Hi Andrew
First off, try it and see, trial and error will show you, but it
looks like a good start.
I might suggest some kind of diamond bonded papers over the silicon
carbide, in my experience the SC wears out real fast.
Lastly, that’s a big gap between the 800 and 15,000, perhaps adding
a 1,200 diamond would help.
Best of luck and have fun!
Mark
All,
So far, I’ve cabbed nearly 30 stones. The casual observers have all
told me they look very nice. But, when I showed them to Bob at
Silver Bear, he said I had “400 and 600 scratches.”.
He said that I needed to go back to using diamond wheels on my flat
lap, at the 600 grit. He said for agate, wet-or-dry sandpaper was no
good after my 325, I needed rubber laps impregnated with diamond.
He also suggested that to prevent the faceting I was experiencing,
that I needed to run my wheels as slow as possible on the 175 and 325
grit diamond wheels.
Problem is, the rubber nova wheels are gosh-darned expensive.
But, I noticed there were diamond countertop polishing pads for
marble with velcro backing, going from 400 grit on up, and I could
get a complete set for $25.
I know, you get what you pay for. But would those polishing pads be
useful for repurposing?
Otherwise, I’d really appreciate knowing if there were any cabbers
either leaving the hobby or dumping thier rubber laps, to either
give away for sell for a song… because I sure could use a few used
ones to train on first! Anyone have any?
My other alternative would be to trust the casual observers and use
my cabs in copper or silver at the rennaisance fair level of
craftsmanship.
Andrew Jonathan Fine
I use the diamond wheels that came with my flat lap. They range
from180 to 1200. Polishing felt with 14000 grit. You need to do very
good prepolish before yuou advance to the next level.
John
I do not own a flat lap because of the trouble your experiencing-
however you should be able to get better results using one of these
two methods?
Here are some flex pads that are still high- but not unobtainable:
http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/t
This is what would do the job (if I were using a flat lap) using
diamond in 1 of 3 forms which are very inexpensive: Paste in a
syringe (HK on ebay), spray on (all lap shops) or the least
expensive- bort using olive oil (Lopocki)
True setting up with a number of phenolic laps and each grit is
costly- in the long run if your stuck on using a flat lap?
It will pay out quickly
Don’t stop- just try something else till it works perfectly,
James
... at the rennaisance fair level of craftsmanship.
By this do you mean “not so good” or “made using tools available in
1400 AD” ?
Carol,
I’m not intending to insult the work done during AD 1400 epoch, nor
rennaisance fairs in general.
I actually meant to insult the “Rennaisance Faire ™”, a peculiarly
American institution that overcommercializes many of the standbys of
the midaeval period. Most of the arts and crafts sold there are
dreck, although you do find an occasional good find like a faceted
amethyst necklace and earring set in silver.
Again,
Andrew Jonathan Fine
Agreed - Sturgeon’s Law - 90 percent of everything is “dreck.” Also
applies to the aesthetic sensibilities of the public (customers).
That ten percent must be treasured.