Mudshark
fully equipped rock polisher
Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. Will Rogers
Member since December 2008
Posts: 1,083
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Post by Mudshark on Mar 18, 2009 17:39:59 GMT -5
I just got some nice leather from Mynewhobby.What I want to do is make a disk for my 8 inch flat lap and use it to polish cabs and small slabs but I'm not sure about the correct way to go about it.I have cerium and aluminum oxide,would diamond powder or paste work better?I read on another thread that the wheel or disk is sprayed with some type of lubricant like WD40 or silicone,I think water would wreck the leather.My lap is variable speed so would I need to slow it down for polishing? Thanks in advance for any help I can get. Mike
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Post by johnjsgems on Mar 20, 2009 10:44:29 GMT -5
You will probably want to stick it down with 3M Feathering Disc Adhesive. Coat the master lap with the glue. Better yet, buy some foam or rubber and glue it to the master lap then glue the leather to the foam. The disc adhesive is non permanent so you can peel the leather disc(s) off easily. I'd use contact cement for the foam and dedicate the master lap strictly for a polish head. You can then use leather or felt discs for various polish compounds and different diamond mesh. If you use diamond use silicon spray extender. With polish compounds you will want to either dampen leather surface with a spritz bottle and paint with polish mixed up as a paste or a less messy way is to put a few spoonfuls of polish in a spray bottle of water and spray directly on the pad. Either method as the cab starts to pull spritz a little more.
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Mudshark
fully equipped rock polisher
Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. Will Rogers
Member since December 2008
Posts: 1,083
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Post by Mudshark on Mar 20, 2009 15:09:17 GMT -5
Thanks John,sounds like great advice.I have a day off tomorrow and cant wait to try it.I think I have seen that spray glue at Pep Boys or Autozone.It cant be that hard to find.I dont have any diamond but I want to see how this works out first with regular compound. Mike
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Post by johnjsgems on Mar 20, 2009 18:27:16 GMT -5
The 3M glue comes in tubes or spray and should be available where sanding discs are sold. It is non-permanent (like Post-It notes) so you can always use diamond on other iscs later if you want or other polish compounds.
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10thumbs
spending too much on rocks
I want to be reincarnated as a dog.
Member since March 2009
Posts: 480
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Post by 10thumbs on Mar 23, 2009 9:26:57 GMT -5
Not to hijack this thread but I got some scraps of different kinds of leather from a friend who does leather-craft. My lapidary book (more of an extended pamphlet really) suggests that you can test polish your tumbling stones using the rough side of some leather and some CeOx. Does anybody actually do this? How much elbow grease does it take to test polish a stone after the 120/220 polish stage? I know it depends on the hardness; assume a hardness of 6.5-7. Most of what I have currently is around there.
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Post by johnjsgems on Mar 23, 2009 9:40:41 GMT -5
10thumbs. You might do it after the 500 step. If you are tumbling agates and jaspers they pretty much want to polish. I wouldn't waste my time testing them. If there are fresh broken faces/edges when you get the rough they should be shiny. Those will polish. Some jasper will look dull/porous. Those won't. Tumbling takes a lot of patience. Skip the short cuts. There usually isn't time.
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mirkaba
spending too much on rocks
Member since August 2006
Posts: 321
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Post by mirkaba on Mar 23, 2009 12:53:27 GMT -5
I am currently using an 8" lap plate on the end of my arbor. I added an 8 inch rubber pad and an 8 inch leather polishing pad with spray on contact cement. The leather is cut from a remnant and is rough side out. I use Tin Oxide and am getting a very good polish.............Bob
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Mudshark
fully equipped rock polisher
Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. Will Rogers
Member since December 2008
Posts: 1,083
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Post by Mudshark on Mar 23, 2009 15:53:12 GMT -5
Thanks everybody for all the great advice.My flat lap has an arbor with a half inch shaft and the disk is held down with nut and washer(I posted it in the homemade equipment board)what I might do for polishing is make a master lap with no hole from flat steel plate or aluminum and tig weld a nut on one side so I can use the whole disk.I tried John's way yesterday and it worked pretty good but it seemed like I had to spray with water every few seconds because it kept grabbing.I didnt have any silicone but I will order some extender.So what I thought of doing is using a separate clean container for the recirculated water and adding the polish to the water.I dont know how this would effect the pump but they only cost a few bucks at Harbor Freight.Does this sound like it would work? Thanks,Mike
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drjo
fully equipped rock polisher
Honduran Opal & DIY Nut
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,581
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Post by drjo on Mar 24, 2009 8:49:21 GMT -5
Mudshark, I have to spritz my flet pads about 2-3 times a minute with larger cabs. You'd be better off putting a water drip (like an IV) on the pad. The pump system uses too much polish and the pump's impeller and bushing will wear out quickly . You could counter-sink the nut in a thicker masterlap, but balance is everything with this stuff, as I'm sure you know. Dr Joe .
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Post by johnjsgems on Mar 24, 2009 10:18:38 GMT -5
A lot of people put a few spoonfuls of polish in a spray battle and spray on the pad as needed. You'll use a lot less polish that way and not throw excess off. When I had my house I had a felt wheel set up to polish. I had a cerium stripe up the back wall and across the ceiling. I never finished college but I'm pretty sure that polish wasn't doing much good. Or the stripe down my apron.
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drjo
fully equipped rock polisher
Honduran Opal & DIY Nut
Member since May 2008
Posts: 1,581
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Post by drjo on Mar 24, 2009 11:21:31 GMT -5
A lot of people put a few spoonfuls of polish in a spray battle and spray on the pad as needed. You'll use a lot less polish that way and not throw excess off. When I had my house I had a felt wheel set up to polish. I had a cerium stripe up the back wall and across the ceiling. I never finished college but I'm pretty sure that polish wasn't doing much good. Or the stripe down my apron. Huh?! All the spray from mine stays inside the shield/guard... ;D
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Mudshark
fully equipped rock polisher
Diplomacy is the art of saying 'Nice doggie' until you can find a rock. Will Rogers
Member since December 2008
Posts: 1,083
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Post by Mudshark on Mar 24, 2009 15:35:36 GMT -5
I tried the spray bottle trick last night and it worked really well,thanks for that tip John.I'm also going to try Dr Joes tip with the drip method,I'm working freehand right now and I like being able to use both hands on the cab.I plan on making a little dopping rack this weekend so I can hold the cabs better.I got the idea for the pump system a few weeks ago when I saw an industrial lapping machine in action,the lap disk was 36 inches in diameter and had several nozzles dripping slurry mix from a pump under the table.The disk had what looked like a canvas pad on it,not sure what the slurry mix was made of but there was several 5 gallon pails of it near the machine.I was drooling too much to ask any kind of intelligent questions.They had two of these machines and I was told one will be going to surplus soon so if anybody needs a really huge flat lap I'll let you know when it will be available.Only problem is it's 480 volt 3 phase powered and it's about the size of a dining room table.Again,thanks everybody for the great advice,I'm having a great time trying out all this stuff and if I finally settle on one technique I might actually produce a finished cab.
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