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Colorado Prospector - Gem and mineral prospecting and mining forums > Prospecting, Mineral Collecting and Treasure Hunting Forums > Equipment - Prospecting and Lapidary
El Dorado
The rock shop thread got me thinking about studios, so here is my set up, now you can show yours off

This is my bench with the casting machine on the right. Here is where most of the action takes place
El Dorado
My polishing station
El Dorado
Vacuum machine and kiln
El Dorado
Cleaning station with ultrasonic cleaner and steamer
El Dorado
My beloved Genie cabber
El Dorado
My rock saw
El Dorado
And all in a row........
CP
Nice Steve.....looks like you have plenty of stuff to play with in there. biggrin.gif

We will see what pics we can get of our equipment in here soon.

Thanks for sharing the pics.

CP
Denise
Here are a couple pics of some of our work spaces.
This pic is of our trusty speed demon cabachon machine.
Denise
This pic is of the area where we have our rock tumbler,
dopping wax items, the water drip system for my dremel (diamond bits),
and stones we are going to be working soon. happy.gif

Pics of the rock saws and the vibrating flat lap we have will be coming
as soon as I get a chance to get more pics.
El Dorado
Great studio, nice to see you have a flag up!
CP
Here are a couple pics we saved off the CP Rockcam.
8" saw with power feed and the vibrating flat lap. (Saw usually runs with the hood shut-Opened for cam to view)
smile.gif

Pics of the freshly rebuilt 6" coming soon too........it works very well! wink.gif

CP
Phil(NM)
QUOTE (Mrs.CP @ Mar 27 2007, 01:39 PM) *
Here are a couple pics of some of our work spaces.
This pic is of our trusty speed demon cabachon machine.



Heidy Ho There!

I recently acquired a Speed Demon Diamond Cabber by Crystallite, but they didn't still have the owners manual of anything. I need to remove and replace the wheels and do some general cleanup stuff. Also want to remove the spitters and install a overhead clean water drip/flow setup.

Would you happen to have your owners manual? If yes, could I buy a zerox copy so I don't screw something up? Everything is so covered with whatever, I can't tell if I should turn what part whre, or if it locks for removal etc....

Also, mine came without the two trays that sit under the diamond wheels. Any iodea where to get parts?

Thanks!
Phil
goldpnr at ye old yahoo dotcom
russau
Phil and Steve, good to see my friends posting here!
CP
Cool Phil,

That's a good machine we think biggrin.gif Unfortunately no we don't have an owners manual on ours either but I have taken it all apart and replaced several parts along the way. CP has to take it apart! smiley-laughing021.gif Actually it's a really easy set up to take down.
Both sides have large nuts on the end of the shaft to hold the hubs on....left side is reverse threads, right is right handed thread and that one will have the 1/4 20 thread hole for the polishing pad to mount onto.
The inner hubs are not threaded or locked on but they do have a good snug fit.

Careful when buying replacement wheels with hubs......the ones we bought didn't have the right alignment on the shaft and had to be cut on the inner circle only to work....that was tough. Luckily we saved the original hubs and this time we replaced belts only which is not only much cheaper but had the proper spacin' too. biggrin.gif

No idea where to get new trays either....we've repaired these several times. Keep your eyes open for them hanging in a rockshop.....they will more than likely be hung in back and very dusty. laught16.gif Never know though, they could be found that way.

Good luck getting it all going, we'd love to see some of the work you do then too. Lapidary work is really cool and ya' get to find ma' natures hidden treasures. signs021.gif

CP

russau
Phil ,send me some drawings and dimesions and the type of material you want it made from and ill see what i can do for you! do you need a right and a left part? if steve has one of these models maybe he could email me a pictue of these parts??
Phil(NM)
Thanks.
CP, and Mrs CP... can you tell me if there's a way to lock the shaft from moving when trying to remove the nuts? They're rusted/corroded pretty tight.
Or do I need to do the usual vice grip clamp and pray method?

Russ,
I don't think you can make the two parts I need, they're molded plastic trays that go under the unit on each side to catch and funnel the water and waste to a sump. Thanks tho. I'd give you a pic, but I don't have any... this unit came without them. I'll probably end up doing a major mod to remodel the sumps to remove the spitters and constantly drain instead.. SPitters throw up too much contamination for the materials I work with, I prefer a constant fresh water drip or spray on the wheels instead.

Thanks everyone!
Phil
russau
O.K.! just thought id try to help!
Phil(NM)
thanks!
CP
Your welcome Phil and thanks Russ. Would be cool to get some remade trays eventually.

There isn't any way to lock the motor that I noticed. I just held the drum wheels while loosening the nuts.

We did replace the spitter air pump with a dual output pump that works wonderfully and haven't ever had a problem with polish contamination while working. We do change our water in the trays often though.
Good luck on the reworking, hope you have it going soon.

CP
Phil(NM)
Howdy..... Update report...

Well, I got it taken apart, and I mean apart. removed the cover, splash guards, wheels, etc. so I could do a refurb as/where needed. Found a few rusted thru holes that never would have been seen without being taken apart.

Old original wheels are, of course, shot. Ordered new wheels from Diamond Pacific, which of course are the right size, have the right arbor, but the hubs are thicker than the original manufacturer (long gone out of business), so that needed to be addressed.

Rubberized the inner surface of the cover where the water splashes, fixed the rusty areas, steel wooled everything to get it all clean and etc.

Removed the spitters because I'm converting it to a fresh water top feed instead. Will be able to use either gravity feed or pump. Anyone want to buy some spitters? Make me an offer....

Took the old aluminum hub and threaded spindle down to a local machine shop and told them I wanted new ones that were longer, etc. Showed them what I wanted, and for $80 I should be picking the new parts up tomorrow. That means not having to ever have to trim down the diamond pacific wheels or any other manufacturer's wheels. Was worth it to me... trimming the hubs is a pain or so I've been told (right CP1 and 2?)

What else. Oh, am adding a 1.5 inch strip of aluminum where the cover attaches to the base to allow greater clearance for the water nozzles and wheel brushes (made from those green
kitchen cleaning pads). Am drilling several large diameter holes in the water cachement area where the spitters used to sit so the water and rock debris can easily flow thru into a large plastic tray that will sit under the whole unit to catch and direct the waste water into a tube that either goes into a bucket (inside in winter time) or out to the flowers (summer). Also adding 4 rubber feet so allow the water to escape rather than rust everything.

So... should be up and running again in about another week, with a unit that is like new. Was it worth it? I think so. A new diamond wheel unit costs about $1600, I've got about $550 total in the refurb. I can't wait to get cabbing again... got about 20 pounds of turquoise waiting to cab so I can pay for everything and make some spending capital to boot!

CP1 and 2, if you want a set of hubs and spindles, I can get another made??? Cost plus shipping....

Later all! Time to go collect a couple hundred pounds of agates, petrified wood and jaspers out on the ancient river escarpment.....

Phil
Phil(NM)
Sorry about the double post... the forum kept hanging up.... No way to delete our own posts???

Thanks,
Phil
CP
Nice work Phil, sounds like the rebuild is well worth it! Gonna' be a purrin' unit now for sure. happy088.gif
Very kind for you to offer but right now we are ok with this set of hubs/spindles. I'll keep you in mind if we decide to convert them though. Thank you.
Sure know what you mean about the new machines cost. Can add up quickly with add ons too......whew.

No problem on the edited double post, deletion of posts is an admin/mod permission only, but you do have 24 hours edit time after posting each post to correct anything as needed.

Good luck on all the future cabbing to come and post up some pics too, we'd all love to see all the worked woods and agates for sure! biggrin.gif

CP


Denise
I thought I would bring this thread back to show those interested in the equipment we use to do lapidary work. happy112.gif

Phil(NM)
QUOTE (Mrs.CP @ Feb 9 2014, 07:46 AM) *
I thought I would bring this thread back to show those interested in the equipment we use to do lapidary work. happy112.gif


Wow. So much for my memory.... I totally forgot about it. Of course lots of other things keep me hopping!

Pics of cabs and slabs.... Hmmm. Will see what I can do..

Here's a wire wrap pendant. Stone is NM onyx-Travertine blend.
Phil(NM)
Pics of some "purple turquoise" . Man made of course, and I'm not happy that they call it turquoise, but because they use turquoise chalk, then color, stabilize and compact it, they call it turquoise. Sells very well, but is not cheap.
Phil(NM)
I'm also currently rebuilding an old 20 inch covington saw, and I mean old! Almost done. Ten there's the 24 inch covington. totally disassembled, bead cleaned, sealed, painted and totally in parts still, too cold outside to work on it till spring. What else. Oh, an old Raytech 8 inch grinder polisher. about 70% done, again, garage has to warm up. new wheels, water tubing and supply/drain, belts, bearings, etc. I bought 2 Lapcraft hard textured diamond wheels for it, should be a real good grinder , then I take the preforms either to the 6 inch diamond unit or the vibe polisher. Pics? Will try and remember to post some as I get them done.
meantime, here are a few slabs.
Phil(NM)
and finally (for now <grin>) some tyrone turquoise cabs I made last summer.
Denise
Nice cabs and slabs Phil! Looks like you have been hard at work. thumbsupsmileyanim.gif We would love to see pictures of the lapidary equipment you are working on.

Here is a picture of Dan working on the 4" trim saw today. Great little piece of equipment!! happy088.gif
russau
QUOTE (Phil(NM) @ Feb 9 2014, 01:03 PM) *
Wow. So much for my memory.... I totally forgot about it. Of course lots of other things keep me hopping!

Pics of cabs and slabs.... Hmmm. Will see what I can do..

Here's a wire wrap pendant. Stone is NM onyx-Travertine blend.

Phil made a beautifull necklace similar to the one pictured for my wife! Thankyou Phil!
Phil(NM)
QUOTE (russau @ Feb 10 2014, 05:13 AM) *
Phil made a beautifull necklace similar to the one pictured for my wife! Thankyou Phil!


:)

Thank you!
russau
The pleasure is all ours!
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