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Gemstones, Minerals & Fossils
Lapidary
Home Made Slant Cabber
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<blockquote data-quote="Martyz" data-source="post: 556303" data-attributes="member: 14320"><p>Hey Xcvator,</p><p>Ive only just started using a machine and until now most of what I did was using diamond plates and sandpaper by hand. I figured out pretty quickly that sandpaper isnt that durable when cabbing unless you use it gently and with stones of appropriate hardness.</p><p>If youre using a corundum or silicon carbide sandpaper it should cut stones with a Moh scale hardness up to 9 (sapphire) but this will be a struggle. Im not sure where youre at with understanding where different materials sit in the Moh scale but Im thinking that for your setup you probably want to look at material less than 8 (eg <topaz). Quartz (7.5) you may even find hard on your disks. Labradorite and opal are nice to work with (about 6.5) and should shape and polish successfully.</p><p>You should be able to research which stones sit within this range or ask at the crystal shop. It might just be the difference between getting some pleasing early results or damaging your new toy.</p><p>Good luck.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Martyz, post: 556303, member: 14320"] Hey Xcvator, Ive only just started using a machine and until now most of what I did was using diamond plates and sandpaper by hand. I figured out pretty quickly that sandpaper isnt that durable when cabbing unless you use it gently and with stones of appropriate hardness. If youre using a corundum or silicon carbide sandpaper it should cut stones with a Moh scale hardness up to 9 (sapphire) but this will be a struggle. Im not sure where youre at with understanding where different materials sit in the Moh scale but Im thinking that for your setup you probably want to look at material less than 8 (eg <topaz). Quartz (7.5) you may even find hard on your disks. Labradorite and opal are nice to work with (about 6.5) and should shape and polish successfully. You should be able to research which stones sit within this range or ask at the crystal shop. It might just be the difference between getting some pleasing early results or damaging your new toy. Good luck. [/QUOTE]
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Gemstones, Minerals & Fossils
Lapidary
Home Made Slant Cabber
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