Thanks for making this video, a very easy to replicate design! Most arbors are threaded the opposite of the rotation so there is no need for a second nut. If you can't find a left hand thread, you could always reverse the rotation of the motor.
Thanks, bud. Was hoping you'd do this. Ive been thinking about building something like this for a while now. Was just needing a little more detailed insight, and boom, here it is. I've been thinking about the drip system, and I think it would be fairly easy to run a hose to your working area, and buy a ball valve, and a small irrigation spigot (like 1/4" drip/spray fitting/ just hook the valve to the hose, pre spigot, and boom, you have flow control for around $20 including a small hose. Btw, got yourself another subscriber. Cheers
I agree, thanks for sharing your setup in detail, here in Australia a cheap cabbing machine is around the $600.00 AU mark, looking at your setup, I think I have all I need in my shed. Cheers mate
Thanks for the reply. Us DIYers need to stay tight. I plan to recirculate the dirty water to maintain the temperature. Be careful with the coffee machine heater. It gets very hot and may burn out without water to keep it 'cool'. You have probably already thought of this but what you have could also be used as a potters wheel if you put a speed control pedal on it. If you haven't thrown a pot, you have a very peaceful experience ahead of you. Try to find A New Pottery Technique on RU-vid. It shows an easy way to throw indentical pots, lids, plates etc. The dude is from Japan and his animations are very clear and a joy to watch. Keep thinking bro, Tom
VERY COOL! One thing I did to stabilize my lathe is to put sand bags on the shelf between legs. This took all the vibration out of the lathe even though it was a cast iron unit. I will build mine of 4 X 4s & MDF with a good coat of Rhino Liner to keep the MDF from soaking up moisture. A drip system is a must. I plan to use a five gallon feed and a five gallon dump bucket with an inexpensive pump with a flow valve and nozzle. My basement is cold so I will put a water heater from a coffee maker to keep my hands from freezing. Thanx a lot. I now have a good winter project. Now to build a mini-diamond bandsaw and cabochon machine.
Thank you for your kind words, i like that sand bag idea very clever, im using just a simple gravity feed for the water, the coffee heater idea is awesome,
Absolutely loved the original videos I saw {parts one and two}.Have not found the water-feed video yet.I have carefully harvested all the precious information both in the videos and the comments and the comments and,if I may,there is just one comment I would like to add.A massive morale booster to all those thinking of getting involved would be to see a rough stone at the start of the process and then a sample of the finished article at the end of the video just to show what can be achieved with basic equipment.That piece of agate(I think) was getting close to what I mean.Many thanks for sharing.Now please excuse me, I have a lapping-machine frame to weld together.
Thanks for the kind words, I have been busy at work, but hope to put some more time in on my hobbies , I like the idea of a start to finish video , good luck and most importantly have fun!
That is a cool flat lap - one other way to keep the nut from coming loose on start-up is to reverse the shaft rotation on the motor. Some motors show CCW wiring option on the motor info so it tightens on start-up and while running.
I the process of making one of these. I used a stepdown pulley so I can slow it down for final polishing. I built it from junk I had in the basement. Old washing machine motor and such. Nice video.
I now use an old IV line with an adjustable flow wheel for my water cooling. I asked a nurse for an Saline IV bag and the line... no needles. Perfect.. I can adjust the flow anytime. I have 3 bags so I do not have to stop for too long.
I'm a nurse....i was just thinking that! Dial A Flow off EBay cheap. Also found vintage "MASH" gag gift vodka IV style set ups. Will be building my own for stained glass work.
Simple and effective, great job. I am looking into polishing some cut glasses and your design looks like a great place to start. Highly preferable compared to spending $500 on a professional machine! Thanks :)
Looks fine! No need to retain water in bowl. Pierce a hole that will drip into larger container below. Aquarium pump will provide water recycle if you wish. Vids of Myanmar cutters/polishers use twisted belt driven wheels.
Thanks so much for putting this on youtube. This winter, I'm gonna see if I can find the right used motor and try to build one myself. There's another guy on youtube with a homemade faceter called a "template faceter". His name is jeriwykoff and the title is "The World's Most Inexpensive Faceting Machine". It certainly looks doable.
Great build! I'm going to try to build one too. Lapidary equipment is so ridiculously over-priced and most of the same equipment can be built by an average do-it yourselfer.
treadmill motors have a 1/2 inch threaded shaft . lap wheels bolt right on . left handed thread . i ,m running mine on small 12 volt battery . very powerful earth magnet motor . can be run on 24 volts with 2 batteries . any more than that may be too fast . got my motor from a treadmill someone put out for the trash .
Thank you for making that. I am SOO wanting to polish things that I cut, but the cost is so prohibitive for the "proper" machinery that I haven't been able to do it. Have you thought about making a cabbing machine?
I already have a loritone arbor, only two wheels, i guess any arbor,or grinding machine will work as long as its spins the right speed ( about 2000-3600 rpm) ive not consider it maybe thank you for the kind words
Hey there! I've watched your video a few times now and I'm in the process of making a flat lap machine using your design. Thank you for posting this video! I have a couple of questions. I was reading through the comments and saw that you don't use a backing when you are using the diamond grit discs? In your video you did use a wooden backer, did you make that yourself? How has the wooden backer held up? Do you use this machine for polishing? I'm hoping to make my machine with 3 different speeds so I can use it for high speed riding and low speed polishing. What do you use for polishing pads/machine?
Question... In your video I get confused. First I see you using a diamond disc then I see you using a wood backer and glue the diamond paper on it. I plan to make one myself but I get confused when it comes to the discs. Should I get medal diamond disks or should I get the adhesive type and use a wood plate. Anything about the business end of this setup would help alot. Thanks
Thanks for your very helpful videos. You have an intriguing variety of interests. I have built your flat lap setup, but am having trouble figuring out what sanding discs to use. I'm using (Warrior brand) wet/dry silicon carbide paper, but it seems to be wearing out very quickly. Any suggestions?
Thank you for kind words, i used sanding disc at first and had the same problem, i replaced them with diamond discs, i use but i use cheap discs from china THK diamond tools on ebay sells 8' discs for about 12$ I cant tell you how good it feels to know i helped somebody and my design is propagating, lapidary tools are too damn expensive.
lapidarybyandy Thanks. I too broke down and bought Chinese diamond discs from Kent Blades. Good prices and sooo much easier and gratifying. Like Jon, I reversed my motor's rotation and also installed a constant drip pump and drain. I was having problems with water spraying over the low edge of the pan. Epoxying a piece of 4" cove molding around the edge solved this. I cut out a 6" wide by 2" down section in the front to allow for ease of use. If anyone needs to find an arbor adapter for their motor, I bought 1 from Jetstool, $16.50 on Ebay. 5/16 to 1/2 inch. It's well machined with good balance, unlike the 1st one I purchased from another Ebay vendor. Keep up your interesting (and at times frightening) pursuits.
With the diamond discs did you still use the wood backer discs you made? It looks like the diamond discs are only 1mm thick, so I'm worried about them breaking easily. Also, how many different grits of diamond discs do you need to get a nice polished stone? Thanks!
Chip Boddiford These diamond discs are pretty solid, i just use them, no problem, there are some that are "bendy"but either way adding a backer cant hurt. you will need between 6-10 steps depending on stones, the basic series is grinding(80-100) sanding(220-320) prepolish (400-600) polish (1200-3000-8000) and final buff( felt with tin oxide works for most stones) youll want a moist buff like spit shining boots, dont leap too far between grits, for example, 80 grit scratches wont be removed by a 400 grit, also i recommend you dry the stone with clean rag prior to moving to a higher grit, water conceals flaws, and it saves the headache of going back a grit, changing discs etc. anyway i wish you luck any more questions just ask,
Is the silocon carbide sanding discs(when glued to the wood disc) and alternative to the lap disc or do they serve different purposes? I just need to clarify cuz i am just starting and could use the help. Great video by the way! Thanks!
Its silicon carbide sandpaper disc I use spray adhesive to hold it, sometimes I might have a foam pad underneath but not required, all the stuff is available at a hardware store, I used a bandsaw to cut the circle and then a bolt in the center hole chucked into a drill press, then sanded the edge round, it needs to be balanced just like meal discs but of course a fraction of the price, old school laps used wooden discs and tar or pitch to hold garnet dust or sand as the grit, lucky for us we have home depot but it still works , lapidary hasn't really changed much just motors instead of foot pedals or elbow grease. hope this helps I just got the new kingsley north catalog and yikes the price of lapidary tools is nuts, all my stuff is second hand estate sales or improvised stuff like this consider the black princes ruby on the British crown it was polished by hand and is one of the most expensive gems known.
Hey just quick question, following your setup, and just about to buy some diamond lap discs on ebay, just wondering what do i use for a backing disc? planning on using 8 inch discs. thanks so much.
Thank you for you video I love rocks that is one thing we have in common I enjoy from star to finish the video I will like to ask you a big favor if you can make one to sale for me . THANK YOU again please let me know your answer
what grit of diamond disc are you using? Also if you use a silicon carbide disc what rocks would work with this will glass be polished as well or rubies etc?
I was thinking couldn't you just get a round peice of plexi or prospect instead of the wood? It would prevent rot and warping... Just a idea. ( I don't think it would weigh much more then the wood)
thanx max, i got a huge deal on my saw and vertical wheels, 200 bucks! i thought there would be cheap used stuff out there but i couldnt find one so after watching a video about indian lapidaries in sweatshops using crude laps like mine i was inspired
Yes, it was the simplest way to do it. a variable speed motor would have been better. but I didn't have one. I use this for , polishing a single flat side on a stone, or to true up the end of a stone pipe or other project that's needs a 90 degree edge. Its probably too fast for faceting, especially if you plan to use metal or pitch wheels you charge yourself ( the grit will likely come off) but with sintered discs its seems ok, I use 8 inch disc so the speed at the outer edge isn't bad . One can use either a variable speed DC motor or with a VARIAC I could lower the speed on this motor ( up to a point its designed) anyway thank you for you interest I wish you the best of luck in your lapidary endeavors.
