & the stone lost most of it's color. Now I only use distilled water and I'm a little pickier where I get my cabs . I imagine that to shine a cab will take longer but not sure if I could just do it with the stainless shot or if I would need to use grits. If I need to use grits, I will need to get a new tumbler or at least new barrels so I don't get grit into my finished jewelry & scratch it
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Post by Rockoonz on Aug 15, 2014 13:44:12 GMT -5
We do tumble cabs but just for drilled pendants and earrings. Most of our cabs that wouls be wire wrapped or set do not see a tumbler at all.
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Post by fantastic5 on Aug 15, 2014 14:56:38 GMT -5
I use stainless shot, distilled water & either dishsoap or a polishing compound from RIO to polish & harden my finished wire jewelry. Only leave it in for 20 min to an hour and it comes out shiny, hard & bur-free! I love it! The only time I ever had a problem was with a dyed stone that reacted with my well water & turned all my wire dark & the stone lost most of it's color. Now I only use distilled water and I'm a little pickier where I get my cabs . I imagine that to shine a cab will take longer but not sure if I could just do it with the stainless shot or if I would need to use grits. If I need to use grits, I will need to get a new tumbler or at least new barrels so I don't get grit into my finished jewelry & scratch it I just picked up some stainless shot to try this. I've heard it works well, but have you ever had trouble having your work come out misshapen from the tumble. Do you start with half-hard or soft? As far as finishing cabs, I like to run them through my Lot-O for the polish. That way both the front and the back is polished. I have a six wheel Genie that I picked up second hand off Craigslist. With the addition of flat diamond disk(s) on one end and a leather disk on the other I really feel like I have everything I need to make cabs without even using the vibe.
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Post by wireholic on Aug 22, 2014 14:16:28 GMT -5
I like to work with dead soft wire and let the tumbler harden it for me. I've never had any wire get damaged except for the one incident where the badly dyed stone turned everything dark
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