Thanks M for a good post full of useful information. No clubs in my area.
I had already found that the eclectic lapidary but was trying to be too
cheap (as usual for a Pennsylvania Dutchman). I knew it was a far fetched
idea but thought I'd ask any way.
Tony Manella

"m" wrote in message
...
I cab on a Diamond Pacific Genie, but would never cab on my lathe. Most
cabbing is done with silicon carbide, or preferably, diamond wheels
starting around 80 grit and working up to 12,000 or so before final
polishing. Both types of cutting abrasive require a continuous stream of
water as a lubricant and coolant. Grinding without water can destroy a
wheel in seconds.

The stones that are cabbed run up to 8 or higher on the Mohs scale, and
prodigious quantities of stone dust as up to half the volume of the blanks
are ground away.

The water, abrasive dust, and the swarf generated would surely do a great
deal of damage to your lathe. Especially since the water slings off the
wheels carrying along the swarf as it goes.

I can only assume that you want to mount the grinding wheel on the lathe,
as mounting the cab blank itself doesn't seem to make much sense to me.

Why not just mount the grinding wheels on a shaft supported in a pillow
block bearing? It would be easy to add protective cowling around the
wheels. A drip system or water spray can be economically added to provide
the cooling necessary. Plans are available in a number of places on the
web, one of which is available here

http://www.bovagems.com/eclectic/HTM...LBL199701.html.

A rock saw can be built in basically the same way, except of course that
the saw needs a lubricant well rather than only a spray.

There are also gem and mineral clubs around that often have equipment
available for their members. More importantly, like lathe clubs, they can
provide a great deal of experience and advice to the new comer.

Enjoy.

TonyM wrote:
I am becoming interested in cabbing stones. Like most hobbies cabbing is
expensive. You need a stone saw, shaping machine and polishing machine.
Anyone out there using their lathes to shape and polish cabs?
Tony Manella
ndd1"at"prolog.net (remove "at")
http://home.ptd.net/~ndd1/
Lehigh Valley Woodturners