Getting started
How lapidary work is done, step by step
How a rough stone becomes a polished cabochon, step by step: slab, mark, trim, shape, smooth and polish, with the grits and tools for...
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Getting started
All Getting started
Getting started
What is lapidary
Lapidary is the work of cutting, shaping and polishing stone. The main branches, what each one makes, and the saws, wheels, laps and grits...
Fit your machine
All Fit your machine
Fit your machine
Wheels for the Barranca GP-6 and GP8
The Barranca GP6-6 runs 6 inch wheels on a 5/8 inch shaft. What it ships with, how a 1 inch bore wheel fits, hard...
Fit your machine
Wheels for Lortone cabbing arbors
Lortone cabbing arbors run a 3/4 inch shaft. How to fit 1 inch bore wheels with the included bushing, building a set, the 1/4-20...
Fit your machine
Wheels for CabKing 6" and 8"
What the CabKing 6 and 8 ship with, which positions take hard and soft wheels, the 1 inch bore rule, the end laps and...
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Wheels for the Diamond Pacific Genie and Titan
What the Genie and Titan ship with, which positions take soft resin wheels and which take hard ones, what fits the 1" shaft, and...
Fit your machine
Arbor and bore sizes, what fits your machine
How to match a wheel, blade or disc to your machine's shaft: bores by product, bushings, and shaft sizes for the common cabbing machines.
Resurfacing
All Resurfacing
Resurfacing
Changing grit when you resurface
A worn soft wheel can come back from resurfacing in any of 14 grits, 60 to 200,000 plus cerium, at no extra charge. How...
Resurfacing
Resurfacing Diamond Pacific Nova wheels
Worn Diamond Pacific Nova wheels can be resurfaced and sent back in about a week, in the same grit or any of 14 others....
Resurfacing
Reading a worn soft wheel
What the wear on a soft diamond wheel is telling you: stopped cutting, bare spots, backing showing, wear in a band, diamonds coming off....
Resurfacing
Recoating a soft wheel yourself, versus sending it in
How lapidaries recoat worn soft wheels at home with epoxy and diamond powder, what it takes, what people report, and when sending the wheel...
Resurfacing
Resurfacing versus buying new, with the real numbers
What it costs to resurface a worn soft wheel against buying new, at 2.5, 4, 6 and 8 inch, for one wheel and a...
Resurfacing
When a soft wheel can be resurfaced, and when it is scrap
Which worn diamond wheels can be resurfaced and which cannot: soft resin wheels from any maker, 2.5 to 8 inch, core intact. What we...
Wheels, grit & bond
All Wheels, grit & bond
Wheels, grit & bond
Diamond grit sizes, what 60 through 200,000 each does
What diamond grit numbers mean for cabbing and polishing: which grits shape, smooth and polish, where the oxides fit, and which products come in...
Wheels, grit & bond
Resin, sintered, nickel bond and plated: which bond for which job
How resin, sintered, nickel bond and plated diamond tools hold their diamond, what each is for, which can be resurfaced, and which of our...
Wheels, grit & bond
Cabbing grit progression, and why that sequence
The coarse-to-fine sequence every six-wheel cabbing machine runs, what each grit does, and when to add steps past 3,000.
Saw blades & cutting
All Saw blades & cutting
Saw blades & cutting
Choosing a saw blade by material and thickness
How to pick a diamond saw blade: notched rim, sintered or plated, thin kerf or heavy, trim saw or slab saw, and the hole...
Techniques
All Techniques
Techniques
Breaking in a new soft wheel
New soft diamond wheels need breaking in to remove excess resin. How to do it, how long it takes, and why a new wheel...
