NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
|
Post by NDK on Mar 25, 2020 14:15:53 GMT -5
Im having a little trouble getting a good polish on agate with my 10" vibe lap. After probably 20 hrs it seems like it's not getting any better. It's polished but not that shine like I'm expecting.
I bought this unit used and don't know what was on the felt pad so I think I'll rinse that out and try again, but other than that what do y'all use for polishing? Felt pad, carpet, neighbor's cat?
Thanks in advance đź‘Ť
|
|
|
Post by roy on Mar 25, 2020 16:36:23 GMT -5
im betting that your pad is contaminated you can replace it go to walmart in the car section you'll see a roll of black replacment carpet used it for years get you a can of spray on stickum and your off to the races
|
|
NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
|
Post by NDK on Mar 25, 2020 18:11:38 GMT -5
Oh sweet! Do I use a single layer of it or glue a few pieces together so it's thicker? I don't have a dedicated pan for polish so I need to keep it removable. Thanks roy!
|
|
|
Post by roy on Mar 26, 2020 10:13:41 GMT -5
Oh sweet! Do I use a single layer of it or glue a few pieces together so it's thicker? I don't have a dedicated pan for polish so I need to keep it removable. Thanks roy! buy a extra pan this is why your having a problem aluminum is porus and traps grit ! one pad is all you need ! pans that are used to grind also will get out of flat per say also
|
|
NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
|
Post by NDK on Mar 26, 2020 10:18:52 GMT -5
IDK if that's an option. It's a really old de bourges (I think that's the name) Haven't looked into parts, something definitely worth investigating thought!
|
|
|
Post by roy on Mar 26, 2020 10:22:14 GMT -5
send me a picture
|
|
|
Post by catmandewe on Mar 26, 2020 13:13:53 GMT -5
You can cut a piece of tin to fit inside your pan and glue your felt or carpet to it so it is removeable and less prone to contamination. I prefer berber carpet, you can usually get scrap pieces at any carpet store.
Tony
|
|
NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
|
Post by NDK on Mar 26, 2020 13:55:02 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by roy on Mar 27, 2020 11:22:33 GMT -5
berber carpet will work as long as its wool if not not so well
|
|
herb
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 444
|
Post by herb on Mar 27, 2020 11:42:51 GMT -5
I went to a place that does commercial carpet installs. The kind you see in office. Got a free piece that was about 2 feet by 3 feet with a rubber back meant to be glued down. The rubber back is nice because it keeps the pad from rotating around in the pan if it is not sized tight enough to hold itself in place. The top is some kind of synthetic material, very low pile. Didnt know how long it would last but it was free so I gave it a try. So far I've probably polished 40 or 50 pans worth of thundereggs and it is holding up well. I had to wash it out awhile ago because I wasnt getting a good polish anymore. I had a batch of thundereggs with a chalky white coating on the outside and apparently after awhile enough came off to contaminate the pad enough to mess with the polishing.
|
|
|
Post by HankRocks on Mar 27, 2020 11:49:15 GMT -5
I bought a piece of Berber Carpet(whatever the tight, short weave is called these days) from Lowes, 3' X 12'. It should last several years replacing the Pad in my Polish Pan(20 inch). I do have two pans, one for all SiC stages and one for Polish. Make sure the rocks are well-rinsed or scrubbed between stages, especially before Polish stage.
The Pads are glued down with waterproof wood glue. A bit of pain to remove, but a good set of Pliers and a good Putty knife do the trick.
What are you using for polish, I use Tin Oxide as I stumbled into a lifetime supply. How long are you running the last SiC stage(pre-polish). I use 600 SiC and will run for about 12 to 15 hours, the rocks should almost stick to the Pan as the co-efficient of friction from the smooth finish on the rocks holds them to the Pan.
My Polish stage usually runs about 30 to 40 hours.
Henry
|
|
|
Post by rmf on Mar 27, 2020 13:01:10 GMT -5
NDK You may have mentioned the brand of vib lap but I missed it. Lortone use to use hard rubber balls in their laps and there were 3 at 120 deg around the outside. When they get old they squash down and so they are nolonger round and they do not allow the free movement that the round balls allow. I have replaced them with three superballs and that works fine. Also the easy answer may just be dirty carpet. I have used home depot indoor/outdoor carpet and it works fine and is cheap.
|
|
NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
|
Post by NDK on Mar 27, 2020 23:10:49 GMT -5
herb HankRocks rmfIt's a 10" le bourgets vibe lap. No balls under the pan, instead it's got approx 5/8" plastic discs with a 1/4" dia felt pad set in it for oiling. On a side note I rinsed the felt pad out real good yesterday and it seemed to work better. I've ran it about 20 hrs on polish so next batch I'll run longer.
|
|
|
Post by MsAli on Mar 28, 2020 6:50:07 GMT -5
herb HankRocks rmf It's a 10" le bourgets vibe lap. No balls under the pan, instead it's got approx 5/8" plastic discs with a 1/4" dia felt pad set in it for oiling. On a side note I rinsed the felt pad out real good yesterday and it seemed to work better. I've ran it about 20 hrs on polish so next batch I'll run longer. Pictures of the rocks please
|
|
NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
|
Post by NDK on Mar 28, 2020 23:08:20 GMT -5
MsAli I'll take some pictures tomorrow
|
|
|
Post by HankRocks on Mar 29, 2020 7:36:17 GMT -5
NDK One other thing. On the polish run I try and go with a minimum of water, just enough to wet the whole pad. A good friend of mine says that it helps increase the "drag" of the rock across the pad and therefore polishes a bit faster. It kinda of makes sense. The other benefit with less water is less splashing. That creates less mess and less polish loss. In theory a well charged polish pad should not need a lot of new polish every time as any losses will be due to splashing outside the pan and onto the rocks. I do add a tablespoon of Tin Oxide maybe every 3 or 4 polish runs. Henry
|
|
herb
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2011
Posts: 444
|
Post by herb on Mar 29, 2020 8:57:02 GMT -5
NDK One other thing. On the polish run I try and go with a minimum of water, just enough to wet the whole pad. A good friend of mine says that it helps increase the "drag" of the rock across the pad and therefore polishes a bit faster. It kinda of makes sense. The other benefit with less water is less splashing. That creates less mess and less polish loss. In theory a well charged polish pad should not need a lot of new polish every time as any losses will be due to splashing outside the pan and onto the rocks. I do add a tablespoon of Tin Oxide maybe every 3 or 4 polish runs. Henry Interesting that you use a minimum of water. I use what I consider to be more water! I dont use enough water to get any splashing though, so maybe my "more" is your "minimum". My pad is grayish in color. I spray enough water on it so the tin oxide polish I use rises up and turns the pad white while it is running. I find that when the pad dries enough for it to look gray again, the polishing action really slows down even though the pad feels pretty wet to the touch. I too only add a bit more polish every 3 of 4 runs, more like a teaspoon though. The only polish loss during runs seems to be what sticks to the bottom 1/4 inch sides of the thundereggs and what sticks on the polished surface.
|
|
NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,440
|
Post by NDK on Mar 29, 2020 11:35:03 GMT -5
This is a great discussion guys, much appreciated! This agate doesn't have a show polish but it's showing nice color so I'm going to leave it. I use what I believe to be aluminum oxide polish (bought at a local hobby shop just sold as "polish". Unfortunately they're now closed so I can't even ask anymore) and I had the pad quite wet. I guess I need to experiment because I wanted to make sure I had good movement on the rock. I'm going to do that with the next 2 agates I'm running now and if theres no improvement I'll try replacing the pad. MsAli So Miss Ali here's the agate I'm calling Watchdog: Here's a shot of the cloudy sky reflecting through my patio door:
|
|
|
Post by HankRocks on Mar 29, 2020 12:31:04 GMT -5
This is a great discussion guys, much appreciated! This agate doesn't have a show polish but it's showing nice color so I'm going to leave it. I use what I believe to be aluminum oxide polish (bought at a local hobby shop just sold as "polish". Unfortunately they're now closed so I can't even ask anymore) and I had the pad quite wet. I guess I need to experiment because I wanted to make sure I had good movement on the rock. I'm going to do that with the next 2 agates I'm running now and if theres no improvement I'll try replacing the pad. MsAli So Miss Ali here's the agate I'm calling Watchdog: Here's a shot of the cloudy sky reflecting through my patio door: One more factor for polishing on the Vib Lap, weight of the rock. More weight, more force, quicker polish. Can not tell the depth of the rock you are holding. I have polished Slabs and end pieces on the Lap, glued(caulked) lead weights to help with the polish. Attaching weights is a bit of a hassle, just have not seen or thought of a better method than gluing them on.
|
|
|
Post by catmandewe on Mar 29, 2020 13:02:10 GMT -5
[/quote]One more factor for polishing on the Vib Lap, weight of the rock. More weight, more force, quicker polish. Can not tell the depth of the rock you are holding. I have polished Slabs and end pieces on the Lap, glued(caulked) lead weights to help with the polish. Attaching weights is a bit of a hassle, just have not seen or thought of a better method than gluing them on.
[/quote]
Silly Putty works good, just stick it to the slab and then stick the weight into it, easy removal too.
Tony
|
|