goldfinder
Cave Dweller 
Member since December 2020
Posts: 273
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Post by goldfinder on Sept 2, 2021 11:50:50 GMT -5
Hello all! I recently got a really good deal on 2 homemade slant cabbers. They need some work but I was figuring on building a flat lap anyways and this makes a great starting point. Each have 2 separate laps that spin at the same time so quite an interesting setup! It's currently setup for 6" laps but I'm going to set it up for 8", it has a 1/3hp motor so it should be able to push a 10" if needed. So I've ordered a 8" aluminum master lap and 80, 180, 320 and 600 grit diamond flat laps for it. What I'm wondering is where do I go after the 600. Besides polishing slabs I also want to be able to try low dome or slightly curved cabs and think a soft/smoothing lap would work really well. I tried searching the forum and Google a bunch but couldn't find much info on soft flat laps. The Hi-Tech smoothing laps look promising but is that the only available option for a soft lap? I see there are sponge rubber discs like this kingsleynorth.com/sponge-rubber-disc.htmlCould the appropriate grit diamond sandpaper like this be used on top of of a rubber disc? kingsleynorth.com/dynalap-diamond-film-discs.htmlWould the it need to be glued to the rubber disc? Or are there any other soft lap options anyone could recommend? Also should I aim for shaping on the hard lower grit laps then start smoothing on like a soft 600 grit? Should the higher grits like 1,200 and 3,000 also be soft laps? I'll mostly be working agates, common opal, thunder-eggs and gold in quartz. This is the first time I've ventured into cabbing/polishing so any suggestions are greatly welcome! I figured it would be a good idea to ask the seasoned experts around here before buying things that might not work haha. Cheers!! |
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Sept 2, 2021 18:30:47 GMT -5
Hi-Tech resin discs work well on a flat lap. The rubber pads are for putting under the resin discs. This allows the laps to form around the cab a bit, making it easier to smooth the face of the cab easier.
On the Hi-Tech flat laps (Vince and I both have one), they come with a 180 diamond disc and the rest are resin. The 80 might be overkill, unless you are hogging off a lot of stone. One of the problems with a flat lap is that you tend to get facets on the dome of the stone with metal diamond discs. That's where the rubber pads and resin discs come in. You will need a separate plastic master lap for each grit. I personally wouldn't go past your 320 on a metal diamond disc and you may want to get a 325 resin disc to replace it if it's too difficult smoothing your dome with it.
Do a search on the forum for slant cabbers or flat laps. That will get you lots of info on them.
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rewdownunder
spending too much on rocks
Member since March 2012
Posts: 357
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Post by rewdownunder on Sept 3, 2021 10:10:06 GMT -5
Diamond Pacific makes a slant unit 8" that uses their Magnetic Novas diamond discs. Very heavy duty but compact in size. I have used a demo at a club show and found it to be very useful for small flats and semi contoured agates. Very fast but big bucks for a full setup with disks
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goldfinder
Cave Dweller
Member since December 2020
Posts: 273
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Post by goldfinder on Sept 3, 2021 11:53:46 GMT -5
Hi-Tech resin discs work well on a flat lap. The rubber pads are for putting under the resin discs. This allows the laps to form around the cab a bit, making it easier to smooth the face of the cab easier.
On the Hi-Tech flat laps (Vince and I both have one), they come with a 180 diamond disc and the rest are resin. The 80 might be overkill, unless you are hogging off a lot of stone. One of the problems with a flat lap is that you tend to get facets on the dome of the stone with metal diamond discs. That's where the rubber pads and resin discs come in. You will need a separate plastic master lap for each grit. I personally wouldn't go past your 320 on a metal diamond disc and you may want to get a 325 resin disc to replace it if it's too difficult smoothing your dome with it.
Do a search on the forum for slant cabbers or flat laps. That will get you lots of info on them.
Thanks for the great advice!! I ordered 600 and 1,200 grit Hi-Tech discs with rubber pads and separate acrylic laps. Hi-Tech is currently running a 20% off Labor day sale so that was perfect timing. I fired up the slant cabber for the first time yesterday. Got it setup with the 80 grit just to test the machine. I grabbed a nasty broken end piece off an agate I took some slices out of to practice shaping on and break in the lap with. Surprisingly I was able to shape it decently and smooth out the very rough broken areas. The drip system and drain definitely need some serious work but overall very happy! Thanks again for the help! |
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Sept 3, 2021 16:18:54 GMT -5
Hi-Tech resin discs work well on a flat lap. The rubber pads are for putting under the resin discs. This allows the laps to form around the cab a bit, making it easier to smooth the face of the cab easier.
On the Hi-Tech flat laps (Vince and I both have one), they come with a 180 diamond disc and the rest are resin. The 80 might be overkill, unless you are hogging off a lot of stone. One of the problems with a flat lap is that you tend to get facets on the dome of the stone with metal diamond discs. That's where the rubber pads and resin discs come in. You will need a separate plastic master lap for each grit. I personally wouldn't go past your 320 on a metal diamond disc and you may want to get a 325 resin disc to replace it if it's too difficult smoothing your dome with it.
Do a search on the forum for slant cabbers or flat laps. That will get you lots of info on them.
Thanks for the great advice!! I ordered 600 and 1,200 grit Hi-Tech discs with rubber pads and separate acrylic laps. Hi-Tech is currently running a 20% off Labor day sale so that was perfect timing. I fired up the slant cabber for the first time yesterday. Got it setup with the 80 grit just to test the machine. I grabbed a nasty broken end piece off an agate I took some slices out of to practice shaping on and break in the lap with. Surprisingly I was able to shape it decently and smooth out the very rough broken areas. The drip system and drain definitely need some serious work but overall very happy! Thanks again for the help! Great news -- have fun! |
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Post by Son Of Beach on Nov 30, 2022 19:13:15 GMT -5
Hi-Tech resin discs work well on a flat lap. The rubber pads are for putting under the resin discs. This allows the laps to form around the cab a bit, making it easier to smooth the face of the cab easier.
On the Hi-Tech flat laps (Vince and I both have one), they come with a 180 diamond disc and the rest are resin. The 80 might be overkill, unless you are hogging off a lot of stone. One of the problems with a flat lap is that you tend to get facets on the dome of the stone with metal diamond discs. That's where the rubber pads and resin discs come in. You will need a separate plastic master lap for each grit. I personally wouldn't go past your 320 on a metal diamond disc and you may want to get a 325 resin disc to replace it if it's too difficult smoothing your dome with it.
Do a search on the forum for slant cabbers or flat laps. That will get you lots of info on them.
Robin, when you say Hi-Tech resin discs are you referring to these? Or can you use a more aggressive grit, say like a paper backed or cloth backed disc or some kind of less durable resin disc or sanding disc?
I'm close to getting my unit, but I'm trying to figure out where to go with my setup.
I have a tile saw but it's going to be tricky to use in the winter, so I imagine I'll be doing more coarse grinding than the average user.
Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself...
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Nov 30, 2022 21:22:35 GMT -5
Hi-Tech resin discs work well on a flat lap. The rubber pads are for putting under the resin discs. This allows the laps to form around the cab a bit, making it easier to smooth the face of the cab easier.
On the Hi-Tech flat laps (Vince and I both have one), they come with a 180 diamond disc and the rest are resin. The 80 might be overkill, unless you are hogging off a lot of stone. One of the problems with a flat lap is that you tend to get facets on the dome of the stone with metal diamond discs. That's where the rubber pads and resin discs come in. You will need a separate plastic master lap for each grit. I personally wouldn't go past your 320 on a metal diamond disc and you may want to get a 325 resin disc to replace it if it's too difficult smoothing your dome with it.
Do a search on the forum for slant cabbers or flat laps. That will get you lots of info on them.
Robin, when you say Hi-Tech resin discs are you referring to these? Or can you use a more aggressive grit, say like a paper backed or cloth backed disc or some kind of less durable resin disc or sanding disc?
I'm close to getting my unit, but I'm trying to figure out where to go with my setup.
I have a tile saw but it's going to be tricky to use in the winter, so I imagine I'll be doing more coarse grinding than the average user.
Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself...
I have never used anything but the resin diamond discs or metal diamond toppers like this, but I don't see why those wouldn't work. |
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goldfinder
Cave Dweller
Member since December 2020
Posts: 273
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Post by goldfinder on Dec 1, 2022 11:53:30 GMT -5
Hi-Tech resin discs work well on a flat lap. The rubber pads are for putting under the resin discs. This allows the laps to form around the cab a bit, making it easier to smooth the face of the cab easier.
On the Hi-Tech flat laps (Vince and I both have one), they come with a 180 diamond disc and the rest are resin. The 80 might be overkill, unless you are hogging off a lot of stone. One of the problems with a flat lap is that you tend to get facets on the dome of the stone with metal diamond discs. That's where the rubber pads and resin discs come in. You will need a separate plastic master lap for each grit. I personally wouldn't go past your 320 on a metal diamond disc and you may want to get a 325 resin disc to replace it if it's too difficult smoothing your dome with it.
Do a search on the forum for slant cabbers or flat laps. That will get you lots of info on them.
Robin, when you say Hi-Tech resin discs are you referring to these? Or can you use a more aggressive grit, say like a paper backed or cloth backed disc or some kind of less durable resin disc or sanding disc?
I'm close to getting my unit, but I'm trying to figure out where to go with my setup.
I have a tile saw but it's going to be tricky to use in the winter, so I imagine I'll be doing more coarse grinding than the average user.
Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself...
For course grinding, I had good luck with the cheap Chinese diamond plated laps off Amazon, they were about $10 each. I think you are supposed to use them with a "master lap" as a backing. But the same aluminum master lap can just be swapped between grits so only one master lap is needed. I used the 80 and 180 grit a ton and they worked well for coarse grinding/shaping before moving to the HiTech resin laps. IMO the flat lap was slower and more laborious than a wheeled machine but it's a good way to get into cabbing cheaper. I had a lot of fun on the flat lap/slant cabber. Hope that helps! |
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Post by Son Of Beach on Dec 2, 2022 16:42:04 GMT -5
@hefty Yea I saw that video, kind of got the wheels turning after watching it.
It'll be a few weeks but I'll start tinkering around
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Post by victor1941 on Dec 3, 2022 11:39:50 GMT -5
Hefty-good video.
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