Home Made Slant Cabber

[RockRat]

Looks the ducks guts, great job, now we want to
see what you can do. :gemstone:

 

[xcvator]

Your wish is my command RR

Yes , there are some scratch's, this is my 1st go

1st mistake, picking a little slab that the flat sides weren't parallel
2nd mistake, not centering the dop
3rd mistake, water container is not big enough, I will go to a 20 litre bucket

Started with 80 grit diamond disc, then 150, 320 and 600, then went to the home made w&d discs , 600,800 and 1200

 

[RockRat]

Well done, you will be an expert in no time.
Patience and a good eye will get you there. :Y:

 

[xcvator]

This afternoons play around, just ordered some w & d in 2000,2500,3000,5000 and 7000 grits. Next I'll get some upholstery leather off cuts from a mate for polishing discs with cerium oxide.

Those acrylic discs are really handy for diy :Y: Rock Rat

 

[xcvator]

Rotational direction shouldn't make any difference, provided the fixing nut is threaded the correct way so it doesn't come undone when you start the motor. Anti-clockwise needs a right hand thread, clockwise needs a left hand thread, looking from the lap end of the shaft. You just work on the side that pushes into the stone.

A master will depend on the laps you're using. The thin topper laps all need a backing plate, often with a magnetic topper glued to it so it grips the lap.

Felt, rubber, acrylic for polishing will all need a backing master, different from the magnetic one, felt and rubber are normally permanently bonded to a backing plate. Acrylic, it's purely for support against stone/hand pressure.

This mob: https://www.gemworld.com.au/products/show/348/polishing-laps used to have backing plates with a screwed boss in either LH of RH threads, I have some of them which I purchased from them, think they might have been custom made, so could be worth giving them a call, otherwise contact people like Gemcuts for threaded backing plates.

Not saying I'm dumb, just a slow learner, I hadn't really read that bit untill today, Ive been using the side of the wheel that is actually going away from me, tried the the other side where it's coming down and into me , certainly cuts much more aggressively and quickly. I'll save the away side for final scratch removal and polishing

 

[xcvator]

I need a lot more help on how to mark out cabs, not just the shape but the girdles and forming the domes.Any tricks to learn ?

What are the best stones to learn on, I've got some bits of Rhodonite (good to work with) Sodalite ( like the colour) Labradorite ( love the colour, fractures along lines easily) Rose Quartz (looks good untill it's polished, then it looks insipid (to me, a nothing washed out stone)

Noticed that the "superglue" can penetrate and remove some material where it's been holding the dop (lepodolite, must be a bit porous )

Does the wax/shellac combination ever damage the surface of cabs?

 

[xcvator]

Has anybody built their own 8"trim saw, I've got the little tile saw that 2lateagain sent me, cuts well, but the blade is quite thick and tends to shatter/chip some of the rocks so I'd like to get/make a trim saw with a very fine blade, that would make the final shaping much easier

 

[Wally69]

I need a lot more help on how to mark out cabs, not just the shape but the girdles and forming the domes.Any tricks to learn ?

What are the best stones to learn on, I've got some bits of Rhodonite (good to work with) Sodalite ( like the colour) Labradorite ( love the colour, fractures along lines easily) Rose Quartz (looks good untill it's polished, then it looks insipid (to me, a nothing washed out stone)

Noticed that the "superglue" can penetrate and remove some material where it's been holding the dop (lepodolite, must be a bit porous )

Does the wax/shellac combination ever damage the surface of cabs?

Some novice notes:

I was taught to cut onto the fine silver line of an aluminium pencil held at 90deg using a template for precision symmetry, if they could see any stone outside the mark, I was marched back to the wheel. For dome geometry, I use a count and rotate method to balance my cutting, and/or step-cuts at several constant angles on the course wheels to get the general shape of the stone into proportion. Rotate and keep moving, count and balance the cutting for finer wheels, look, look, look and look.

I havent had any issues with shellac and wax, would steer clear of glues due to the penetration.

Aventurine (green Quartz) was a cool stone to work with and I would recommend staying away from anything with cracks and texture. Snowflake obsidian and silverstreak obsidian were fun and whatever this is was awesome, have not had anyone positively ID it yet, best guess is petrified palm tree or a manufactured stone whos secret died with the inventor. Would love to get my hands on more.

 

[xcvator]

Thanks Wally :Y: :Y:

 

[pinfire opals]

Thanks Wally :Y: :Y:

Have you watched any of Justins youtube vids, he explains in several about all the stuff you are after, thats how I taught myself, have watched every vid several times. Black Opal Direct is the youtube channel from memory.

 

[LONEWOLF]

Xcvator, You can just change the blade over to a thin lapidary blade but make sure it has the same size bore (the hole in the middle)...

If you are worried about the gap around the blade, just get a piece of very thin Aluminium and cut a slit halfway along it and slip it around your blade...

LW...

 

[xcvator]

Xcvator, You can just change the blade over to a thin lapidary blade but make sure it has the same size bore (the hole in the middle)...

If you are worried about the gap around the blade, just get a piece of very thin Aluminium and cut a slit halfway along it and slip it around your blade...

LW...

I think 1 of these will fit, bore and diameter looks ok, what do you think ?

https://www.bunnings.com.au/kango-115mm-segmented-ultra-thin-turbo-diamond-blade_p0069763

Can't find a proper lapidary blade with the correct sizes ( 100mm,110mm,115mm [22mm bore]) even with arbor bushes

 

[sand surfer]

what size is the arbor of the saw xcvator, i have thick(slabbing) and a thin blade for a 7" saw if they fit you can have them ,i don't have the saw anymore and the arbor on my new saw is a different size so they don't fit,the bore on the blades are 5/8"(about 16 mm)

 

[xcvator]

what size is the arbor of the saw xcvator, i have thick(slabbing) and a thin blade for a 7" saw if they fit you can have them ,i don't have the saw anymore and the arbor on my new saw is a different size so they don't fit,the bore on the blades are 5/8"(about 16 mm)

Thanks for the offer mate, but my little tile saw only takes a max of 115mm diam and is a 22mm bore, I think the 1 from Bunnings will fit, but I'll take the original blade and a vernier with me to check

 

[LONEWOLF]

Wow that seems to be a large bore... I think mine is only 16mm.. I will measure it tomorrow...

But no those blades wont work, I think they will chip your stone pretty easily... but I haven't tried that type...

My tile saw takes 7" blades but I can use a 8" I think... there's enough room there for it...

Is there room under ... as you can always cut the slot in the saw a bit longer to take the larger blade.. It has been done on mine..

Have you looked on Aussie Sapphire or Gemcuts website?

I found some for you but only a 20mm bore (gem-cuts on ebay)... think you might need to convert with bushings from 22mm down to imperial or metric to do what you want...

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/5-Thin-...726641?hash=item23b7b19fb1:g:tNEAAOSwSnZe6lG6

LW...

 

[Dihusky]

Has anybody built their own 8"trim saw, I've got the little tile saw that 2lateagain sent me, cuts well, but the blade is quite thick and tends to shatter/chip some of the rocks so I'd like to get/make a trim saw with a very fine blade, that would make the final shaping much easier

Tile blades are totally wrong for what you're doing, too thick and slow. You can get diamond blades that are a lot thinner, they come in two types; sintered and plated, the one to go for is sintered as they last a very long time in comparison to the plated blades.

We have a tile saw currently and use a 0.5mm thick sintered blade, cuts like a hot knife through butter and easy to control the stone.

One thing to remember is diamond cuts at the rate it wants to cut, forcing a blade to cut will only damage the blade, the stone and possibly yourself, cutting is a job of patients not rush.

 

[sand surfer]

all good mate if you make one yourself ,and make one that size i have a spare set of flanges for the saw blades as well,both these blades are plated

 

[xcvator]

Wow that seems to be a large bore... I think mine is only 16mm.. I will measure it tomorrow...

But no those blades wont work, I think they will chip your stone pretty easily... but I haven't tried that type...

My tile saw takes 7" blades but I can use a 8" I think... there's enough room there for it...

Is there room under (no)... as you can always cut the slot in the saw a bit longer to take the larger blade.. It has been done on mine..

Have you looked on Aussie Sapphire or Gemcuts website?

I found some for you but only a 20mm bore (gem-cuts on ebay)... think you might need to convert with bushings from 22mm down (Not possible to bush down in size) to imperial or metric to do what you want...

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/5-Thin-...726641?hash=item23b7b19fb1:g:tNEAAOSwSnZe6lG6

LW...

 

[xcvator]

Has anybody built their own 8"trim saw, I've got the little tile saw that 2lateagain sent me, cuts well, but the blade is quite thick and tends to shatter/chip some of the rocks so I'd like to get/make a trim saw with a very fine blade, that would make the final shaping much easier

Tile blades are totally wrong for what you're doing, too thick and slow. You can get diamond blades that are a lot thinner, they come in two types; sintered and plated, the one to go for is sintered as they last a very long time in comparison to the plated blades.

We have a tile saw currently and use a 0.5mm thick sintered blade, cuts like a hot knife through butter and easy to control the stone.

One thing to remember is diamond cuts at the rate it wants to cut, forcing a blade to cut will only damage the blade, the stone and possibly yourself, cutting is a job of patients not rush.

What size/type is your tile saw ? Patients I've got, but I'm getting a bit cheesed of with the stones chipping and breaking 8.(

 

[Dihusky]

Tile saw is from Aussie Sapphire, but basically a re-badged unit no different from a hardware shop tile saw.

https://www.aussiesapphire.com.au/7-portable-trim-saw-to-cut-stone-tile-ceramic-glas

Blade is 6" sintered

https://www.aussiesapphire.com.au/6-inch-mk303-diamond-lapidary-blade-for-cutting-st

And is 0.7mm thick, one still gets a small amount of chipping but micro chips.