sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Oct 10, 2012 16:12:25 GMT -5
We have a Barranca Diamond Cab Combination Workshop - Carbide which comes with a 6" trim saw and three wheels plus an end piece used for polishing. I'm interested in a wet polisher such as that made by Barranca Diamond and sold by The Rock Shed (among others). My wife says we don't need the wet polisher because the cab machine already does the same kind of work. Since she is the one who does all the cabbing (I do all the slabbing) et al, I generally yield to her knowledge.
That said, I know that many of you have a wet polisher and swear by it. What are the advantages to one over the other? Does it make sense to have both?
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Post by johnjsgems on Oct 10, 2012 16:40:39 GMT -5
The Cab Combo is a cab machine with attached trim saw. The wet polisher is used to grind, sand and polish both flat and contoured surfaces as large as you want to work. Hand your wife a 15 lb piece of pet wood and ask here to contour the end for you. Or maybe ask her to refinish a granite counter top. She won't be able to do anything that the wet polisher can do. Of course, you will never be able to cab with the wet polisher either. So, yes, if you want to do both you need both machines. If you are not planning to finish slabs or large specimens you don't need the wet polisher.
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sheltie
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since January 2012
Posts: 982
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Post by sheltie on Oct 10, 2012 18:40:58 GMT -5
Thanks, that cleared things up for me.
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itsandbits
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2012
Posts: 825
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Post by itsandbits on Oct 10, 2012 18:57:15 GMT -5
I would have to somewhat disagree; that's what makes life interesting; different points of veiw. I use the wet polisher for everything but as I've never had a grinder setup, I guess I don't know what I'm missing but it would be nice to have both I guess. I'd buy the wet and keep the other too. Lloyd
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Post by johnjsgems on Oct 10, 2012 20:02:17 GMT -5
Lloyd, I would like to see a video of you trimming a slab and cutting a small oval cab on your wet polisher.
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itsandbits
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2012
Posts: 825
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Post by itsandbits on Oct 10, 2012 20:22:27 GMT -5
I've posted lots of stuff I've cabbed on my equipment :<) It's all I've ever used. I cut the rocks into slabs on my drill press too :<)
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Post by johnjsgems on Oct 10, 2012 20:42:29 GMT -5
If you're talking the 4" angle grinder type wet polisher you must have it mounted somehow. Hand held you would never make a domed cab. Not a small one anyway.
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itsandbits
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2012
Posts: 825
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Post by itsandbits on Oct 10, 2012 21:29:48 GMT -5
yes I bungee cord it to my drill press bed and have a guard to collect the spray of water and a siphon gallon water drip controlled by an aquarium air valve. I tried two of the 4 inch pads and decided to get the 5inch; much nicer. I just got some diamond flat lap pads I use on it too for roughing but the flexie pads do a much nicer job polishing. I'm still looking for the pictures I have on the computer of the setup.
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itsandbits
freely admits to licking rocks
Member since March 2012
Posts: 825
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Post by itsandbits on Oct 10, 2012 21:50:47 GMT -5
I'm still looking but here's a ice jadeite cab I just did; it's 5/8ths of an inch long and only polished to 1500 diamond at this point. I've since finished it. It looks rough because it is the very outside of the rock where the miner chunked a peice of to see what it was. Underneath this was the cab I posted last weekend. Still looking for the pictures; my stuff is outside or I'd go get a fresh picture, it's dark. tomorrow. Attachments:
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RocknCritter
spending too much on rocks
Member since November 2008
Posts: 489
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Post by RocknCritter on Oct 11, 2012 11:16:05 GMT -5
I know of someone else that uses an angle grinder for cutting cabs. This same guy uses a cement mixer for tumbling No joking. In both cases the results are somewhat acceptable. In just about every case, when someone else has taken one of his cabs, it's possible to get a much better polish using a cabbing machine.
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Post by johnjsgems on Oct 11, 2012 11:45:13 GMT -5
Actually, BD has a version of their GP6 (like the Cab Combo without the trim saw) that has one end of shaft threaded to fit the 5/8"-11 5" rubber and rigid holders and comes with their 5" resin pads. Supposed to work well for flats. I think Adrian uses similar type pads mounted on an arbor.
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