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Post by sophia13 on Apr 1, 2018 6:58:00 GMT -5
So many flat lap "All In One", slant cabber type laps out there-I want to get one and start learning but don't want to pick the wrong one. They are all pretty comparable in price but which ones do you folks like/use. Looked on the forum for similar topic but just found DIY Lap stuff and I'm not that talented. I'm in Florida if someone sells 'em though  Looking to buil my rock shop so all equipment do's/dont's tips, hints and suggestions welcome. Thank you |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller 
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,601
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Post by jamesp on Apr 1, 2018 9:47:21 GMT -5
I built my own recently Sophia. I love this thing, mainly because I never owned a conventional lapidary grinder. It is designed to stay outside here in Georgia where I can enjoy nature as I grind my glass pendants in mass. I purchased the 8 inch wheels on Ebay, 60-100-280-600-1200-2000 for $12 to $20. And an aluminum backing wheel. It turns at 800 RPM and does a great job shaping and facing glass or rocks. Glass is soft so I get a big puddle of mud from the shavings. I also grind calluses off with it lol. I thought about a 12 inch size but would have been wasting extra grind capacity. the 8 inch wheels do fine. I do like the spacious 14 inch bowl though. For ideas perhaps on your purchase. With garden hose drip  With drip container  |
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Apr 1, 2018 9:52:29 GMT -5
Welcome Sophia, from Northern Arizona!
I have a Hi-Tech flat lap. It's the first machine I bought to start cabbing opal. It's still going strong after about 13 years of use. I know a lot of people who also have the Ameritool flat laps and they love them. Either machine is going to serve you well. Those are the two I would seriously look at. Good luck!
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Post by HankRocks on Apr 1, 2018 10:23:15 GMT -5
jamesp Your one of a kind designed and built equipment could all be placed in the "Red-neck" Hall of Fame, except for the fact that they are all so well built. No Bailing wire, duct-tape or Bondo to be seen which definitely dis-qualifies them. They look like they could survive a Nuclear or a Zombie attack!!!
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Post by woodman on Apr 1, 2018 10:46:11 GMT -5
I built my own recently Sophia. I love this thing, mainly because I never owned a conventional lapidary grinder. It is designed to stay outside here in Georgia where I can enjoy nature as I grind my glass pendants in mass. I purchased the 8 inch wheels on Ebay, 60-100-280-600-1200-2000 for $12 to $20. And an aluminum backing wheel. It turns at 800 RPM and does a great job shaping and facing glass or rocks. Glass is soft so I get a big puddle of mud from the shavings. I also grind calluses off with it lol. I thought about a 12 inch size but would have been wasting extra grind capacity. the 8 inch wheels do fine. I do like the spacious 14 inch bowl though. For ideas perhaps on your purchase. With garden hose drip With drip container You do need to have most parts powder coated, maybe the color of Georgia clay!  |
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,601
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Post by jamesp on Apr 1, 2018 10:58:36 GMT -5
Lol woodman. I do weld a lot. City boy gone country over a 35 year period. Learned from the old farmer neighbors that rusted steel gets the job done just as well as painted. They each have a 5 gallon hand pump sprayer full of used motor oil that they spray on the fertilizer and manure spreaders to fight deep rust. Obnoxious as it sounds it is an effective rust preventative. 300 pounds of welding rods on this project:  HankRocks, it is the nature of steel to be overdone. The little 10 gauge 14 inch lapper bowl, same company makes those bowls to 22 feet in diameter and made of 4 inch thick steel. I am a lightweight. |
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timloco
has rocks in the head
Member since April 2012
Posts: 545
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Post by timloco on Apr 3, 2018 18:09:28 GMT -5
I have the Ameritool, it works fine but I don't use it that often compared to my arbor wheel setup.
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barclay
has rocks in the head
Lowly Padawan of rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 510
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Post by barclay on Apr 3, 2018 18:24:33 GMT -5
i liked my Hi Tech until the body cracked. The tray was a pain to clean with all those ridges. The Ameritool is much sturdier and easier to clean. I like my ameritool better.
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Post by Bluesky78987 on Apr 4, 2018 20:20:10 GMT -5
I like my Ameritool. However, if you can possibly swing it, just skip directly to a cabbing wheel setup (although it's quite a bit more expensive). I wished I had just done that.
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SirRoxalot
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since October 2003
Posts: 790
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Post by SirRoxalot on Apr 14, 2018 19:19:58 GMT -5
Changing laps constantly is for the birds, aim for a regular six wheel cabbing machine. It might seem like a lot of money, but it will last forever, not like a car or a cell phone...
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Post by Rockoonz on Apr 14, 2018 22:56:45 GMT -5
I liked the Covington when I had it. My horizontal flat lap is now an old Graves Mk1 faceting machine, gets fairly regular use. The vertical Al Sesona grinder stays fairly busy too, it's pretty specialized for intarsia though. Now I have an old wards unit in 8" complete with the saw attachment to clean up and sell, and a Lortone 6" slant cabber to sell as well. I also have a vertical 4 wheel unit, laps on one side and polishers on the other, that will probably also go away some day. The thing they all have in common is no plastic. If it must be plastic I definitely think the Ameritool is the best, the Hitech comes in 2nd and the Inland a distant last place. I understand there is also a crystalite machine that I am told is the cats pajamas, but haven't ever messed with one. Crystalite info... I think kingsley n has them. assets.abrasive-tech.com/literature/Crystalite_Catalog.pdf |
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Post by woodman on Apr 15, 2018 9:33:21 GMT -5
I have an 8 inch ameritool for sale in the selling section, used very little and works great, I just took my rock hobby in a different direction and do not use it and want to free up the space, check it out, good price, if it does not sell in the next day or two I will list on ebay and take down my post here.
SOLD to a fellow member!
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Looking to buil my rock shop so all equipment do's/dont's tips, hints and suggestions welcome. Thank you
