ajs76
off to a rocking start
Member since November 2020
Posts: 24
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Post by ajs76 on Nov 14, 2020 10:11:19 GMT -5
Hello
I’m just starting down this path of rock polishing and my wife found a super cool large agate (maybe like 4 inches in diameter) that is cut and ready to face polish.
I started looking into my options and researching pros and cons and I’m not coming to solutions that make my wallet happy.
It feels like I can get a 10 or 12 inch vibrating flat lap from Covington foe like 400 bucks.
Option 2 would be a wet angle grinder for like 200 but a lot of manual work
Option 3 would be some giant rotating flat lap or bull wheel but those seem suuuuuper expensive for something that isn’t necessarily going to be my focus or business
Option 4 would be go join a local group and see if I can talk a club member into helping but that seems tough in the covid era.
Curious what people’s thoughts are in case I missed something here. Ideally I think you get some kind of rotating diamond grinder but does that exist for around 400 bucks that can polish something about 4 inches long?
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ajs76
off to a rocking start
Member since November 2020
Posts: 24
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Post by ajs76 on Nov 14, 2020 10:30:53 GMT -5
If it helps I have a UV10 and just locally found a QT12 but my wife wants to keep the outside of this agate rough.
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agatemaggot
Cave Dweller
Member since August 2006
Posts: 2,195
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Post by agatemaggot on Nov 14, 2020 10:57:39 GMT -5
You can polish by hand using a pane of glass with the grit on it ! most glass shops have glass they have replaced and are glad to give it away to save dumping fees.
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ajs76
off to a rocking start
Member since November 2020
Posts: 24
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Post by ajs76 on Nov 14, 2020 11:31:58 GMT -5
Whoa how long does that take?
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Post by rmf on Nov 15, 2020 6:56:35 GMT -5
The obvious thing you overlooked is pay someone to polish it for you. But your observations are correct, this is not a cheap hobby. But it is not rocket science either. Rock grinding did not really change until SiC was invented. Now diamond is more popular. Cheap is usually by hand with SiC as agatemaggot suggested. I met a guy that polished rocks on his kitchen table with a sheet of sandpaper and dry. That took some time but he had nothing else to do. (I think I could have found something more interesting.)
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ajs76
off to a rocking start
Member since November 2020
Posts: 24
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Post by ajs76 on Nov 15, 2020 9:27:24 GMT -5
Rmf. I got quoted 3 to 4 hours at 45 an hour for a local place to do it. I did pay him 40 bucks to cut it since no cheap tile saw would get this cut due to size. Now at least i have a smooth surface.
For for the polish part id rather own a tool than pay someone that. I can call around but I’d hate to pay for a 1 off in case I have another cool find.
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NDK
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 9,438
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Post by NDK on Nov 15, 2020 9:39:11 GMT -5
If you're mechanically inclined, it's quite simple to build lapidary equipment. Best part is you get the quality you want at a fraction of the cost of buying equipment. Check out all the builds in the DIY section.
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agatemaggot
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Member since August 2006
Posts: 2,195
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Post by agatemaggot on Nov 15, 2020 12:08:39 GMT -5
Hand polishing time depends on how bad the saw marks are. It will vary from stone to stone and how enthusiastically you go after it !
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Post by pauls on Nov 15, 2020 16:13:24 GMT -5
Wet grinders are reasonably fast, all other options will take a long time.
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fravel
off to a rocking start
Member since November 2020
Posts: 3
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Post by fravel on Nov 18, 2020 9:46:19 GMT -5
I'm planning to try my luck with using a pneumatic sander and just dumping water on the work surface. If you've got air compressor, Harbor Freight sells a little 2" sander for ~$25 - then you just need a series of sandpaper grits.
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Fossilman
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Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,666
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Post by Fossilman on Nov 18, 2020 11:13:55 GMT -5
One thing for sure, this isn't a cheap hobby! That's why you don't see many young people on board with Lapidary... YouTube has lots of videos on any Lapidary subject you can think of, go there and view a few videos.. Have fun and good luck...
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