Rock & Lapidary Grinders How to
Guide
Proper use and maintenance of lapidary equipment can increase
the safety of users and the life span of the equipment, and of supply’s (belts,
saw blades, grinding wheels and such). It can also decrease injuries, equipment
failure, nonproductive time, and operations cost.
Disclaimer, this is a basic general guide always refer to the
manufacture’s operation and maintenance manual and follow all recommended
personal safety precautions, maintenance and operation, as stated with in the
manufactures owner’s manual. This is for information purposes only and we are
not responsible for anything you do with your equipment.Lapidary Grinders & Use
Slabs will have been typically marked as an oval or other
shape as chosen, then the excess material is trimmed off first before “Cabbing”
or shaping your material in to a cabochon. (Please see our Blog on Lapidary
saws for more information). The Lapidary Grinder is for shaping and grinding The rough material is usually shaped by hand to
create the outer edge as you marked for the desired shape, then a hot dopping
material is placed on the back of your material with a small stick, usually a
¼” to 1/2” dowel cut about 3” to 4” long, (called a dopping stick) this will
allow you to better control and move your material against the spinning
grinding wheel to form or shape the dome of the cabochon. (do not work with any grinders without eye
protection and respirator, also be aware of getting fingers or lose clothing
caught in the spinning grinding wheels or any moving parts of the equipment you
are using! Also be aware that a wet
wheel if touched very soft will not grind your finger off in a instant,
although pushing your skin against a spinning grinding wheel with any force
will cut you and can draw blood or more. But you should not be overly scared of
using a wet wheel. The greater danger would be to get clothing, hair, or
anything caught in the spinning wheel, this could prove to be a danger causing
injury maybe death). Having a plastic apron that can be safely tied at the waist in the back will reduce your clothing from getting soaked from water that can and will splash
on to you.
Always make sure you have water running over the grinding
wheel. A steady stream that covers the wheel but not so water is spraying outside
of the basin, use just enough to cover the width of the wheel. This helps keep
the wheel and the rock cool and removes the bits of rock as its cut, also keeping
the grinder clean as well. The wheels may consist of entirely silicon carbide,
or as an expanding wheel, which uses a belt coated with silicon carbide, or
even diamond, also metal wheels coated with diamonds are available, and too
soft wheels with the same options can be used. When making your first
cuts/grinding your material you will start with more aggressive grit sizes or
the roughness of the wheel. Then you progress to the finer grits as you smooth
the surface that you are cabbing step by step depending on the hardness and
type of material you are working with. For example, if I’m cutting Agate that
about 7 on the hardness scale, I could start with 100 grit wheels to get the
basic shape and dome of the cab/cabochon and then progress to a 200 to 250
grit, and then a 400 grit to a 600 grit and then the cabochon will be ready for
the polish procedure. Of course, with softer materials like Turquoise you may
want to start with a finer grit as the material will be removed much faster.
Make sure to turn the saw on to check that water is dripping off of the blade
before cutting any rock, you want to see a light stream of water coming off of
the blade, this will keep the rock and the blade cool as well as clean the
blade and the rock of cut material bits as stated earlier. Things to consider
as your working on the cabochon. Use the
entire width of the grinding wheel so the grinding wheel wear evenly and last
longer, this will cause the solid silicon carbide wheel to wear even and not
form a grove. Pushing hard on the wheel wears the grit/cutting media down
faster, it causes the diamond solder to be removed prematurely and as you
create more fiction and heat. Listen to your wheel, it should be a light sound,
if you hear it get louder and see the wheel slow down you are damaging your wheel
and pushing too hard, let the wheel do the work. You also increase the chance
that you will crack, or damage your stone, also it increases the chance that it
will detach from your dop stick and be flung and be damaged or cause injury.
Maintenance
& Care
Before each use make sure, power cords are in safe condition.
Check the condition of your equipment, are the motors securely anchored with
all the proper shields and guards in place? Make sure they are, and repair or
replace before use. Are the wheels snug with no play or looseness, if not
repair them? Are the solid silicon carbide wheels worn with a grove? Then dress
them with a dressing tool as per the manufacturer’s directions. Are the grinding belts adjusted properly and aligned, are soft or belt type wheels worn missing grit or frayed? Then
replace them. If the unit is equipped with drive a belt is it at the proper tension,
is it cracked? Replace if cracked, you should keep a spare belt at some point.
Adjust the belt to manufactures guide lines, too lose and the you were out the
shivs/pulleys, you over run the motor, wear out the belt waste energy and the
wheel will slow as your working and not cut as accurately. If the motor or
bearings can be lubricated follow the manufactures recommendations, generally
every month to three months depending on how often you use the equipment. Are
the catch basins clear of silk so that they will drain? Make sure they are
clear. Is your unit plugged into a GFI or GFIC if not install or purchase a plug-in
device? Check your water flow and make sure when the grinding wheel is spinning
the entire wheel surface is getting wet. If you are recirculating the water, replace
the water if it is becoming cloudy. You can drain into a bucket with a cheese
cloth on top, it can be attached with wire, a bungee, or you can cut out a lid
and use that to hold the cloth on place. Do not allow any waste water to go
directly down the drain as the rock silk will cement your pipes. To dispose of
water down a drain one method is to just let the bucket settle for a while and
pour the cleaner water off the top. Make sure to turn off water and dry and
drain your equipment after power is secured, to prevent premature damage to
your equipment.
We will cover flat
laps and polishing wheels in a future blog
Source of material entirely from personal experience.
Please feel free to contact me with suggestions or ideas for
this or other radical Rocks blogs thank you from Shane
Podcast; https://anchor.fm/radicalrocks Links below
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Rock Saw
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Gem Cutting Guide https://amzn.to/2P9CoJN
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