milto
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2010
Posts: 162
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Post by milto on Dec 14, 2015 19:19:07 GMT -5
I have been cabbing a lot of years, many hundreds of cabs, now all of a sudden I am being overwhelmed with flat spots. I have tried to find where it is occurring but really don't see them till the `1200 wheel, FRUSTRATED. Any suggestions. I use 4 lorotone beavers, 80,100,220,320,600,1200,3000,8000, 14000,50000. one has a 4 wheel shaft.
milto
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Post by rockjunquie on Dec 14, 2015 19:26:42 GMT -5
Do you mean just at the top or where? Do you have any pictures? Is it on all types of material?
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Post by Drummond Island Rocks on Dec 14, 2015 19:53:35 GMT -5
I want all my flats and facets removed before my cab leaves the 280 nova wheel. I have never really had flats reappear after that wheel. Are you spinning the cab around first then rocking it from top of dome to girdle? Thats pretty much a rough idea of my process. Spinning the cab around starting at the girdle and gradually increasing the angle till I hit the middle (top) then rocking the cab back and forth from girdle to girdle while moving all around the cab.
Chuck
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Post by pauls on Dec 14, 2015 20:43:54 GMT -5
Could it be that your coarser sanding wheels are just about worn out and not removing the flat spots?
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Post by stoner on Dec 16, 2015 0:55:36 GMT -5
All flat spots should be gone after the 280 wheel. Have you switched to the Chinese sanding wheels? If you did, that's your problem. The Chinese wheels may look nice and take off material, but they are too hard and thus they leave flat spots, polished flat spots.
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Post by broseph82 on Dec 16, 2015 7:42:53 GMT -5
All flat spots should be gone after the 280 wheel. Have you switched to the Chinese sanding wheels? If you did, that's your problem. The Chinese wheels may look nice and take off material, but they are too hard and thus they leave flat spots, polished flat spots. I think OP may be rushing their work and not letting the stone dry out in between wheels. That's one big mistake I used to do too. Cabs are so small I think "this looks good wet, no need to dry and check" and hell, I won't even see my teeny tiny flat spot until after I polish (like with obsidian). So now I take a break after every wheel and let everything dry to reevaluate. Ain't nothing like spending an hour or so on a cab, polish it, and then see that flat spot and having to take it back down again. In some cases with really hard stuff it gets left like it is and thrown in the pile.
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Post by parfive on Dec 16, 2015 8:26:14 GMT -5
Most of us cab with a light bulb right next to us, so it’s easy to check progress . . . frequently.
Just give the cab a quick wipe, hold it up to the bulb for a few seconds and it’s bone dry. Check it with the loupe and you’re back on the wheel in no time.
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Tom
fully equipped rock polisher
My dad Tom suddenly passed away yesterday, Just wanted his "rock" family to know.
Member since January 2013
Posts: 1,557
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Post by Tom on Dec 16, 2015 13:38:41 GMT -5
Ok guys, Milto has been cabbing for a lot of years he says, so he likely knows this stuff, or some of it. brose and parfive I dont think its that. I suspect its like drumond island or pauls is saying. Its your wheels, now you have to figure out which ones:)
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milto
starting to spend too much on rocks
Member since January 2010
Posts: 162
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Post by milto on Dec 16, 2015 23:33:06 GMT -5
I agree Tom it is the wheels, just need to spend time experimenting with different hard rocks on various wheel setup. Always seem something more important is to be done then trying to fix a problem.The trouble is some flat spots do not show until 800/1200 wheels. I use different wheels when I do turquoise which is half my work. Soft stones, are not the problem hard agate is Except Malachite it kills me with trouble.
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Post by rockpickerforever on Dec 17, 2015 10:33:44 GMT -5
I use an eight inch Ameritool flat lap. This is what I self-taught myself to cab on, I love it. But, if the laps get dull, flat spots easily result, especially with the harder stones like agates and jamesp 's coral. You do need to dry the stones, and have good light to examine them before moving on to the next lap. If there are flat spots or scratches, they will only get worse at the next grit, and you will have wasted time and diamonds on your laps.
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Tommy
Administrator
Member since January 2013
Posts: 12,673
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Post by Tommy on Dec 17, 2015 10:48:27 GMT -5
I have been cabbing a lot of years, many hundreds of cabs, now all of a sudden I am being overwhelmed with flat spots. I have tried to find where it is occurring but really don't see them till the `1200 wheel, FRUSTRATED. Any suggestions. I use 4 lorotone beavers, 80,100,220,320,600,1200,3000,8000, 14000,50000. one has a 4 wheel shaft. Hi Milto, I’m assuming your 80, 100, 220, and 320 are hard wheels? If you are trying to jump from 320 hard to 600 soft I think you are asking too much of your 600 wheel. It would have to be in perfect condition to remove flat spots left by a hard wheel. If the above is true, I highly recommend changing things up and adding in at least a 280 soft. My order of operations goes like this: hard wheels 80, 100, 220 soft wheels 140, 280, 600, etc. As stoner said every flat spot needs to be gone before I proceed past 280. Hope this helps
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