QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Mar 8, 2015 2:00:45 GMT -5
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Post by jakesrocks on Mar 8, 2015 10:10:46 GMT -5
That is a sweet deal. There are folks on here who would kill just for the instruction book. Hopefully one of our members will snatch this up and post the pages of the book.
Don
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Tommy
Administrator 
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,993
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Post by Tommy on Mar 8, 2015 10:14:28 GMT -5
Dang that's a nice deal. Wish it was closer.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,504
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Post by Sabre52 on Mar 8, 2015 12:09:50 GMT -5
*S* That is so cool. What memories that brings back. My pop bought us one of those when I was about ten years old to work on some agate we got at a Deming rock shop while driving cross country. Cut my first slabette and made my first cabs on that thing. Still was using it to cut jewelry for a girlfriend when I was in college. Don't think she appreciated the jewelry and basically thought I was just some weird nerdy guy ( I was dating way out of my league *L*) but I enjoyed making it anyway. Think the rig pictured might be missing the coolant reservoir though. It should have a little screw on tank with a drip to go on the blades or disks. Funny, now we have all these expensive complicated rigs we work with and back then, that little gizmo was fun and worked just fine. My dad had it set up in his taxidermy shop and I spent many happy hours sitting at the saw or sanding and polishing cabs or flat specimens while he stuffed critters. Even used it to make my first display in JR. high that I loaned to the grammar school where my mom worked....Mel
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Post by snowdog on Mar 8, 2015 14:23:33 GMT -5
well, I'm close enough ( couple hours), but, the posting was deleted so I can;t even see what it was !!!!! ---- oh well--------------
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Post by catmandewe on Mar 8, 2015 15:06:28 GMT -5
It was a craftsman gem maker, the original 3 in 1 setup. Made for Craftsman by B&I.
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Post by jakesrocks on Mar 8, 2015 15:35:18 GMT -5
Hey Tony, didn't they also sell it under their own name as the B&I Gem Maker, or something like that ?
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QuailRiver
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,640
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Post by QuailRiver on Mar 8, 2015 19:06:35 GMT -5
*S* That is so cool. What memories that brings back. My pop bought us one of those when I was about ten years old to work on some agate we got at a Deming rock shop while driving cross country. Cut my first slabette and made my first cabs on that thing. Still was using it to cut jewelry for a girlfriend when I was in college. Don't think she appreciated the jewelry and basically thought I was just some weird nerdy guy ( I was dating way out of my league *L*) but I enjoyed making it anyway. Think the rig pictured might be missing the coolant reservoir though. It should have a little screw on tank with a drip to go on the blades or disks. Funny, now we have all these expensive complicated rigs we work with and back then, that little gizmo was fun and worked just fine. My dad had it set up in his taxidermy shop and I spent many happy hours sitting at the saw or sanding and polishing cabs or flat specimens while he stuffed critters. Even used it to make my first display in JR. high that I loaned to the grammar school where my mom worked....Mel That's very similar to my story. I got my first cabbing machine for Christmas when I was 10 years old. It wasn't the B&I but was a cheaper model that sears sold for a few years that had 4" discs, a plastic housing, and variable speed control. But unfortunately it also had plastic gears that striped out after just a few weeks of use. So the next year I got the 6" B&I unit ordered from the Sears catalog. The B&I units were the Iron Maidens, or I guess in this cast the Aluminum Maidens of flat laps. With their cast aluminum housings, and bronze sleeve bearings with grease cups, the B&I units were next to impossible to damage or wear out. I cut many hundreds of stones on it over the next five years before getting a Lortone unit with vertical wheels. And yes my friends thought I was weird for it too. But in my teens I befriended some older hippie-ish/craftsmen types that were into lapidary, silversmithing, rockhounding, artifact collecting, among other vises  who thought it was cool! I later donated that 6" B&I unit to a local ministry but some years later bought another one, the 10" model to use when polishing with messy oxides. The design of the B&I housing helps contain oxide slurry so it doesn't sling polish all over everything else in my shop. Also B&I used to make a hobby grade potters wheel with a very similar design. If I remember correctly WEN or WENN Tools bought out B&I around 1980 and discontinued production. I believe they were produced for over 40 years total. I still recommend old used B&Is as the best value for anyone who wants to get started cabbing on a small budget. Larry C. |
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quartz
Cave Dweller
breakin' rocks in the hot sun
Member since February 2010
Posts: 3,359
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Post by quartz on Mar 8, 2015 23:26:15 GMT -5
We have a 6" B&I, picked it up for $30 at an estate auction, minus wheels, easy fix. Like it a bunch.
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Post by catmandewe on Mar 9, 2015 2:27:07 GMT -5
There was also an optional mast that you could add on that would make it into a faceting machine. Very few of the faceting mast survived but lots of the gem makers still have the vise to hold the rocks for the saws still.
I probably have half a dozen of these in my shed somewhere.
Tony
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who thought it was cool! I later donated that 6" B&I unit to a local ministry but some years later bought another one, the 10" model to use when polishing with messy oxides. The design of the B&I housing helps contain oxide slurry so it doesn't sling polish all over everything else in my shop. Also B&I used to make a hobby grade potters wheel with a very similar design. If I remember correctly WEN or WENN Tools bought out B&I around 1980 and discontinued production. I believe they were produced for over 40 years total. I still recommend old used B&Is as the best value for anyone who wants to get started cabbing on a small budget. 
