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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 5, 2021 20:35:50 GMT -5
Hey ya'll. I have been wanting to try tin oxide as I have seen from some fabulous cabbers that it produces a great finish.
Currently I use all diamond- 60 sintered, 220 hard, 220 soft, 600, 1200, 3k, 8k,14k, 50k & 100k. I don't use every wheel on every cab every time.
At what point would I use T/O? And what would be the best pad for it (I have a new smooth leather pad)? Also, what do I do? Wipe it with a slurry and mist with water? I have never used anything other than diamond, so I'm a real newbie.
Thanks!
ETA- Is the T/O at Rock Shed suitable for cabbing? (I'm not sure if it is fine enough or not.)
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Post by hummingbirdstones2 on Apr 5, 2021 21:50:52 GMT -5
rockjunquie - you'd usually use the tin oxide after your 14K, or whatever your last prepolish grit is for the material you're cutting.
My guess is that the tumbler polishes aren't screened as tightly as others. I think that showed up in another thread here about particle breakdown.
The leather would be good. There are tables out there with recommended laps/polishes for different types of stones. We've all been spoiled by all-diamond setups.
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stefan
Cave Dweller 
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Apr 6, 2021 17:53:26 GMT -5
Not to discourage you at all but I don't think your gonna like Tin Oxide for cabbing. Tumbling with Tin is amazing but for cabs it's meh (IMHO) When I first started cabbing I tried Tin and Cerium. I was so horribly disappointed. I followed the directions everyone gave me (mix a slurry apply to the leather and spray with water when it gets to "grabby") Horrible results. I tried and tried and tried. After getting frustrated beyond belief, I had a member on here (stoner) set me on the straight and narrow. He solved all my polishing issues. He said Chuck the romantic idea of traditional polishing methods, scrape off your leather belt and charge it with diamond! I never looked back and have gotten amazing results. Anyway to answer your questions (if your still hell bent on Tin) I would use the leather for sure. Mix up a somewhat thin slurry (about the consistency of heavy cream). Apply with a clean brush and apply cab to leather. When it gets grabby (careful you don't overheat the stone, or loose your grip)spray a bit of water on the leather. As for when to use it, I would go to at least your 3K. 8K would probably be better. Beyond 14K and I think you might be working backwards.
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Post by stardiamond on Apr 6, 2021 18:04:32 GMT -5
When I made my first cabs, I polished with tin oxide on a canvas pad. It produced good results on some material and not good on others.
Currently I use the same wheels as you except my first wheel is an 80 grit top and 3,000 and 14,000. I finish everything with 100k diamond paste on canvas. Some materials don't polish well with the 100k paste. Next time I have one of those, I'll try the tin oxide to see if if improves the polish.
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Post by rockjunquie on Apr 6, 2021 18:09:26 GMT -5
Thanks for your input guys.  |
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Post by lpl on Apr 7, 2021 20:32:55 GMT -5
Ok, I absolutely LOVE tin oxide on my cabs. Love it. I was polishing with 50K and 100K diamond before trying it. My cabs were shiny, but I wasn’t getting that deep, warm polish I was looking for. I tried cerium on felt, but I just didn’t get the results I wanted. I usually go up to 3,000 soft wheel, then go to the tin oxide. But sometimes I’ll even go to 50K diamond and follow it with the tin oxide. It just all really depends on my mood or how I think the stone is finishing up. Sometimes I think I’ll just stop at 50K diamond, but will hit it with TO and I am always glad I did.
I played around a bit with it, and what works best for me is TO on felt. I think they are the 1/4” thick pads. I do have an old Graves Cabmate with a two speed motor, and I polish on the low speed. And that just might be the key to it. I use the spin off discs, like can be purchased for a genie or a cab king. I tried painting a slurry of TO on the wheel, but that did not work for me. What I settled on was just applying just a bit of TO dry onto the pad and rubbing it around evenly with my fingers. Then I use a spray bottle and hit it until it’s a bit wet. It took me some time to dial in the pressure, but the polishing really kicks in when it dries a bit and the stone drags on the felt. It doesn’t take long at all once you are there. I’ll never go back to polishing with diamond. Ever. Once in a while I have to, like if there are pits or small cracks that will pack full of the white TO powder and be impossible to remove. But all in all, I use it exclusively.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,497
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Post by Sabre52 on Apr 7, 2021 22:47:15 GMT -5
I Love tin for final polish in the tumbler but only use "optical grade" cerium oxide on leather for polishing cabs. Never had great results on the pads with tin.
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Post by stephan on Apr 8, 2021 0:24:04 GMT -5
I haven’t used TO, but my experience with final polishes in general:
I’ve used super cerium and 100k diamond. Both work fine in most cases, but can work their way into fine cracks for material like poppy jasper, making them more visible. They are a pain to get out! Maybe a burnish in vibe with Borax or Ivory would do do it, but I don’t own one, so I can’t say
As for not letting the leathers get grabby, it depends on what you’re polishing. Grabby and hot is the perfect state for obsidian or nephrite. It can even help with (some) orange peeling
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Post by pauls on Apr 8, 2021 2:29:57 GMT -5
I use Tin Oxide on a hard felt pad for just about everything. I get a great shine using 50K diamond then hit the Tin Oxide for a couple of seconds for a fantastic polish.
Things people do wrong with Tin Oxide: Too much, I have seen wheels at my club painted with a thick coat of tin Oxide, this is useless as it just lubricates the stone and nothing happens until most of it has flung off and hit the walls and ceiling, too wet, same problem. The sweet spot is a very thin coating on the buff and only just damp. Using a squirty bottle mix up a thin milky mixture and spray this on the buff until damp, then apply your stone until you feel it grabbing, that's it. Don't let it dry out friction can heat stones quickly and crack them. This works for most stones except some Jaspers and Jade, the secret ingredient for those is Chrome Oxide.
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stefan
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2005
Posts: 14,113
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Post by stefan on Apr 8, 2021 16:48:29 GMT -5
Ask a 100 cabbers how they polish and get 101 answers! Perhaps I should retract my position that you won't like it. Maybe I should say give it a go! Heck maybe I need to revisit the idea now that I can use those cheap spin on disks in the CabKing
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