Lapidary equipment

[lizziebird]

I know this has been discussed many times before, but the more I read the more questions I have.

I think I am going to splurge and buy myself a really expensive birthday-christmas-everything-in-between-present. I want a polisher/grinder/flat-lap type machine. Something fairly quiet and compact and user friendly that isn't $1000 (or more!).

At first I thought the Inland all-in-wonder flat lap would be good, but I have read a lot of negatives about it, so not getting that one.

Now it seems that the Ameritool Universal Cabbing machine is the way to go. It seems like people like this one and it's not tooooo $$$.

I want to get a tile saw too for trimming. Basically I'm starting from scratch and trying to get a few basics. So if anyone wants to recommend the best tile saw on a budget, I'm all ears. I have heard about getting one from Lowe's or Home Depot (which are close to me) or from Harbor Freight (not close to me). Are any of these better than the others?

Narrowing down the options. My birthday is coming up and I want to polish some rocks.

Thanks for input.

Lizzie

[gsellis]

While the price is right, I don't recommend getting the 7" tile saw. It is not worth the money. My 5" Ameritool trim saw has more blade to cut with and I can get gnat hair thick blades (.004 in 4", .008 in 5"). Finding a material saving blade in 7" is nearly impossible. But, the trim saw is about $260. Sigh.

PS - the vise is hard to use, so save some change and just get the saw.

[lynskyn1970]

i have a 6" loretone combo unit. it has the 6" saw and two spots for wheels. i have a grinding wheel in one spot and an expando wheel in the other spot that i change the sanding belts on to suit my need for every grit. the whole unit is about $555 through www.eloxite.com and the blade, motor, grinding wheel, and the sanding drum along with 220,400, and 600 belts are included. the item number is #70-674 also you get a few extras along with it like some templates, scribes, lapidary cement, polish, cork disc, dop wax and sticks..... i love mine very much i have done alot of cabs on this unit for many years.....

[Doug]

IF you plan on doing the lapidary work for a long time, then do NOT go with the flat lap system. It's ONLY advantage is the small footprint. As mentioned earlier the Lortone combo unit is an excellent product and will last for years. Keep your eye on ebay for bargains-they are out there! You may have to do some cleaning and painting to start but it will pay off in the long run. I have bought exactly ONE brand new piece of lapidary equipment-my 10" slab saw and then for 1/3rd of the list price. It was still in the box and had never had the blade mounted, but had been owned before. I got my like new Genie for 1/2 list price by being patient and REALLY looking hard at the photos provided. I am not trying to bash the flat lap machine, they are simply not as heavy duty as the wheel type machines. If you only plan to grind once a month for a year or so they should work out fine. I sold my old Star Diamond combo unit for basically what I paid for it after using it HEAVILY for 6 years, so the resale of the unit is also a consideration.

Check out this: cgi.ebay.com/HIGHLAND-PARK-GRINDER-SANDER-POLISHER-LAPIDARY-MACHINE_W0QQitemZ290261263155QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item290261263155&_trkparms=72%3A1205|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

or this: cgi.ebay.com/Star-Engineering-Lapidary-6-Econo-Grinder-GE5-7044_W0QQitemZ250295670487QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item250295670487&_trkparms=72%3A1205|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Or: cgi.ebay.com/HIGHLAND-PARK-LAPIDARY-SAW-GRINDER-POLY-BEACON-STAR_W0QQitemZ250295727041QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item250295727041&_trkparms=72%3A1205|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

The Highland Park machine is a BARGAIN at the buy it now price and will still be useable by your grandkids!!! IF I did not already have my equipment I would but it! I have not commercial interest in any of the items I posted, just passing along information.

[nmonyx]

www.kingsleynorth.com/skshop/search_results2.php?catID=94

Kingsley North has some great service, units and prices

I got a 4 drum grinder cheap. Buy your own motor at a local store and save even more.

[traveler]

We just started cabbing a month ago when we purchased the Ameritool and a husky tile saw from Home Deopt and Here's my review of them.
Ameritool 6"universal- After about 40 cabs the only negative aspects I see is that the water needs to be emptied and refilled every 10-15 minutes. I am planning on getting a hose for the drain and keep a bucket on the floor. The other negative is that the diamond wheel is 180 grit and is pretty slow on harder materials like quarts and agate, but they do sell wheels in 80 and 100 grit that are $60-80 each. On the possitive side, it is a small, fairly quiet and very clean machine that I have set up on a bar table and I can work while the family watches TV.
Husky 7" tile saw- This one is quite messy and noisy and has to be used outside. The blade cover that catches the water does a good job on thin material like a tile, but if you're roughing out larger stones you're gonna get wet and will have to keep refilling the water. I have heard that some people put a plexiglass shield on it to help with this. On a possitive note, the blade that comes with it has diamond on the end 1/2" of the sides and speeds up the shaping process. After I scribe the shape I want, I go back out and grind it to within a pencil width of it.

Hope this helps.

[lizziebird]

wow, and here I was all set to buy an ameritool flat lap.

I have no idea how much I'll get into this, but I'm thinking there's a good chance I'll havea lot of fun with it and want to do it a lot. I don't have a serperate workshop or extra space so a small footprint is important. I've already got about 100 rocks I'd love to cut or polish in some way.

Anyone else have a good or bad review on the Lortone combo unit? It looks nice. I have a little Lortone rock tumbler that has been running almost continually for the last 9 months and I like it a lot!

Where's Ken? DOesn't he use a flat lap a lot to make lots of cabs?

Thanks for the input, I feel like I"m going to be researching things forever and never settle on just the perfect thing, unless, perhaps someone just dumps somehting in my lap and says "here, take this, it's what you need". Ha ha ha!

[Doug]

Ken upgraded to a multi-wheel machine instead of the flat lap.

[lynskyn1970]

i really think you'll enjoy the loretone unit alot. i really haven't heard anything bad about it. like i said i have one and i love it sooooo very much. yes i think you'll be hooked once you complete your first cabs on it. well happy hunting!!!!!

[ken]

Liessa, I am in Missouri at Donna's(damammy). I have my Ameritool flat lap with me. I USE IT A LOT. It is about 3 years old and is still like new. Am on my second set of wheels. The peel and stick sand discs are only $21 to replace. I do also have a Diamond Jem vertical grinder/polisher also, but it costs $1600 compared to $400 for the Ameritool. I have the 7" Q saw from Lowe's, but the Work Force from Home Depot is almost the same. Both are extremely noisy and sling water. Have to put them in a plastic mortar pan. They are not very good for trimming expensive material. If you get into the expensive stuff, you can probably afford an expensive trim saw.
My 2 1/2 cents worth.
Ken

[traveler]

I never meant to give you the impression that I did not like the Ameritool, I was just pointing out things I have noticed. It is a lot of fun working around the family and I doubt I could find a way to get more time on it.

[traveler]

I just received my 100 grit wheel from Kingsley north and am amazed at how much difference it makes compared to the 180 wheel and it only cost $52.

[lizziebird]

I agree, it would be very nice (necessary) to have a machine that is quiet enough to use while my family is around, and doesn't take up too much space.

That Lortone machine looks pretty nifty. Has anyone else used it? Thanks Lynne for the recommendation on this one, and everyone else for other recommendations and comments.

I feel like I really really want something, but I don't want to jump in and spend a bunch of money on the "wrong" item, so still trying to gather whatever info I can on the wonderful world of rock cutting and polishing.

[Doug]

;DI used to have one of the Lortone combo machines and it worked well. My only objection was having the saw blade running while cabbing. I just drained the water from the tank when I finished cutting and started cabbing, you SHOULD drain the water anytime you are not using the saw anyway. I replaced the second wheel with an expanding drum and found it much more versatile. It is a solid machine and can be found used for considerably less than new. The plastic cover for the saw is fragile, but then most of the plastic covers are. It is a nice compromise and worked well for me. I have had a variety of machines and like the Genie best, but it runs over $2k now. A guy on the RTH board sold one recently for $1200 and it had NEW wheels, so it was a real bargain. This is the way mine was configured, just less rust:

cgi.ebay.com/rlle-LORTONE-LAPIDARY-COMBO-LU6X-USED-GOOD-CONDITION_W0QQitemZ150298352312QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item150298352312&_trkparms=72%3A1205|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

[lizziebird]

So the saw runs continually? Ugh, that seems really weird, uh, dangerous, perhaps? You'd think they'd have a switch so you could saw or cab but not have it all turning at once.

Thanks for that tidbit of info, I didn't know about that.

[gsellis]

Rock saw <> rip saw. It just spins. It is not like it will rip your arm off even if you do touch it accidently. But the guard does keep lubricant from going all over.

[Doug]

It is NOT dangerous if you do not attempt to force a part of your body through the blade while cabbing. I just did not like the water spray off the blade while not cutting. The table is above the area of the wheels so it is just a nuisance, not a real performance problem. All of the combo machines use a single shaft for the blade and the wheels, as far as I know. I have a buddy who bought a collection and it had several machines in it. I have not checked them out, but will try to get a look next week. I will let you know if anything worthwhile is available.

[4cornersrocks]

I have to agree with everyone really but I most a agree with Doug, get a used Highland Park/Star Diamond or something like that. They are so durable and solid, easy to upkeep and repair, probably cheaper in the long run to use the 8" wheels too. If you can find a used genie (good luck!) those are good too. Look at the price of diamond wheels also, they are where the money goes, loads of cash for an 8" setup but it will last forever, I'd spend my money on wheels and a machine to put them on.

If big stuff just isn't for you because of space restrictions you could almost get a Pixie for $1000, they are really nice machines. The DP nova wheels (padded) are just killer by the way, they help you get a nice drape on the stone.

Flat laps are really great too, I like the ergonomics on my hands, but my neck gets sore when I use one. (probably my own bad habit) I just hate changing out pads, it it nice to be able to do one cab at a time and not change out 6 pads. You can get a really durable flat lap too, they still make the old-school ones with seperate motors and belts goig to the unit. I like that for ease of repair (motors, bearings, etc) and safety, the motor shaft never gets wet, etc. To make changing out pads easy you can get an iron master lap and magnetic pads too, they rock! (DP nova also)
Just remember, the whole changing out pads thing can get old really fast, I always do groups of cabs anyways but when some need to go back to 600 they get regrouped and done later, something I kinda don't like...

[Doug]

cgi.ebay.com/Nice-Used-8-RAYTECH-DIAMOND-GRINDER-RockPile_W0QQitemZ110293483516QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item110293483516&_trkparms=72%3A1205|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

Just saw this on ebay, heck of a machine at a great price right now. Very big and very heavy, made to last a lifetime. No commercial interest, just posted for info only. There is another machine like this one except SiC wheels and a SUPER 18"saw also. Do a search using raytech as the key word. The saw is at $499 and ends tomorrow.

[lizziebird]

Oh, my, that machine is huge! I am laughing at the thought of trying to put that somewhere. Now I need to build myself a rock workshop in the backyard somewhere...