Post #286897 by Tamapoutini on Tue, Feb 20, 2007 2:07 AM

On 2007-02-19 20:24, pdrake wrote:
what should i look for to put in my shop?
really, i don't want to look like an idiot asking for the round spinning thingy.

This may or may not be of much help but here goes. My worry is that what we might call a tool locally may not necessarily be what the seller referrs to it as - in which case you'll still look like an idiot! :lol: Ill be with you in spirit.

For a basic jewellery-sized stone carving set up you will require at least:

1 X diamond lapidary wheel - this could either be a flatwheel or what we call a peripheral wheel (each have decent specialities so both would be best. I use predominantly an 8" wheel with a 1.5" working face, 180 grit & have no flatwheel). If money really wasnt a problem two wheels of each would be heaven; in courser & finer grits.
You've got to spin these suckers somehow so if the gear includes electric motors, all the better. Grab the ones that are already mounted up & you wont have to fiddle about trying to get wheels & shafts to match. If you have to do this & arent an engineering whiz yourself, just take it to one. They can usually make the conversions quickly & cheaply.

1 X electric handpiece - self explainatory. There are various types. Your average Dremel & the like are shaft/cable driven; micro-motors have small high-pitched motors in the handpiece itself & then youve got your air-tool that run off a compressor, very, very, very fast, often troublsome Ive heard...

These are about the only necessities really. All finishing can be done by hand once carved with just these tool but if you want to speed up clean-up (& are working on simple concave shapes/forms), 'diamond clothing' & wet n dry sanding can be done on rotating belts or drums (the drums being held in a *point-carving unit) I use this technique but it only works to a point, more complex details & shapes really have to be dealt with by hand.

*A point-carver is basically a spinning Jacobs Chuck (hope youve heard of those thingys). In this can be held various diamond 'points' & spheres, basically larger versions of your small handpiece burrs. Some people like to do a lot of their carving this way & is good for larger work (but not too large as you have to hold the stone against the tool for extended periods; MicroPause...) As mentioned earlier, sanding can be done on this too.

A lot of carvers here like to make circular pendants & use diamond tipped core-drills in a standing drill press for this. Optional.

*(you know water has to run on everything right? wherever stone is touching tools; running your waterlines into a sponge is always a good delivery method. The sponge simply sits against the tool somewhere above the working face)

If they have them, sawbenches with diamond blades are a necessity unless you otherwise have access to one. No tech-talk I can help you with here.

And thats about it really. If they have decent looking diamond tools at reasonable prices (see eBay seller 'BUTW'
for good quality/reasonably priced new gear or use those prices as a reasonble guide) it might be worth grabbing, especially if its anything out of the ordinary. It may enable you to perform certain stunts that potential competition may not?? Just a thought.

Hope this helps in some way.

Tama :)