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Post by stardiamond on Aug 16, 2023 19:08:45 GMT -5
Something like this was included with the used lapidary equipment I bought. Cooling was with a spray bottle. I still use one using an end lap. My trim saw was an arbor, blade and motor attached to wood. Cooling the blade was done with a wet sponge.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 16, 2023 12:43:06 GMT -5
I'm done with cab contests. What?? say it ain't so and please elaborate on that. Which contest was it that caused such disillusionment? I really admire your talents and consistent work flow and I've been fighting off the urge to twist your arm and see if I could get you to jump into the monthly contest Making cabochons is an art form and it is not right to vote on art. My wife got a degree in studio art and was a very good painter. She had no interest in selling her work. I did some investigation and understood. I also understood the term 'starving artist'. Being successful as an artist, means getting gallery space and that is extremely competitive. There is no public vote. After completing cabs, I take pictures, originally to document my work and now for Etsy listing pictures. I post the pictures here. People can look or not look, comment or not comment. This is a hobby for me and I am interested in being pleased with my work.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 15, 2023 11:59:36 GMT -5
Tommy has always wanted to run a grande contest like this. He's talked about for years. With the need to raise money for Ed, it made sense to do it now. I have to say, I'm a little disappointed in the numbers of people signing up. I mean, thank you, of course, to all who have- but seriously what's the hold up? No, I get it, I really do. I was on the fence, too. I just haven't been cabbing much lately. But, we do need more people to join up so..... I am going to offer a silver wrap (of their choice of stone) to the 1st place winner. Send me the stone- I'll wrap it and send it back. I'm challenging everyone else to throw in for the prize- first or second - or both. What do you have to offer to sweeten the pot? I'm done with cab contests.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 12, 2023 13:09:22 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 11, 2023 17:04:31 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 10, 2023 20:10:57 GMT -5
I have an eight inch stardiamond console machine (attached to a cabinet) there is also a pulley that can be attached to slab saw. That is where my id comes from. The saw mounts on the right so the polishing pad is on the left. It came with two well worn diamond wheels that had cups on both sides which is what probably used for the silicon carbide wheels that it originally came with. Between the 220 grit and the polishing pad was a drum, so the configuration is very similar to the gp6 except a lot larger.
I started with this machine but it is tough to make cabs with only two wheels. As part of the equipment I got there was a lapidary belt sander with worn 400 grit wet sandpaper. Polishing was done with tin oxide on the leather polishing pad. It worked well on some material and undercut on others. I did enough cabbing to upgrade to a Genie. I thought an 8 inch machine would cut faster so I reconfigured the shaft to have 80 and 220 hard and 280,600 and 1200 soft. Pre-polishing and polishing was done on the Genie. Changing wheels on the stardiamond was a pain. Getting all the wheels to line up. I would take everything off the shaft in sequence, swap out old wheels for new and reassemble. At the end, I was only using the 600 and 1200 grit on the stardiamond. One day the shaft started to bind and it wasn't worth figuring out how to fix it.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 10, 2023 18:23:29 GMT -5
The model is a gp6 with 6 inch wheels. I have them.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 10, 2023 18:16:21 GMT -5
The other car was almost $2000. I guess I'll buy some more slabs.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 10, 2023 13:45:06 GMT -5
Slabs arrived and I made 4 preforms from the larger slab. A super seven specimen arrived from India and I split it and made two preforms. All ready to be dopped.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 10, 2023 10:46:48 GMT -5
The machine is designed to use two grinding wheels and the rest with belts. If you are only interested in shaping for tumbling, you only need the two wheels and finish the rest in a tumbler. I don't believe in cross contamination and using an 80 grit and 220 grit wheel, there is nothing to contaminate. If it were my machine, I would close the drain hole and buy an aquarium pump with two outlets and two brass Geysers. When the water gets real dirty I would drain it and put new water in. I can sell you servicible used 80 and 220 grit diamond wheels for the cost of shipping. Thanks stardiamond for the info! All these are new to me so I am trying to digest. So basically you are suggesting putting an aquarium pump in a big bucket of water and recycle the water from the tray to the same bucket until the water is really dirty, right? I also saw solutions that use two aquarium pumps with lower GPH to serve two wheels. Maybe it's just a matter of which solution is more cost-efficient? Also about the 80 grit and 220 grit diamond wheels, my understanding (as the seller told me) is that the machine comes with 100 and 220 diamond wheels that I could use already, and they just could get smaller and smaller over time, until I have to replace them. I will take some close-up pictures later. Maybe you can tell me if the wheels are still serviceable or I would need to replace them pretty soon. Thanks again! There are two ways to cool wheels, drip and geyser. I am suggesting you use geyser. You can put two geysers under the wheel you are using. More water is better.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 9, 2023 22:29:08 GMT -5
The machine is designed to use two grinding wheels and the rest with belts. If you are only interested in shaping for tumbling, you only need the two wheels and finish the rest in a tumbler. I don't believe in cross contamination and using an 80 grit and 220 grit wheel, there is nothing to contaminate. If it were my machine, I would close the drain hole and buy an aquarium pump with two outlets and two brass Geysers. When the water gets real dirty I would drain it and put new water in.
I can sell you servicible used 80 and 220 grit diamond wheels for the cost of shipping.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 9, 2023 21:54:48 GMT -5
When I started selling on Etsy my plan was to make the hobby revenue neutral and I was able to do that for about three years. Sales are down but I kept buying. Finding great slabs at a good price is almost as fun as making cabs. I saw two nice slabs on Facebook for $50 so I bought them. I already have enough material to make a lot of cabs. I took my son's car to get serviced, no major repairs like engine or transmission and the bill was $3,000. I'm getting maintenance on mine and expect the bill to be over $1,000. Last year each cars service was around $100. This is the nature of owning older cars. Still cheaper than leasing since the older car still has a lot of use left and new cars are a lot more expensive.
Putting things in perspective, what I spend on slabs annually isn't very much.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 8, 2023 20:54:20 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 8, 2023 20:27:39 GMT -5
I have never had a contamination issue with my Genie and I mean 20 years, never. For less money, consider used equipment or arbors. I don't take a cab through six wheels sequentially. Working in batches a good two wheel arbor will get the job done as long as it doesn't take time to swap wheels. For used check this out: www.facebook.com/groups/LapidaryEquipmentMarketplace
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 8, 2023 10:34:08 GMT -5
I don't know if it is oil vs water or hand feed vs machine feed, but my slab saw blades last a lot longer that my trim saw blades.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 7, 2023 17:48:10 GMT -5
I didn't paint or draw the images, I found them. Blame the artist.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 6, 2023 20:13:34 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 6, 2023 16:17:34 GMT -5
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 5, 2023 21:54:05 GMT -5
I'm done with it. A waste of time and upsetting seeing what is being spent. I'm about value and I have no idea why people are buying so much at high prices. Winning in auction is not winning it is paying the highest price. Four hours of following and it is still all about agates.
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Post by stardiamond on Aug 5, 2023 16:35:22 GMT -5
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