Greetings all,
I am considering trying my hand at lapidary. I know I can go to my brothers and grind away at some stone. But I tend to research as much as I can on the subject. I have seen all the available machines on the internet and I can buy them from a lot of sources. Youtube thinks I should build one from scratch and no doubt I could. My wonder is if Cab King has a 6” device for $1499.00 and Vevor has one for $600.00 less, where is the difference?
Thanks
Don Meixner
Like any tool, there is Harbor Freight and then there is Diamond Pacific. Diamond Pacific makes NOVA wheels. In your research you must have come across electroplated hard grinding wheels to shape and profile and softer diamond resin wheels for sanding and polishing. You can buy both hard and soft wheels that wear out in no time sheading their thin resin cover onto the sump or you can buy NOVA wheels that last a long time and do a great job. I replaced my NOVA wheels last year and don’t expect to do it again for a couple years. When they wear out, and the don’t do it at the same time, I will do it again at $160 each for 6 “NOVA wheels vs $60 for the standard Kingsley North resin wheel. I don’t know what they ship with the Cab King, but I started with NOVA wheels because that is what came with my 6X6” stainless steel lathe. They eventually wore out and I tried 6” standard resin wheels and they failed in a short period of time, so I replaced them with NOVA wheels. If you really want to learn lapidary, take a class at the GMSS club in Syracuse or at the BOCES. Then make some decisions about equipment. The lathe is just an arbor with a motor and some plumbing. If you want, you can build your own. I built a horizontal 8” lap with a magnetic master lap. I mount various media on 8” steel disc and mount them magnetically on the lap and grind sand and polish away. I use it everyday that I am in my shop to level a stone or to true a bezel. The media can be SC or diamond discs. All I can tell you is you get what you pay for. Kind of like guitars, strings, amps and other tools in the music world. Take a look at Kingsley North, Diamond Pacific, Minnestota Lapiday Supply and others who specialize in lapidary. Read the descriptions and then ask questions about specific products. When Dad started out, there was only SC belts and wheels and then oxide polishes on heavy felt wheels. Now you can buy diamond grits either loose to be applied to some sort of carrier, think a canvas disc, or the wheels that I described above. Some materials can be worked on in just about any combination or tool and grit. Others need a very specific combination of tools and grit. When I polish jade, I will get very frustrated with orange peel. I then try to polish on a very worn, dry, 600 grit SC belt and the orange peel goes away. The next day on another piece of jade, something entirely different will work. There isn’t a one size fits all, but don’t scrimp on the wheels. For what it is worth…Rob
Don,
In my opinion, it’s all about “real estate”. The space around each individual wheel allows you more freedom to grind different shapes. I would also highly recommend you look at a Kingsley North 6” cabber for that reason & many others.
The KN not only has a lot of real estate, it also has a separate motor, which for longevity, in my book is a must, and it sports end flat laps, within the machines case, and with water supplied to them as well.
I started with a KN 6” and their standard wheels, as frankly that’s a LOT of $ for a machine in my world. What I found was as my wheels got worn, I upgraded them with Johnson Brothers “Super Nova’s” which are a much more affordable higher quality wheel.
If you look on “Rock Tumbling Hobby’s website and do a search you can find comparisons of the different machines & wheels.
Good Luck & Have fun
Patty
Patty makes a good point. More room between wheels makes a big difference. It is the only thing about my 6X6” lathe that I would change. I have never had to change the motor, but the bearings are starting to howl. They have grease fittings, but almost never get greased…Rob
As it happens, I just upgraded from the Cab King 8” to Kingsley North 8” with Nova wheels. The difference is marked. Cab King trays and hoods are plastic. The trays move while cabbing which is super annoying, so if you go that route, you will want to clamp them down. Otherwise, the water doesnt hit the wheel in the right place or sprays outside the unit, and as the tray pushes back, the wheels bump the top of the plastic housing. The water tubing can also sag over time, and get chewed by a wheel. Some strategically placed duct tape fixed that. 
i used resin bonded wheels from KN, snd they worked fine. So this year, I decided to sell the CK and upgrade. KN is all steel, solid, and doesnt move. The Nova wheels are great- so much faster to finish an agate cab than previous. We will see how that changes as the wheels wear down but so far, im really happy with it.
Did you get the Rev 2 model? There is more space between the wheels on that model. I second NOVA wheels. They also make flat magnetic NOVA discs. All you need is a steel master lap and a collection of these discs to make a space efficient flat lap. It is a bit of a learning curve to grind and polish cabs on a flat disc if you are used to doing on a wheel. I built an 8” magnetic flat lap years ago and still use it to polish the back of cabs. In my version I attached a magnetic disc shaped pad on to the master lap and the the media disc are just stuck to a flat steel disc. Either way, you need a trim saw…Rob
Don…I know that space is an issue for you. M first laipary equipment was a 1/2 HP motor with a 1/2” shaft mounted on the end of a bench with a 1/4-20 adapter screwed to the shaft. I bought a set of 6” crystal pads and flex discs to which I applied various grit diamond powders to finish my preforms. You still need a trim saw. I think that I gave you one that needed a blade and a motor. You will also need to be able to grind the preforms. You can build an arbor and mount two diamond grinding wheels on it and plumb a simple gravity feed system for coolant and a drain to collect the dirty coolant. I built a recirculating system for coolant that has lasted for years out of a plastic tub and an aquarium pump. Stop by and we can talk about all of this…Rob