|
Post by stardiamond on Jun 6, 2023 16:34:46 GMT -5
The bonus slab preform fractured when I was trimming knife edges. One of the preforms I laid out on the faced slab fractured. I did get one excellent preform.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Jun 5, 2023 19:19:15 GMT -5
I buy heel slabs because beside the slab there can be a bonus slab underneath. My slab saw skills could be better. I glued the face to a board with water glass and waited three days and then put the board in the vise, aligned the blade with the board and turned the cross feed 7 turns clockwise and cut. I got a .35 even slab. Better too thick than too thin. The faced piece I bought. The other side after the cut. The rough side of the bonus. The flat side of the bonus I'll trim off the knife edges and bad areas and the level the high point marked in yellow which is .4 inch. I can choose either what I marked or what shows up after flattening. In any case the yield for the piece is increased by another preform.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Jun 5, 2023 12:26:05 GMT -5
You will have arrived when you treat the 280 like the 600. I use a textured Lithuanian TOP 80 for shaping a worn DP 80 to remove scratches. HP had a sale on wheels so I bought a 140 soft and mounted instead of the 220 hard. Maybe by 220 is worn out but it wasn't doing much.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Jun 4, 2023 14:00:26 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Jun 3, 2023 17:47:15 GMT -5
I can do 30 a month in warm weather. This was a cold winter for me and I work outside. Not much done between November and March. Now, I'm making 10 times the number I sell.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Jun 3, 2023 17:43:05 GMT -5
My two biggest problems finding bmj is patterns that are too large and freckles. Some people make cabs with spotty areas. It is an attribute of the material. I don't.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Jun 3, 2023 15:37:52 GMT -5
BMJ is a tough find for me. Either too expensive or not very good. I found a nice heel slab on facebook that is glued to a board too even and get a small bonus slab. I Like to spread out shipping cost so I asked the seller if he had any more. He had a large slab with a small yield and added a couple single cab pieces. Center preforms are from the slab. I photographed the bottoms since they are more even than the stops starting out and the patterns are very similar on both sides.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on Jun 2, 2023 16:34:08 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on May 30, 2023 16:55:39 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on May 29, 2023 19:25:40 GMT -5
I've got 4 dopped. I worked on the hacked up Blue Mountain, grinding it down until the divots were gone. I'm almost there. I will fine tune the shape and finish it tomorrow.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on May 29, 2023 14:11:56 GMT -5
I glued what was remaining on the Owyhee and a BMJ heel to boards. The Owyhee slabbing went great, the BMJ came unglued with no damage to the saw. I completed the cut on the trim saw and then made some preforms splitting the 1/2 inch slab. I made preforms with the Owyhee. Top left was a heel scrap too nice to toss.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on May 28, 2023 12:44:49 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on May 28, 2023 12:42:38 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on May 27, 2023 15:36:45 GMT -5
I have a three foot shaft with a bunch of dividers in the machine. It is free standing. To change wheels I need to remove 4 bolts and take everything off the shaft and lay them out in sequence, remove the old wheels and replace with the new wheels and put everything back on the shaft. It takes an hour to replace a wheel or wheels. I discovered that with a top 80 grit textured wheel on my Genie, I can cut as fast as a DP80 on my 8 inch machine. The arbor started to bind on the star diamond, so I am not using it.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on May 27, 2023 14:08:27 GMT -5
A customer bought two cabs from me and liked Nipomo marcasite and asked for a large ring size stone. I had some small pieces and used the 23x16 pear from the gold template. I had practice with that shape making earrings for a silversmith in New Mexico. The customer made the ring and sold it in a few hours. She did a beautiful job pairing the stone and the setting. I wouldn't have the patience for that level of detail.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on May 27, 2023 13:40:10 GMT -5
The three slabs arrived today. I cut up the largest one. The next largest one is very close to the largest. Based on how I cut, the usable space on all the slabs are about the same. I am willing to relocate one of th remaining slabs.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on May 26, 2023 19:26:36 GMT -5
I've been making cabs for 20 years and selling them for 4. Starting with good material, there is a multiplier in value from rough to slabs to cabs to jewelry. I don't make jewelry. My skill set is for grinding not wrapping. I have thought about learning to silversmith, but I don't have an appropriate work area. I have investigate buying settings but they are generally small and I work larger. I don't like cutting circles and ovals and pear shape tend to be small. Maybe someday I will partner with a silversmith trading cabs for jewelry.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on May 26, 2023 16:19:20 GMT -5
The $10 Owyhee rock was a lot better than the $100 ocean jasper.
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on May 26, 2023 13:49:14 GMT -5
I bought a 2 pound piece of OJ for $114 delivered. The listing pictures were good but rough is always a gamble. I cut the first slab and it isn't a good collector's slab but pretty good as cabbing material. This is the first slice. Druze pockets and some poppies. [img style="max-width:100%;"
|
|
|
Post by stardiamond on May 26, 2023 13:00:36 GMT -5
I agree with those who say they like other machines than the DP ones. I have an old Titan, thinking about selling it. I really prefer pressure water feed to the wheels, the spitters are not very efficient. I also like fresh water rather than the "dirty" water provided by the spitters (OK, DP calls them geysers). I find I like a variable speed machine too, the Titan is just very fast for softer stones, I like to use a slower wheel speed on the softer stuff. I can add a pressure water system to the Titan but I can't slow it down. You represent the majority that don't like spitters/geysers. I'm in the minority because I like them. The pump on the DP machines require maintenance and the geysers plug. I replaced my system with an aquarium pump and larger brass geysers. When the DP is working at 100% it is better. Mine is adequate and consistent. I have never had a contamination issue with recycled water. I put fresh water in the trays when starting at 600 and save it off when I am done prepolishing and reuse it when I start at 80 grit. An overhead system is fixed over the wheels. The geyser system is moveable can accommodate different wheel configurations. I can put a two inch wide wheel on the arbor or 1 1/2. I can put two wheels on the arbors or three with spacers and it doesn't effect the geyser use. I put both geysers under a wheel. My stardiamond machine is 8 inches like a Titan and is high speed belt driven. The way to control cutting speed on softer material is to start on a finer grit.
|
|